Real positions from rated games. Narrow them by motif, difficulty or rating, then solve or print each one.
2741 real-game Rook endgame tactics puzzles in this collection
What is a rook endgame tactics?
The most common endgame in chess, condensed into its tactical moments: skewers, back-rank tricks, bridge-building and pawn-race calculations.
How to spot it
Active rook beats material count. Check every skewer along ranks and files, every cutting-off move, and every chance to reach the famous Lucena or Philidor structures.
What this set trains
Practical rating points — rook endgames appear in a huge share of long games at every level.
How the solutions work · counted by a rules engine
What a typical rook endgame tactics solution looks like
Sample: 16,278 rook endgame tactics puzzles (5% of all 327,683).
10.2% need 1 solver move, 49% need 2 solver moves, 29.5% need 3 solver moves, 7.5% need 4 solver moves, 3.9% need 5 or more solver moves. Median rating: 908 for the shortest solutions, 2191 for the longest.
70.1% open with a rook move. The first move captures in 24.4% and gives check in 61%; 25.1% end in checkmate, 8.3% involve a sacrifice, 50.3% have White to move.
24.4%first move captures
61%first move gives check
25.1%end in checkmate
8.3%involve a sacrifice
How many moves does the solver need?
1 solver move
10.2% · median rating 908
2 solver moves
49% · median rating 1212
3 solver moves
29.5% · median rating 1673
4 solver moves
7.5% · median rating 1988
5+ solver moves
3.9% · median rating 2191
Which piece plays the key move?
Key move by a rook
70.1%
Key move by a pawn
20.7%
Key move by the king
9.2%
What does the solver win?
Most valuable capture: rook
55.6%
Captures nothing along the line
30.3%
Most valuable capture: pawn
12.3%
Most valuable capture: queen
1.8%
Material balance along the whole line, counting every capture by both sides (pawn 1, minor piece 3, rook 5, queen 9):
No material gained (mating or positional)
48.3%
Up to 2 pawns’ worth
16.2%
3–4 points (about a minor piece)
6%
5–8 points (a rook or more)
27%
9 or more points (a queen’s worth)
2.4%
How much is left on the board?
28 or more pieces on the board
0%
21–27 pieces
0%
13–20 pieces
27%
12 pieces or fewer
73%
How it is counted: every puzzle in the sample is replayed move by move with a chess rules engine. A sacrifice means a piece that is captured on the very next ply and was worth more than what it captured itself (pawn 1, minor piece 3, rook 5, queen 9). Sample of 16,278 puzzles. Percentages are shares of the sample.
Where it happens
Where the key move lands
Where the solver’s first move ends, drawn from their own side (rank 1 is their back rank). Busiest squares: d8 (3.5%), a8 (3.4%), b8 (3%), c8 (3%), h8 (3%).
3.4
3
3
3.5
2.3
1.7
1.4
3
8
1.6
1.7
1.8
2
1.9
2.4
1.9
2.4
7
1.7
2
2.4
2.4
2.4
2.8
2.7
2.2
6
1.3
1.6
2
1.7
1.8
2.3
2.6
1.6
5
1.3
1.3
1.4
1.6
2.4
2.7
1.6
4
1
1.2
1.2
3
2
1.2
1
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Counted from the same 16,278-puzzle sample. Squares under 1% are left blank.
Study positions
The most-solved rook endgame tactics puzzles, from each difficulty level. Play each one on the board, then open the answer for the full line.
♟
♚
♙
♟
♜
♟
♙
♖
♔
♙
Black to move · rating 1061 · solved 15,860 times
· 2 solver moves to find. It gives up the rook (Rc2+) on the way. The solver captures a rook.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Kd2
Solution: Rc2+ → Rxc2 → bxc2
♜
♖
♔
♚
Black to move · rating 1121 · solved 16,684 times
· 3 solver moves to find. The solver captures a rook.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Kh3
Solution: Rh6+ → Kg4 → Rg6+ → Kf5 → Rxg3
♜
♖
♙
♟
♚
♙
♜
♟
♔
♙
White to move · rating 1167 · solved 13,494 times
· 2 solver moves to find. The solver captures a rook.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Ra5
Solution: g7 → Rxf7+ → Rxf7
♖
♙
♔
♚
♙
♜
♟
Black to move · rating 1243 · solved 5,874 times
· 3 solver moves to find. It gives up the rook (Rb3) on the way. The solver captures a rook.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Rb8
Solution: Rb3 → Rxb3 → Kxb3 → Kg6 → b1=Q+
♖
♚
♟
♙
♟
♔
♜
White to move · rating 1282 · solved 5,495 times
· 2 solver moves to find. A quiet solution: no capture and no mate.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: f5
Solution: h6 → Kf4 → h7
♖
♙
♙
♚
♜
♟
♔
Black to move · rating 1297 · solved 5,375 times
· Mate in 2. It ends in checkmate on h1 with the rook.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Rg8
Solution: Ra1+ → Kh2 → Rh1#
♟
♟
♚
♟
♙
♖
♜
♔
♙
♙
White to move · rating 1408 · solved 6,638 times
· 3 solver moves to find. The solver captures a rook.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Re4+
Solution: Rxe4 → fxe4 → Kg4 → Kf6 → Kf4
♟
♟
♚
♟
♟
♜
♙
♙
♟
♙
♖
♔
♙
♙
♙
Black to move · rating 1601 · solved 2,849 times
· 3 solver moves to find. It gives up the rook (Rxa4) on the way. The solver captures 2 pieces (pawn, rook).Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Kc4
Solution: Rxa4 → Rxa4 → b5+ → Kc3 → bxa4
♖
♜
♟
♟
♚
♙
♔
♙
White to move · rating 1672 · solved 3,445 times
· 3 solver moves to find. The solver captures a rook.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Rc6
Solution: Rh5+ → Kd6 → Rh6+ → Kc5 → Rxc6+
♖
♙
♚
♟
♜
♙
♔
Black to move · rating 1709 · solved 2,390 times
· Mate in 3. It ends in checkmate on e1 with the rook. The solver captures a rook.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Kg1
Solution: Kh3 → Re8 → Rd1+ → Re1 → Rxe1#
♟
♟
♟
♟
♚
♙
♟
♙
♔
♙
♙
♖
♙
♜
Black to move · rating 2062 · solved 1,168 times
· 4 solver moves to find. The solver captures 2 pieces (rook, pawn).Reveal line
Black to move · rating 2090 · solved 1,181 times
· 2 solver moves to find. The solver captures a pawn.Reveal line
Opponent's last move: Ke5
Solution: h2 → Rh7 → Rxe7+
Positions and move sequences come from real rated games (CC0 data). Engine evaluations, where shown, are stored evaluations of the position (CC0).
Background reading
Rook and pawn versus rook endgame
The rook and pawn versus rook endgame is a fundamentally important, widely studied chess endgame. Precise play is usually required in these positions. With optimal play, some complicated wins require sixty moves to either checkmate, capture the defending rook, or successfully promote the pawn. In some cases, thirty-five moves are required to advance the pawn once. The play of this type of ending revolves around whether or not the pawn can be promoted, or if the defending rook must be sacrificed to prevent promotion. If the pawn promotes, that side will have an overwhelming material advantage. If the pawn is about to promote, the defending side may give up their rook for the pawn, resulting in an easily won endgame for the superior side (a basic checkmate). In a few cases, the superior side gives up their rook in order to promote the pawn, resulting in a winning queen versus rook position (see ). A rule of thumb (with exceptions) is: if the king on the side without the pawn can reach the queening square of the pawn, the game is a draw; otherwise it is a win for the opponent (except with a rook pawn, i.e. a- or h-file). The side with the pawn can cut off the opposing king or strive for the Lucena position, which is a win. The defender can aim for the Philidor position (which is a draw) or try to set up one of the other defensive techniques that draw. A rook and two pawns usually win against a rook, but there are plenty of exceptions.
Importance
Endings with rooks and any number of pawns are the most common type to occur in games, occurring in about 8 to 10 percent of all games. A majority of rook and pawn endings with more pawns have the potential of being reduced to this type of endgame (rook and one pawn versus rook). John Nunn wrote a 352-page book about this ending, Secrets of Rook Endings. Volume 2 of the Encyclopedia of Chess Endings devotes 92 pages to the analysis of 428 positions of this type. André Chéron wrote over 150 pages analyzing 120 positions of this endgame in their famous book Lehr- und Handbuch der Endspiele. In 100 Endgames You Must Know by Jesús de la Villa, 17 are of this type. Nunn covers 100 topics in Understanding Chess Endgames – eight are about this type of endgame. This table summarizes results from games compiled from several game databases, where this position was reached. "Max DTC" is the maximum number of moves in depth to conversion, either a checkmate or conversion to a winning endgame via promotion of the pawn or capture of the opposing rook.
Terminology
* In the following discussion and positions, assume that the side with the pawn is White. White will be attempting to win and Black will be attempting to draw. * Ranks are counted from that player's side of the board. Thus, "the rook's third rank" would be the third rank counting from that player's side of the board. The ranks for the white pieces correspond to the ranks in algebraic notation, whereas the ranks for the black pieces are reversed. * In these positions with one pawn, the pawn's file divides the board into a short side and a long side, in which the long side consists of more files than the short side. * A pawn is referred to by the file on which it stands: a rook pawn is on the a- or h-file, a knight pawn is on the b- or g-file, a bishop pawn is on the c- or f-file. A central pawn is a queen pawn or a king pawn, on the d- or e-file. * When designating a position as a win or a draw, optimal play by both sides is assumed.
Pawn on the sixth or seventh rank
In his 1958 book Chess Endgames, Nikolay Kopaev gave these general guidelines for when the pawn is on the sixth or seventh rank: * When the black king is cut off two or more files from the pawn, White always wins. * If the black king is on the long side of the pawn and their rook is on the short side, White wins with very few exceptions. (The long side is the side with more files to the side of the board – the short side is the side with fewer files). * If the pawn is on the seventh rank, the only defense involves checks from the side. If the pawn is on the sixth rank, a defense of checks from the rear is possible. * The defense of checking from the side normally requires three empty files between the pawn and the black rook. Sometimes it is possible with only two files when the pawn is on the seventh rank. * In order for a defense of checking from behind to be successful, the white king must be behind the pawn, not in front of it. * There are tactical possibilities: (1) deflecting the black rook, and (2) creating a shelter for the white king.
Winning methods
In order to force a win with the extra pawn, normally the black king must be cut off from the pawn by the white rook along a rank or file, and that is not always sufficient.
Black king is cut off along a rank
If the black king is cut off from the pawn along a rank (as in the diagram), White wins easily if the king is behind the pawn: :1. Kd6 Rd8+ :2. Ke6 Re8+ :3. Kd7 Rg8 Checks from the front or side do not help Black. :4. d6 Rg7+ :5. Kc8 Rg8+ :6. Kc7 Rg7+ :7. d7 and the pawn will soon promote. When cutting the defending king off by a rank, a perfect cut is when the pawn is on the same rank as the defending king. An imperfect cut is when the king is on the rank ahead of the pawn. These general rules apply: # The defending king should be cut off on a rank on the long side of the pawn. Otherwise, the position is not dangerous for the defense if the defending rook is on the long side. # With a perfect cut, the position is always won with a bishop pawn or knight pawn on any rank. A central pawn wins if it is on the fourth rank or beyond. # With an imperfect cut, the position is a draw if the defending rook is on the file adjacent to the pawn. In addition, the defense has more possibilities against a central pawn. In this position, White has a perfect cut and wins:: 1... Ra8: 2. Rc6 Rb8: 3. Ra6 Kd5: 4. Ka4! Kc4: 5. Rc6+! Kd5: 6. b5 Ra8+: 7. Kb4 This is the same position but advanced one rank. Now the process is repeated:: 7... Rb8: 8. Rc7 Kd6: 9. Ra7 Kd5: 10. Ka5 Kc5: 11. Rc7+ Kd6: 12. b6 Ra8+: 13. Kb5 Ra1 White threatened Rh7, b7, and Kb6 so Black tries checks from the rear. However, play will soon lead to a Lucena position (see below), which easily wins for White.
Where this page comes from
The text above is adapted from
“Rook and pawn versus rook endgame” on Wikipedia,
by its contributors. We removed reference markers, infoboxes, templates and embedded
media, and kept the prose sections otherwise intact — nothing here was written or
rewritten by AI.
The original is published under
CC BY-SA 4.0,
so this section is published under the same licence. You may share and
adapt it, including commercially, as long as you credit the original and keep the same
licence.
Puzzle positions, ratings and move sequences on this page come from real rated games (CC0 data), not from Wikipedia; theme write-ups and difficulty guides
elsewhere on this site are Chess Puzzle Print's own original work and are not covered by
this licence.
ChessPuzzlePrint