Kuldhir Blog: Basic Chess Ending 4

The principle for this operation is the same as with all basic mates: The stronger side must drive the opposing King to the side of the board-not necessarily a corner of the board. The checkmate can only be carried out with the combined efforts of both the King and the Rook. First let's start from the end and show the most basic winning situation.

Black King can't be mated in the middle, so chasing it to any edge is absolutely essential! White should move his King as close as possible to the Black King and only then should he use his Rook. Black should try to keep his King in the middle of the board, because it is impossible for White to checkmate him here. Consider the following starting position.

White to move

White should be using his King, and so he begins with:

1.Kb2

1...Kd4

An inferior move is 1...Kc4, to which White would respond 2.Rd1!, trapping the Black King on the a-, b-, and c- files.

One method that works well is the "box" method, in which the opposing King is placed by the Rook in

a box that just gets smaller and smaller until the King is checkmated. Note how many squares Black King can move to. White plan will be to reduce the number of those squares. In this case, White playes

2.Kc2

Note how the White King is taking squares c3 and d3 away from his Black counterpart.

2...Ke4

Once again, 2...Kc4 would have been met by 3.Rd1, and the Black King would have lost ground faster than necessary.

White continues pushing Black back with his King.

3.Kc3

3...Ke5

Another possibility for Black is 3...Ke3, though this move would make White task somewhat easier. White would then begin boxing in Black King by setting up the sequence 4.Re1+ Kf2 5.Re4 Kf3 6.Kd3. Notice that Black King would then be confined by the Rook to the box of squares: f3-f1-h1-h3-f3.