Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Super Things II (RRE: Lesson Number Two)


Lucena
White wins


If Philidor is the starting point - Random Rook Endings: Lesson Number One - Lucena follows very close behind. de la Villa writes of telling his pupils, "most Rook + Pawn vs. Rook endings, if played accurately, end up in a Philidor or Lucena position." Exaggeration or otherwise, it's obviously true that all rook endings are built on these two.

Philidor is your basic drawing mechanism, Lucena is how you win.  Knowing how to convert from the position at the head of today's blog, and knowing whether or not you can reach it (on the left: you won't; on the right: you will) is the difference between a half-point and victory.




The Novag Super Expert is, we have established, a super thing. If truth be told, though, it's not too hot when it comes to technical rook endings.

I set up a bunch of theoretical rook positions, playing them out giving myself and the machine five minutes each. Here it is having a bash at Lucena and struggling. Well, it found 'the bridge' in the end, I suppose. If nothing else it does at least show the Super Expert knows the fifty-move rule.



Rook and pawn Index




1 comment:

ejh said...

It's a funny thing. I must have learned Lucena in my early teens, if not earlier. But I can't remember anybody showing me Philidor.

Maybe drawing endings was not as interesting as winning them.