Daily Chess Improvement: Rook Endgame Precision!
SusanPolgar
It is white to move! What is the MOST ACCURATE continuation for white?
SusanPolgar
It is white to move! What is the MOST ACCURATE continuation for white?
Rb5 Ra1 IF BLACK ROOK DEVIATED FROM a FILE 1...Rd2 2.Rxa5+ Kxa5 3.Ra3#
Rb2 Ra2 IF 2...Ra3 3. Rxc4# OR IF BLACK ROOK DEVIATED FROM a FILE AGAIN 2...Rd1 3.Ra2#
Rxa2#
By the time you have figured all this out at the board, the village idiot would have mated via 1. R:c4+ Ka3 2. Kb5 Rb2+ 3. R:b2 K:b2 4. K:a5 Kb3 5. Kb5 Ka3 6. Rc3+ etc. since none of those moves would take more than a few seconds to play.
Editor
that last part got cut off- in short 1.Rb5 Ra1 2.Rb2 Ra3 3.Rxc4#
Editor
Black is almost completely immobilized- if the rook moves off the a-file, white just mates starting with 2.Ra1+. So a waiting move is called for- but specifically, I would be looking to allow black to play Ra1 so that I could play Rb2- the idea being that black rook will then be forced to either leave the a-file, or to occupy the a3 square making Rc4 mate rather than just check. A quick look at the possibilities tells me that 1.Rb5 is a mate in three the threat is 2.Rxa5 followed by 2.Ra3# if the black plays the rook off of the a-file on his first move, and if black puts the rook on a1, then 2.Rb2 again threatens mate if the rook leaves the a-file, and also threatens 3.Rxc4#