Chess endgames
The Lucena Position: Building a Bridge to Win
The Lucena position is a rook and pawn against rook ending in which the attacking king stands on the promotion square in front of its pawn on the seventh rank and the defending king is cut off. The attacker wins by building a bridge with the rook.
Example
1. Rf4 Re2 2. Kc7 Rc2+ 3. Kd6 Rd2+ 4. Ke6 Re2+ 5. Kd5 Rd2+ 6. Rd4
White first puts the rook on the fourth rank with Rf4. The king then walks out, and when the checks reach d5, the rook blocks on d4. That block is the bridge, and the pawn will promote.
The setup
In the standard Lucena position, White has a king on the promotion square, a pawn on the seventh rank, and a rook. Black's rook stops the white king from leaving on one side, and the black king is cut off on the other side by the white rook, at least one file away.
The white king wants to step out so the pawn can promote, but as soon as it does, the black rook starts checking from behind. On an open board, the king cannot escape the checks without help.
Building a bridge
The winning method is to place the rook on the fourth rank first, counting from the attacker's side. Then the king comes out of hiding and walks down toward its rook. When the king reaches the fifth rank and is checked again, the rook steps in front to block the check, and the defender has run out of checks.
The name comes from the rook forming a bridge for the king to shelter behind. If the defender tries to attack the rook with the king, or to bring the rook to the side for checks, the king and rook together still cover the pawn.
If the black king is cut off only one file away, White sometimes needs a check first to push it one more file away before stepping out.
Common mistakes
Leaving the king in front of the pawn and waiting does nothing. Stepping the king out before the rook is on the fourth rank lets the checks go on forever. Placing the rook on the fourth rank but on the wrong file, where the black king can attack it, can also spoil the win.
Common questions
Why is it called the Lucena position?
It is named after Luis Ramírez de Lucena, a Spanish author of an early printed chess book. The position does not actually appear in his book, so the name is a tradition rather than an exact credit.
Does the Lucena work with a rook pawn?
No. With a pawn on the a-file or h-file there is not enough room for the king to step out to the side, and the defender can usually draw.
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