End game - anything in the position

My last game ended like this, an exchange up for a pawn, i offered a draw as i could find nothing in the position, is there anything that I missed? I was black.

I cannot find the book written by Averbakh Rook vs Minor Piece".
I suggest you to buy his books on endings.

I think you should win here.
Centralize King on d5.
Put Rook on h-line and move h-Pawn.
Get with Rook behind enemy lines.

In the proper point give Rook for Bishop and make promoting Pawn.

This is the way Averbakh's advice sound in the book...

As I said, I can't find the book right now in my untidy artistic lair.

"In general, the side with the rook should bear these points in mind:

1. The central winning idea is to get the king through to a mass of pawns and in that way capture material.

2. As many pawns as possible should be forced onto squares of the same colour as the bishop [both your pawns and your opponent's, to reduce the bishop's mobility].

3. A few pawn exchanges may be necessary to clear files, but always retain pawns on both sides of the board.

4. Try to keep the pawn position unbalanced. ... any passed pawn practically confers a winning advantage immediately."

Reuben Fine, BCE, Rooks vs. Minor Pieces, McKay pg. 478

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
My last game ended like this, an exchange up for a pawn, i offered a draw as i could find nothing in the position, is there anything that I missed? I was black.

[fen]8/8/p1p1k3/3rBp1p/1P3P2/P5P1/2K4P/8 w - - 0 1[/fen]

Play ...Rd7, ...Kd5. White will oppose with Kd3. Then put your Rook on the e-file and zug him. Once he runs out of P moves, he will have to move the B, allowing your R in, or the K, allowing your K in. Easy win for black.

How about this one. I was black, and agreed to a draw. Likely we both had chances to win or lose along the way.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
My last game ended like this, an exchange up for a pawn, i offered a draw as i could find nothing in the position, is there anything that I missed? I was black.

Pretty easy for Black really. I plugged it into an old engine and got it to play the White side:

Originally posted by Fat Lady
Pretty easy for Black really. I plugged it into an old engine and got it to play the White side:
[pgn]
[White "Crafty-19.3"]
[Black "Fat Lady"]
[Result "0-1"]
[TimeControl "60+5"]
[FEN "8/8/p1p1k3/3rBp1p/1P3P2/P5P1/2K4P/8 w - - 0 1"]
[SetUp "1"]

{--------------
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
p . p . k . . .
. . . r B p . p
. P . . . P . .
P ...[text shortened]... 39. Kc5 c2 40. Kd6 Qh5 41. Kc7 Qg6
42. Kb7 c1=Q 43. Ka8 Qc8+ 44. Ka7 Qd7+ 45. Ka8 Qg8#
[/pgn]

I did not want to move my rook from the open file because i thought it would give whites king mobility and could see no way of getting past my opponents king if it was on d3 and white would just move his bishop along the diagonal. So the plan was as Swiss gambit intimated, ..Kd5, Rook e file and zuggers. Many thanks Fat lady and to everyone else ( I had the crazy plan of trying to sneak my king up the h file after i played ...h4 but abandoned it, thank goodness)

Thanks FL. Reading the Fine print is fine, but I was hoping someone would come up with a specific line from the given position.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
My last game ended like this, an exchange up for a pawn, i offered a draw as i could find nothing in the position, is there anything that I missed? I was black.

[fen]8/8/p1p1k3/3rBp1p/1P3P2/P5P1/2K4P/8 w - - 0 1[/fen]

Hi Robbie,

Now is the time for you to get a good endgame book and study endings just as much (or more) than you study openings. Investing all the time you have into the game only to fail to put the game away at the end can be demoralizing.

The good news is that you are getting to positions like this, so it's just time for the next step!

There are a huge number of great endgame books now- Silman, Mueller, Panchenko, and Dvoretsky's are the best modern works, but I should also put in a plug for Flear- and his are easier to digest.

I also have a soft spot for Mednis, who may well be the best and most understandable writer among the lot.

If I only got one book, I would get Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual. It is a huge meal of a book, and it must be sliced into morsels and chewed like a steak, not consumed whole.

The good news is that he does that for you, by putting the basic, essential information in blue type. You can play through the book's "blue portions" first, and then just go back later when you need more.

I also have a practice that works for me. I favor opening books based on the "complete game" format, and it is often useful to go to the last diagram of each game in the book, and just study how the game finished. This has the added benefit of showing you endings you will most likely see from the openings you play, which is more efficient.

You can also do this with an anthology of a player's best games, especially from player like Rubinstein and Karpov.

Chernev explicitly does this in his book Capablanca's Best Chess Endings, but you can do it with almost any book.

Regarding the specific position, right off the bat ...c5 looks like a powerful pawn lever for black, no matter what white does. Your rook would become very active.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
My last game ended like this, an exchange up for a pawn, i offered a draw as i could find nothing in the position, is there anything that I missed? I was black.

[fen]8/8/p1p1k3/3rBp1p/1P3P2/P5P1/2K4P/8 w - - 0 1[/fen]

Well if it is black to move the ..a5 looks pretty natural. Creating a passed pawn and also opening up the Queenside so the Rook can infiltrate somewhere..

Originally posted by Paul Leggett
Hi Robbie,

Now is the time for you to get a good endgame book and study endings just as much (or more) than you study openings. Investing all the time you have into the game only to fail to put the game away at the end can be demoralizing.

The good news is that you are getting to positions like this, so it's just time for the next step!

There ...[text shortened]... a powerful pawn lever for black, no matter what white does. Your rook would become very active.

actually Paul i had no fight left in me, I have drawn my last two games and acquiesced to the draw rather easily in both, but thats to do with something other than the juxtaposition of the chess men, anyway i have a Mendis book, From middle game to endgame, its ok, i started to read it and got bored, i have i think a pretty average grasp of King and pawn, but i know nothing of minor piece endings and i tried to learn rook endings but it was truly beyond me. I don't like Dvertskys books, no disrespect he is a prolific author, just they are too dry, too technical for me, id much rather read Pandolfini or Albert to be honest, maybe even Sotlis. Chernev i like as an author, maybe i will check his book out and Capablancas games i love, second only to Fischer's - kind regards Robbie

Originally posted by Marinkatomb
Well if it is black to move the ..a5 looks pretty natural. Creating a passed pawn and also opening up the Queenside so the Rook can infiltrate somewhere..

white doesn't need to take

Hi Marinkatomb,

I've just looked at the posted fen and it indicates White to move.

No matter, Swiss G's game plan looks spot on with or without Zuggers.

Fat Lady's game v a box will be computer proof, though I never went through it.

Robbie you do not need another endgame book to win that one.
(100% agree most are dry and bleak efforts...tedious is word we are looking for.)

Someone suggested the right idea about swapping a pawn to open another file
just so lng as you maintain a pawn(s) on both sides of the board so you
can use the full power of the Rook.

The win is mudane, The Black King cannot be prevented from getting active
and tearing into the Queenside or Kingside pawns.
White has no targets and any dreams of him creating a passer with his extra
Kingside pawn are all doomed before you even think about them.