Pawn + Rook versus Rook - classics

When was the last time you had to have a look at Lucena + Philidor in order not to confuse one with the other or simply not forget about them at all? Well, actually I can manage to forget about this really fast - as indicated before!

But do you also remember how to successfully defend about g- or b-pawns in the "rook versus rook plus pawn"-endings? Or to put it the other way round: Is the below position a draw; regardless who is to move?

To cut it short - with a pawn on g or b, simply retreat with both king and rook to the 8th rank!  Place your king on the file of the pawn and if forced to move the king due to check by the rook, move to the corner. (It is vital to move to the corner!) A double g/b-pawn, however, wins.

Interestingly, the following position is a dead-draw:

The black king is perfectly placed, there is exactly ZERO change for white to win. All black has to do is move is rook (and never ever take the g-pawn)!  If the second pawn is on the f-file, it is won.

Just one last scenario (so next time I prepare, I can simply consult this posts):

While the above one is a draw with black to move. There are some interesting variating set-ups - most with two files between the black rook and the white king... The thing to remember here is to end the sequence with tactics:

White just played d7 to win. See it?! 👦

Nice finish (and nice animation)

...wouldn´t need the sound, though... I am not a "French"-player, but I like when both sides seem to follow their plan somewhat ignoring the other one´s (reminding me on King´s Indian Defense battles).

Nevertheless, I had to look twice before being sure about Leko´s intention after black resigned:

Picking things up again

Due to rather drastical - but absolutely desireable - change within my work-life, I wasn´t able to focus on chess at all. Actually, for the first time in many years I even had to skip quite a series of tournaments which I normally would have attended. This "transition phase" will continue until May next year - only then I will have "transformed" into my new profession. Hence, it will not be truely active chess phase prior to that date and only then can I yet pick up my journey again to elevate my chess towards higher levels...

Nevertheless, I am still working with CRT 4.0 to keep up with tactical issues. It seems like this allows me to keep my current level of 2100 - last week I won against a 2183 FM. (BTW - many former IMs recommend solving tactic puzzles as one of the most important means to increase one strenght!)

Today, I spent quite some time in the afternoon to read and evaluate some of the newsletter articles I get from TheChessWorld.com. My inbox showed some 75 emails which I finally took the time to go through. Ever heardt about the site TheChessWorld? Actually, I am a frequent consumer of the content (and products) offered there. Besides some really helpful insights into some of the openings I am confronted with at the board, they also offer articles that I find rather helpful - not always, let´s be fair, but every now and then.

Let me share just two things for a start:

Looking for real blasts - following the link you will find some amazing blasts by Anand. To be honest, I wasn´t too sure about the value for me personally. Only some 30min after I finished going through the material, I realized that, probably, I should open my eyes (much) more and look for game-changing sacrifices, even if I cannot really calculate things to the very end...  I know, too well, that just because "I want to", nothing will happen. But:

Today, I was reminded that prior to an important game or even tournament, I should go not only through my openings, but also have a decent look at my own posts within this blog!  YES - taking the time to review old posts is actually an advice given by more than one GM (since I keep a pretty open record of my mistakes and this is what it is all about - facing prior faults): It helps to be reminded of things that went wrong in the past and those worth to remember during the game. Hence, going through "Anand´s blasts" prior to a match may well help me to actually go for it. I saw an interview with German´s top talent Vincent Keymer yesterday where he made his point by committing that he finds winning positions so interesting because of the many creative opportunities they bring.

So, all I want is to remind myself of Anand´s blasts and Keymer´s joy in order to open my vision...  Let´s see! 👦