Tarrasch rule

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This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.
Image:Chess rll44.png Image:Chess pll44.png

The Tarrasch rule is a general principle that applies in the majority of chess middlegames and endgames. Siegbert Tarrasch stated the "rule" that rooks should be placed behind passed pawns – either yours or your opponent's. This "rule" is usually true, but not always. Tarrasch has been quoted as saying, "Always put the rook behind the pawn.... Except when it is incorrect to do so." (Soltis 2003:129). The original quote, from page 57 of his book The Game of Chess (1938) is "In complicated Rook endings the most important rule is one laid down by the author: The Rook's place is behind the passed pawn; behind the enemy pawn in order to hold it up, behind one's own in order to support its advance."[1]

Contents

[edit] Reasons

The advance of the passed pawn lengthens the range of a rook behind and reduces the range of a rook in front. A rook escorting a pawn from ahead must move off, potentially leaving the pawn undefended, if it is to queen. A rook behind an enemy passed pawn can more readily generate counterplay.

[edit] Illustrations

Here are two positions to illustrate the principle.

[edit] Rook behind own passed pawn: win

Alekhine-Capablanca, game 34, 1927
Image:chess zhor 26.png
Image:chess zver 26.png a8 b8 c8 d8 e8 f8 g8 h8 Image:chess zver 26.png
a7 b7 c7 d7 e7 f7 pd g7 kd h7
a6 rd b6 c6 d6 e6 f6 g6 pd h6 pd
a5 pl b5 c5 d5 e5 f5 g5 h5
a4 rl b4 c4 d4 e4 f4 g4 h4 pl
a3 b3 c3 d3 e3 f3 g3 pl h3
a2 b2 c2 d2 e2 f2 pl g2 kl h2
a1 b1 c1 d1 e1 f1 g1 h1
Image:chess zhor 26.png
Position after 54. Rf4-a4. Rook behind its own passed pawn.

In the first diagram, White's rook is behind his passed pawn on the a-file, and the position is won for White.

The winning technique is straightforward:

  1. Move the king towards the passed pawn. The defending king must also move that way, otherwise he will be forced to give up his rook for the pawn.
  2. If the attacking king can penetrate no further because the defending king is in opposition, use tempo moves by the rook up and down the file. Once pawn moves are exhausted, then the defender runs out of options.
  3. If the defending rook retreats, then advance the pawn. The defender cannot keep up this strategy. If the defending king sidesteps away from the pawn, the attacking king moves towards the pawn, and forces its advance. The defender will have to give up his rook. So the only option is for the defending king to move towards the pawn.
  4. The attacking king penetrates the kingside pawn structure as far as possible. If the defender wins the passed pawn, an exchange of rooks ensues and the resulting pawn ending is an easy win for the attacker.
  5. At the right moment, the attacking rook abandons the pawn and joins in the attack on the kingside pawns.

The 34th game of the 1927 world chess championship match between Alekhine and Capablanca is a classic example of the technique (see unannotated JavaScript board or annotated text). The position is after White's 54. Ra4. White won on move 82 (Korchnoi 2002:15).


[edit] Rook behind enemy passed pawn: usually a draw

Mecking-Korchnoi, 1974.
Image:chess zhor 26.png
Image:chess zver 26.png a8 b8 c8 d8 e8 f8 g8 h8 Image:chess zver 26.png
a7 b7 c7 d7 e7 f7 pd g7 pd h7 kd
a6 b6 c6 rl d6 e6 f6 g6 h6 pd
a5 pd b5 c5 d5 e5 f5 g5 h5
a4 rd b4 c4 d4 e4 f4 g4 h4
a3 b3 c3 d3 e3 f3 g3 pl h3
a2 b2 c2 d2 e2 f2 pl g2 h2 pl
a1 b1 c1 d1 e1 f1 g1 kl h1
Image:chess zhor 26.png
Rook behind enemy passed pawn. Position is after White's 35th move; drawn.

Similar positions with the rook behind the enemy passed pawn are usually a draw, but not always. The next position is after White's 35th move in the eighth game of the Henrique Mecking versus Victor Korchnoi match in 1974. White will move Ra6 as soon as possible. Black's rook is in front of his passed pawn on the a file, and the game ended in a draw on move 55 (Korchnoi 2002:15-16).

Anand-Kramnik, World Championship, 2007
Image:chess zhor 26.png
Image:chess zver 26.png a8 b8 c8 d8 e8 f8 g8 kd h8 Image:chess zver 26.png
a7 pd b7 rl c7 d7 e7 f7 g7 pd h7
a6 b6 c6 d6 e6 f6 pd g6 h6 pd
a5 b5 c5 d5 e5 f5 pl g5 h5
a4 b4 c4 d4 e4 f4 g4 h4
a3 rd b3 c3 d3 e3 f3 g3 h3
a2 b2 c2 d2 e2 f2 g2 pl h2 pl
a1 b1 c1 d1 e1 f1 g1 kl h1
Image:chess zhor 26.png
Position after 35... Rxa3. Rook in front of its passed pawn, opposing rook will get behind the pawn. The game was drawn 30 moves later.

In the game between Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik from the 2007 World Chess Championship, Black's rook is in front of his passed pawn; the white rook will get behind the pawn:

  • 36. Kf2 h5
  • 37. g3 a5
  • 38. Ra7

Black advanced the pawn to a2, but could do no better than to exchange the passed pawn and rook for the white rook, reaching a king and pawn endgame that ended in a draw (see stalemate) on move 65 (Benko 2008:49).

Unzicker-Lundin, 1954.
Image:chess zhor 26.png
Image:chess zver 26.png a8 rl b8 c8 d8 e8 f8 g8 h8 Image:chess zver 26.png
a7 b7 c7 d7 e7 f7 g7 h7
a6 pl b6 c6 d6 e6 f6 pd g6 pd h6
a5 b5 c5 d5 e5 f5 g5 h5 pd
a4 b4 c4 d4 e4 kd f4 g4 h4 pl
a3 rd b3 c3 d3 e3 f3 g3 pl h3
a2 b2 c2 d2 e2 kl f2 pl g2 h2
a1 b1 c1 d1 e1 f1 g1 h1
Image:chess zhor 26.png
Rook behind enemy passed pawn. White to move wins.

In the position between Wolfgang Unzicker and Erik Lundin, White to move wins, however 48. f3+! is the only winning move. If the black pawn was still on f7, the black king could go back to f6 or g7 and the position would be a draw. (If 48. a7? Ra2+ and 49... Kf3 draws.) [2]

[edit] New analysis

Image:chess zhor 26.png
Image:chess zver 26.png a8 b8 c8 d8 e8 f8 g8 h8 Image:chess zver 26.png
a7 b7 c7 d7 e7 f7 g7 kd h7 pd
a6 b6 c6 d6 e6 f6 g6 pd h6
a5 rl b5 c5 d5 e5 f5 pd g5 h5
a4 pl b4 c4 d4 e4 f4 g4 h4
a3 rd b3 c3 d3 e3 f3 g3 pl h3 pl
a2 b2 c2 d2 e2 f2 pl g2 kl h2
a1 b1 c1 d1 e1 f1 g1 h1
Image:chess zhor 26.png
Rook behind enemy passed pawn

The reason this type of position was long thought to be an easy draw is as follows:

  1. White cannot advance his pawn to the seventh rank, because that would deprive his king of any shelter
  2. So White must advance his pawn only up to the sixth, so the king can find shelter on a7
  3. White's only real winning attempt was to move his king up to a7. Then he can play Rb8-b6, Kb7, a7 (threatening Ra6), forcing Black to give up his rook for the pawn.
  4. But while White is spending all this time, Black's rook can win White's kingside pawns, then advance the newly made passed pawns.
  5. It has been known for White to even lose this battle of rook versus many passed pawns.
  6. Thus if White tries too hard to win, he may actually lose.

Recent theoretical analysis of this position shows that White has a strong maneuver:

  1. advance the pawn to the sixth rank
  2. move the king towards the queenside
  3. when the black rook takes a kingside pawn, switch the rook to guarding the pawn from the c-file, i.e. Rc7 then advance the pawn to a7.
  4. Switch the white rook to the a-file with gain of tempo. Thus Black is forced to sacrifice his rook for the pawn without White having to move his king all the way to a7. These many extra tempos make the difference between winning and drawing or even losing. [3]

Black must play very carefully to draw, rather than the very easy draw that was long thought to be the case. [4]

V. Kantorovich, 1988 and J. Steckner, 2003
Image:chess zhor 26.png
Image:chess zver 26.png a8 b8 c8 d8 e8 f8 g8 h8 Image:chess zver 26.png
a7 rl b7 c7 d7 e7 f7 pd g7 h7
a6 pl b6 c6 d6 e6 kd f6 g6 pd h6
a5 b5 c5 d5 e5 f5 g5 h5 pd
a4 b4 c4 d4 e4 f4 g4 h4 pl
a3 b3 c3 d3 e3 kl f3 g3 pl h3
a2 rd b2 c2 d2 e2 f2 pl g2 h2
a1 b1 c1 d1 e1 f1 g1 h1
Image:chess zhor 26.png
This position was thought to be drawn, but White wins.

Kantorovich analyzed the position in the diagram on the right and thought that Black draws with two tempos to spare. In 2003 Steckner found an improvement for White that wins. Black's pieces are in their optimum positions: the rook is behind the a-pawn an attacking the f-pawn and the king is in its most active location. If 1. Ra8 Kf5 Black has an easy draw. However, White has a better plan which wins with precise play:

  • 1. Kd4! (The f-pawn must be sacrificed because the rook is on a7.)
  • 1... Rxf2
  • 2. Rc7! Ra2
  • 3. a7 (3. Rc6+ leads to a draw)
  • 3... Kf5
  • 4. Kc4!! (The old analysis was 4. Rxf7+, leading to a draw.)
  • 4... Kg4
  • 5. Kb3! Ra6
  • 6. Rc4+ Kxg3
  • 7. Ra4 Rxa7
  • 8. Rxa7 Kxh4
  • 9. Kc3 Kg3
  • 10. Kd2 h4
  • 11. Ke2 kg2
  • 12. Rxf7 h3
  • 13. Rf2+ Kg3
  • 14. Rf6 and White wins (Dvoretsky 2006:193ff).

[edit] Exceptions

There are exceptions to the Tarrasch rule. Here are some.

Purdy
Image:chess zhor 22.png
Image:chess zver 22.png a8 b8 c8 d8 rd e8 f8 g8 h8 Image:chess zver 22.png
a7 b7 c7 d7 e7 f7 g7 h7
a6 b6 c6 d6 e6 f6 g6 h6
a5 b5 pd c5 d5 e5 f5 g5 h5
a4 kd b4 c4 d4 e4 kl f4 g4 h4
a3 b3 c3 d3 e3 f3 g3 h3
a2 b2 c2 d2 e2 f2 g2 h2
a1 b1 rl c1 d1 e1 f1 g1 h1
Image:chess zhor 22.png
White to move draws by repeatedly checking from the first rank.
  • On a similar note, Cecil Purdy said that a rook is best behind its passed pawn if it is on the fifth rank or higher, or can reach those ranks. If the pawn is held up before the fifth rank, the rook is better in front of the pawn. Often the rook is best protecting the pawn from the side if it is on the fifth rank or higher (Purdy 2003:114).
  • In the ending of a rook and pawn versus a rook, if the defending king is cut off from the pawn's file, then the best defence is with the rook on its first rank (Howell 1997:37). See the frontal defense.
  • In the ending of a rook and pawn versus a rook, where the pawn is a knight pawn (b- or g-file), the defending king is in front of the pawn, but the defender can't get his rook to the third rank for the drawing Philidor position, the defending rook draws on its first rank but loses if it is attacking the pawn from behind (Mednis 1982:16), (Fine & Benko 2003:295).
  • In the ending of a rook and two isolated pawns versus a rook, it is generally better for the stronger side to protect the pawns from the side (Mednis 1982:29).
  • Yuri Averbakh said that the Tarrasch rule is usually correct when only the rooks are battling over the pawn, but when the pawn is blocked by the opposing king, the rook of the same color as the pawn is normally better protecting the pawn from the side (Emms 1999:87).

[edit] Short-Yusupov

Short-Yusupov, 1984
Image:chess zhor 26.png
Image:chess zver 26.png a8 b8 c8 d8 e8 f8 g8 rd h8 Image:chess zver 26.png
a7 b7 c7 d7 e7 f7 g7 h7
a6 b6 c6 d6 e6 f6 g6 h6 kl
a5 b5 c5 d5 e5 f5 g5 h5
a4 b4 c4 d4 e4 kd f4 g4 h4 pl
a3 b3 c3 pl d3 e3 f3 rl g3 h3
a2 b2 c2 d2 e2 f2 g2 h2
a1 b1 c1 d1 e1 f1 g1 h1
Image:chess zhor 26.png
white to move, an exception to the Tarrasch rule.

In the position from Nigel Short and Artur Yusupov in 1984, as an exception to the rule, since white's king is stuck in front of the pawn (Müller & Lamprecht 2001:199). White played 1. Rh3 (rook behind passed pawn), black replied 1. ... Kf5 and a draw resulted a few moves later. The move 1. Rf7 by White leads to a win.

[edit] Kharlov-Morozevich

Kharlov-Morozevich, 1995
Image:chess zhor 26.png
Image:chess zver 26.png a8 b8 c8 d8 e8 f8 g8 h8 Image:chess zver 26.png
a7 b7 c7 d7 e7 rd f7 pd g7 kd h7
a6 b6 c6 d6 e6 f6 g6 pd h6 pd
a5 b5 pd c5 d5 e5 f5 g5 h5
a4 b4 rl c4 d4 e4 f4 g4 h4
a3 b3 c3 d3 e3 f3 g3 pl h3
a2 b2 c2 d2 e2 f2 pl g2 h2 pl
a1 b1 c1 d1 e1 f1 kl g1 h1
Image:chess zhor 26.png
Black to move, exception to the Tarrasch rule.

The position from Kharlov-Morozevich as one in which the Tarrasch rule doesn't apply (for Black) (Emms 1999:115-16). The move 1. ...Rb7 would be in accordance with the Tarrasch rule, but 1. ... Re5 is the correct method because White's king is cut off from the pawn, White will have to spend a lot of time activating his rook, and by that time the black king will be able to get over to the queenside. The rule still applies for White, however, and the game continued:

2. Rd4 Kf6 3. Rd8 Ke7 4. Rb8 Kd7 5. Rb7+ Kc6 6. Rxf7 b4 7. Rf6+ Kb5 8. Rxg6 b3 9. Rg8 Re6 10. Rb8+ Rb6 11. Rd8 b2 12. Rd1 Rc6 13. resign, 0-1.

After 13 Kg2 Rc1 14. Rd8 b1=Q 15. Rb8+ Rb6 16. Rxb1 Rxb1 Black's king is close enough to the kingside pawns to stop them.

[edit] Kramnik-Beliavsky

Kramnik-Beliavsky, 1993
Image:chess zhor 26.png
Image:chess zver 26.png a8 b8 c8 d8 e8 f8 g8 h8 Image:chess zver 26.png
a7 b7 c7 d7 e7 f7 g7 h7
a6 b6 c6 d6 e6 f6 g6 h6
a5 b5 c5 d5 e5 f5 pd g5 kd h5
a4 b4 c4 d4 e4 f4 g4 rd h4 pd
a3 pl b3 c3 d3 e3 f3 kl g3 h3
a2 b2 c2 d2 e2 f2 g2 h2
a1 b1 rl c1 d1 e1 f1 g1 h1
Image:chess zhor 26.png
1. Ra1 loses, 1. Rb8 draws.

The 1993 game between Vladimir Kramnik and Alexander Beliavsky has an unusual position in which following the Tarrasch Rule is incorrect. White played 1. Ra1 and lost. Interestingly, 1. Rb8, abandoning the pawn so the rook can attack from behind, draws. The endgame with rooks and f- and h-pawns was analyzed to be a draw by Mikhail Botvinnik in the 1940s (with correct defense) (Beliavsky & Mikhalchishin 2003:86, 89-90).

[edit] Yusupov-Timman

Yusupov-Timman, 1992
Image:chess zhor 26.png
Image:chess zver 26.png a8 rd b8 c8 d8 e8 f8 g8 h8 Image:chess zver 26.png
a7 b7 c7 d7 e7 f7 g7 h7
a6 b6 c6 d6 e6 pd f6 kd g6 pd h6
a5 b5 c5 d5 e5 f5 g5 h5 pd
a4 pl b4 c4 d4 e4 f4 pl g4 h4 pl
a3 b3 c3 d3 e3 f3 g3 pl h3
a2 b2 c2 d2 e2 f2 kl g2 h2
a1 b1 c1 d1 e1 rl f1 g1 h1
Image:chess zhor 26.png
White to move: 35. Re4 wins but 35. Ra1 draws.

In this 1992 game [1] between Artur Yusupov and Jan Timman, 35. Re4! wins but 35. Ra1? in the actual game only draws. The game was drawn twenty moves later (Müller & Pajeken 2008:280).

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

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