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The Tarrasch rule is a general principle that applies in the majority of chess
Chess

Chess is a recreational and competitive game played between two Player . Sometimes called Western chess or international chess to distinguish it from History of chess and other chess variants, the current form of the game emerged in Southern Europe during the second half of the 15th century after evolving from similar, much older...
 middlegames and endgames. Siegbert Tarrasch
Siegbert Tarrasch

Siegbert Tarrasch was one of the strongest chess players and most influential chess teachers of the late 19th century and early 20th century....
 stated the "rule" that rooks
Rook (chess)

A rook is a chess piece in the strategy board game of chess. In the past the piece was called the castle, tower, marquess, rector, and comes , and non-players still often call it a "castle"....
 should be placed behind passed pawn
Passed pawn

In chess, a passed pawn is a pawn with no opposing pawns to prevent it from advancing to the eighth chess terminology#Rank, i.e. there are no opposing pawns in front of it on the same chess terminology#File nor on an adjacent file....
s – either yours or your opponent's. The idea behind the rule (actually a guideline) is that (1) if a player's rook is behind his passed pawn, the rook protects it as it advances, and (2) if it is behind an opponent's passed pawn, the pawn cannot advance unless it is protected along its way.

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."


This "rule" is usually true, but not always, as there are many exceptions.






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The Tarrasch rule is a general principle that applies in the majority of chess
Chess

Chess is a recreational and competitive game played between two Player . Sometimes called Western chess or international chess to distinguish it from History of chess and other chess variants, the current form of the game emerged in Southern Europe during the second half of the 15th century after evolving from similar, much older...
 middlegames and endgames. Siegbert Tarrasch
Siegbert Tarrasch

Siegbert Tarrasch was one of the strongest chess players and most influential chess teachers of the late 19th century and early 20th century....
 stated the "rule" that rooks
Rook (chess)

A rook is a chess piece in the strategy board game of chess. In the past the piece was called the castle, tower, marquess, rector, and comes , and non-players still often call it a "castle"....
 should be placed behind passed pawn
Passed pawn

In chess, a passed pawn is a pawn with no opposing pawns to prevent it from advancing to the eighth chess terminology#Rank, i.e. there are no opposing pawns in front of it on the same chess terminology#File nor on an adjacent file....
s – either yours or your opponent's. The idea behind the rule (actually a guideline) is that (1) if a player's rook is behind his passed pawn, the rook protects it as it advances, and (2) if it is behind an opponent's passed pawn, the pawn cannot advance unless it is protected along its way.

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."


This "rule" is usually true, but not always, as there are many exceptions. Tarrasch has been quoted as saying, "Always put the rook behind the pawn.... Except when it is incorrect to do so." .

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.

Illustrations

Here are two positions to illustrate the principle.

Rook behind own passed pawn: win


In the first diagram, White's rook is behind his passed pawn on the a-file
Chess terminology

This page explains commonly used terms in chess in alphabetical order. Some of these have their own pages, like Fork and Pin . For a list of unorthodox chess pieces, see fairy chess piece; for a list of terms specific to chess problems, see chess problem terminology; for a list of chess related games, see chess variants....
, 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
    Chess terminology

    This page explains commonly used terms in chess in alphabetical order. Some of these have their own pages, like Fork and Pin . For a list of unorthodox chess pieces, see fairy chess piece; for a list of terms specific to chess problems, see chess problem terminology; for a list of chess related games, see chess variants....
     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 Championship
World Chess Championship 1927

The 1927 World Chess Championship was played between Jos? Ra?l Capablanca and Alexander Alekhine. It was played in Buenos Aires from September 16 to November 29, 1927....
 match between Alekhine
Alexander Alekhine

Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion.At the age of twenty-two he was already among the best chess players in the world....
 and Capablanca
José Raúl Capablanca

Jos? Ra?l Capablanca y Graupera was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. He is often considered to be a candidate for the Comparing top chess players throughout history....
 is a classic example of the technique (see or ). The position is after White's 54. Ra4. White won on move 82 .




Rook behind enemy passed pawn: usually a draw


Similar positions with the rook behind the enemy passed pawn are usually a draw
Draw (chess)

In chess, a draw is one of the possible outcomes of a game, the others being a win for White and a win for Black . Traditionally, in tournaments a draw is worth a half point to each player, while a win is worth one point to the victor and none to the loser....
, but not always. The next position is after White's 35th move in the eighth game of the Henrique Mecking
Henrique Mecking

Henrique Mecking was a leading Brazilian chess master in the 1970s. He was a very strong player at an early age , drawing comparisons to Bobby Fischer, although he did not achieve the International Grandmaster title until 1971....
 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 .

In the game between Viswanathan Anand
Viswanathan Anand

Viswanathan Anand is an Indian chess International Grandmaster and the current World Chess Championship.Anand won the FIDE World Chess Championship in 2000, at a time when the world title was split....
 and Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Kramnik

Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik is a Russian chess International Grandmaster. He was Classical World Chess Championship 2000 from 2000 to 2006, and undisputed World Chess Champion from 2006 to 2007....
 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
Stalemate

Stalemate is a situation in chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check but has no legal moves. One of the rules of chess is that stalemate ends the game, with the result a draw ....
) on move 65 .

In the position between Wolfgang Unzicker
Wolfgang Unzicker

Wolfgang Unzicker was oneof the strongest Germany chess Grandmaster s from 1945 to about 1970.He decided against making chess his profession, choosing law instead....
 and Erik Lundin
Erik Lundin

Erik Lundin a Sweden chess master.In 1928, he won in Oslo, took 5th in Helsingborg, tied for 2nd-3rd in Stockholm . In 1929, he took 2nd in Gothenburg , and took 3rd in V?ster?s....
, White to move wins, however 48. f3+! is the only winning move. If the black pawn were 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.)


New analysis

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
    Chess terminology

    This page explains commonly used terms in chess in alphabetical order. Some of these have their own pages, like Fork and Pin . For a list of unorthodox chess pieces, see fairy chess piece; for a list of terms specific to chess problems, see chess problem terminology; for a list of chess related games, see chess variants....
  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.
Black must play very carefully to draw, rather than the very easy draw that was long thought to be the case.

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 .


Exceptions

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

  • In the rook and pawn versus rook endgame, if the pawn is not beyond its fourth rank, the best place for the defending rook is in front of the pawn , .


  • On a similar note, Cecil Purdy
    Cecil Purdy

    Cecil John Seddon Purdy, was an Australian, who was a chess International Master and inaugural World Correspondence Chess champion. Purdy earned the Grandmaster title at Correspondence Chess in 1953....
     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 .


  • 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 . See the frontal defense.


  • In the ending of a rook and pawn versus a rook, where the pawn is a knight pawn
    Chess terminology

    This page explains commonly used terms in chess in alphabetical order. Some of these have their own pages, like Fork and Pin . For a list of unorthodox chess pieces, see fairy chess piece; for a list of terms specific to chess problems, see chess problem terminology; for a list of chess related games, see chess variants....
     (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
    Philidor position

    The Philidor position usually refers to an important chess Chess endgame which illustrates a Draw technique when the defender has a king and rook versus a king, rook, and pawn ....
    , the defending rook draws on its first rank but loses if it is attacking the pawn from behind , .


  • In the ending of a rook versus a pawn or pawns, the rook is best placed on its first rank , .


  • In the ending of a rook and two isolated pawn
    Isolated pawn

    In chess, an isolated pawn is a pawn for which there is no friendly pawn on an adjacent Chess terminology#File. An isolated Queen 's pawn is often called an isolani....
    s versus a rook, it is generally better for the stronger side to protect the pawns from the side .


  • Yuri Averbakh
    Yuri Averbakh

    Yuri Lvovich Averbakh is a Russian chess player and author. His father was Germany Jewish, and his ancestors came from Germany and were named Auerbach, meaning "meadow brook." His mother was Russian....
     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 .


Short-Yusupov


In the position from Nigel Short
Nigel Short

Nigel David Short Order of the British Empire is often regarded as the strongest British chess player of the 20th century. He became a Grandmaster at age 19, and challenged for the World Chess Championship against Garry Kasparov at London 1993....
 and Artur Yusupov
Artur Yusupov

Artur Mayakovich Yusupov is a Germany International Grandmaster of chess, and a chess writer....
 in 1984, as an exception to the rule, since white's king is stuck in front of the pawn . 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.

Kharlov-Morozevich


The position from Kharlov-Morozevich
Alexander Morozevich

Alexander Morozevich is a Russian chess player. In the July 2008 F?d?ration Internationale des ?checs list, he had an Elo rating system of 2788, making him the second highest rated player in the world....
 as one in which the Tarrasch rule doesn't apply (for Black) . 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.


Kramnik-Beliavsky


The 1993 game between Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Kramnik

Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik is a Russian chess International Grandmaster. He was Classical World Chess Championship 2000 from 2000 to 2006, and undisputed World Chess Champion from 2006 to 2007....
 and Alexander Beliavsky
Alexander Beliavsky

Alexander Henrikhovich Beliavsky is a Ukraine chess International Grandmaster.Beliavsky was born in Lviv. He currently lives in Slovenia and he plays for the Olympic team there....
 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
Mikhail Botvinnik

Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik was a Russian International Grandmaster and long-time World Chess Championship. As an Electrical engineering, he was one of the very few famous chess players who achieved distinction in another career while playing top-class competitive chess....
 in the 1940s (with correct defense) .


Yusupov-Timman


In this 1992 game between Artur Yusupov
Artur Yusupov

Artur Mayakovich Yusupov is a Germany International Grandmaster of chess, and a chess writer....
 and Jan Timman
Jan Timman

Jan Timman is a Netherlands chess Grandmaster who was one of the world's leading players from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. At the peak of his career he was considered to be the best non-Soviet player and was known as "The Best of the West"....
, 35. Re4! wins but 35. Ra1? in the actual game only draws. The game was drawn twenty moves later .

See also

  • Chess strategy
  • Chess endgame
  • Rook and pawn versus rook endgame