A battle of a queen against two rooks is always sharp and complicated. Two rooks are said to be slightly stronger than a queen, but the correct assessment depends on a situation on the board. As a rule, tactical players prefer to have a queen whilst posi
tional players prefer two rooks.
13.1 QUEEN IS STRONGER THAN TWO ROOKS 13.11 Creation of mating threats
If the defender's pieces are passive, the stronger side's queen, king and pawns can weave a mating net.
Salvioli 1 887
Karpov - Timman Tilburg, 1 977
� � � � � �
608.
After1 . 1rc41 ,
threatening 2. 609.1 . 1113 li
g4 [1 . . . cr!th4 2. 'ffh3 'fff4+ followed by 3. 'ffb4 with mate mate]2.
�liaa4 3. 1rd5 .JigS
[3 ...on the next move , Black is g5 4. 'fff7 mate]
4.
g41 liag4 5. 11131
defenseless.
1 . . . lia3
[or 1 . . . Iid2 Zugzwang.5
... lif5 6.
'tlg4 mate. · 2. 'fff 1 .il d 1 3 . 'fff4 cr!tb1 4. 'ffb4 In this position too Black is helpfollowed by 5. 'ffb2 mate]
2. Cil>b4
less, his king cannot escape from aCil>b2 3. 1!fe2+-
mating net.13.12 Rooks are disconnected or passive
In these cases the stronger sides gets an opportunity to win one of the rooks with checks.
1 28
Gromov
61 0 6.
+-610.
The black rooks are disconnected and this gives White an opportunity to win one of them by a series of precise checks.
1 .
�I The aim is not achieved by 1 . �e3? �g3 2. 'iff2 �h3 3. 't\ft5 Ilg4 4. 'ifh5 Ilh4 5. 't\Vt3 �h2 6. �f2 (or 6. 'ift2�h3 7. �3 I:lg4! , and it is Black who has winning chances) 6 . . . Ilg1 !
1
. • .cSg31
[ 1 . . . �g 1 2. 'ifb1 +-]2. 1fd3 Cifif2 3.
1115cSg3 4. ..e5 Cifif2
All Black's moves are forced.5. 1fc5 cSg3
No better is 5 . . . �e 1 6. 't\Ve7�d 1 7. 'ifd7 �c1 8 . 'ifd2 �b1 9.
'ifb2 mate.
6. •c7 cSg2 7. 'flb7 cSg1 8. 'flb1
, and White wins.61 1 .
In this example Black also loses a rook.1 . 'We7 cSgB 2. cSg5!
liaS
The alternatives do not save either: 2 . . . !lt8 3 . �g6 ll h6 4. �h6 I:lt6 5. �g5! +-; 2 . . . Ilc2 3. 't\fe6�g7 (3 . . . �f8 4. 't\ft5) 4. 't\fg6+-;
2 . . . Ilc1 3. 't\Ve8 �g7 4. 'ife5 �g8 5. 'ifb8 �h7 6. 'ifh2 �g8 7. 't\fa2
�g7 8 . 'ifb2+-
3. •e6 cSg7 4. •f6 cSgB 5. cSg6 lih7 6. 'We6
Ci!?fa7.
1ff5
Bad is 7. �h7? due to 7 . . . I:la7 8 . �g6 llg7 9 . �f6 (9. �f5 Ilf7=) 9 . . . Ilg6! with a draw.7
. . •cSgB 8.
'Wd5
followed by9. •aa,
winning .61 1
61 2
QUEEN AGAINST TWO ROOKS
Rinck 1 9 1 6
Jansa - Sokolov Gausdal, 1 990
+-=
6 1 2.
Black must coordinate his rooks, otherwise he will lose.1
. • .cSa7!
The only move. Black loses after both 1 . . . Iltc5 2. �d4 Ila5 (2 .. . �a7 3 . 't\fe7+-) 3 . %\Va8+-; and 1 . . . I:lt4 2. �d3+-2. a61?
Nothing is achieved by 2. c7 Iltc5 3 . �d4 Ild5! 4. 'ifd5 Ild5 5. �d5 �b7 6.�d6 �c8! with a draw; or 2. 't\fe7
�a6 3 . c7 Iltc5 4. �d4 I:ld5 5.
�e4 I:le5! 6 . 'ife5 Ile5 7. �e5
�b7=
2 ... lifc5
Bad is 2 . . . �a6? 3.'t\Va8 �b6 4. '8b7+-; 2 . . . Ilbc5? 3.
�d4 �a6 4. 't\Va8 �b6 5 . 'ti'b7
�as 6. c7+-
3. cSd4 cSa6?
This loses. No better is 3 . . . Ilc6? 4.QUEEN IS STRONGER THAN TWO ROOKS
Yi'd7 �b6 S. lib7+-; or 3 . . . lic1 ? 4. 'fi'e7! �a6 (4 . . . �a8 S. c7+-) S.
'fi'a3+-; A draw could have been obtained by 3 . . . lic2! 4. 'fi'e7 (or 4.
c7 li bcS=) 4 . . . �a6 S. c7 li bcS
13.13 Passed pawn
1 29 6 . 'fi'cs lies 7. �cs �b7=
4. 'Ira&
�b6 5. 'lrb7 �as 6. 'lra7 �b4 7.
'lre71 +-
[7 .. . lias 8 . c7] Black resigned .A queen lends effective support to passed pawns. A passed pawn sup
ported by a queen is able to tie both the opponent's rooks, whilst at the same time the queen can exert pressure all over the board.
Fischer - Byrne USA, 1 963
61 3 /:::,.
613.
White's plan involves a king's transfer to b7 followed by 'fi'd7 or '@e6 , after wh ich the fi rst of h i s c-pawn queens.1 . �b3 g S 2 . �a4 Ila8 3. c4 h5 4. c5
The second cpawn is advanced closer to the pro
motion square.
4 ... h4 5. �bS �h8 6. a4 �g8
[6 . . . fS 7. '@c6 �g7 8 . '@d7+- ( o r 8 . 'fi'e6 !+-)]7 . �b6 f5
[or 7 . . . �h8 8. '@a8! liaS 9. �b7 ilf8 1 0. c8'ti'+-]
8. 'lrdSI
Now 8 .�a8? leads only to a draw: 8 . . . Haa 9 . �b7 ilf8 1 0. ca� ilea 1 1 .
�c8 g4=
8 .. . �g7 9. �b7 �g6 1 0.
1fe6 �g7
[ 1 0 . . . �hS does not save either in view of 1 1 . c6 g4 1 2. �fS!lifS 1 3 . fg �g4 1 4. �a8 lif8 1 S.
�b7 �g3 1 6. ca'@ lies 1 7. �ca
�g2 1 8 . c7 h3 1 9. �b7 h2 20.
9 .
Miles - Lj uboj evic Linares, 1 985
61 4 /:::,. .
c8'@ h 1 '@ 2 1 . �c6+-]
1 1 . •e7
�g6 1 2. f41 gf 1 3. 'lrh4
Black resigned .614.
Black's task is t o advance his pawn to a2, after which the white rooks will be tied . Then he attacks the opponent's K-side with his king and pawns. There is no way for White to counter this plan .
1 .
�1
No better is 1 . �d 1 �b3 2.�d2 a2 3. lia1 '@d3 4. �c1 ; or 1 . ild2 a2 2 . il a 1 '@b 1 3 . ild 1 '@b2-+
1 . . . •b3 2. Ilc7
[2. ilc3 '@bS followed by 3 . . . a2]2 .. . a2 3.
Ila7 'lrb2 4. Ile1 g51 5. g3 'lrb1 1
Depriving White of any activity.
6.
Ila8 �g6 7. h3 fS 8. Ila6 �h5 9.
Ila8 h6 1 0. Ila7
[ 1 0. Has �d3 1 1 . ile2 ( 1 1 . �g2 �d2-+) 1 1 . . . �d 1 !1 30
1 2. lle1 't!¥b 1 -+ zugzwang]
1 0
•••f4 1 1 . ef gf 1 2. gf �h4 1 3. lla3 h5 1 4. f5 �g5 1 5. lla5 1fd3 1 6. lle2 1fd1 1 7. lle1 1fb1 1 1 8. lla8
[ 1 8.h4 <ii!?f6]
1 8 ... �5 1 9. llf8 �g5 20.
QUEEN AGAINST TWO ROOKS
lla8 �h4 21 . lla3 1fb2 22. lla8
�h3 23. �g1 1i'b1 24. lla3 �g4 25. llf1 h4 26. lla8 h3
White resigned .13.2 SUCCESSFUL BATTLE OF TWO ROOKS AGAINST A QUEEN
In these endings the decisive factor is the coordination between the rooks. The best situation is when the rooks are doubled either on the penultimate rank, or on the b- or g-files, with the opponent's king being cut on the edge of the board.
Rinck 1 9 1 6
61 5 6.
+-6 1 5.
This example perfectly demonstrates the power of two rooks doubled on the 7th rank.
1 . llh7
�g8 2. llh� �h8 3. llb�I N�
thing is achieved by 3 . llf7 't!¥d6=;
or 3 . lla7 '@g8 .4. <ii!?f2 't!¥f8 5. <ii!?g 1 '@g7! with a draw.
3 ... �g8
I f 3 . .. '@g8 , then 4. <ii!?f1 't!¥f8 (the queen is deprived of the c4-square) 5.llf7 '@gB 6. lla7 �ea 7. ll h7 <ii!?gB 8. llag7 <ii!?f8 9 . llh8, winning the queen .
4. lla7
�h85. llf7 1!re8 6.
c!>r2
�g8
[or 6 . . . '@g8 7. <ii!?f1 +-]7.
llg7 �8 8. llh7,
and White wins.This study made quite an impres
sion on me - I understood what the
7th rank is. Soon I managed to carry out the following combina
tion .
Panchenko - Zaichik Leningrad, 1 976
61 6 6.
6 1 6. 1 . Af71 lle7 2. de llff7
Or 2 . . . Ae5 3 . !le5! lle5 (3 . . . lLle5 4.Ae6) 4. 't!¥f4 g5 5. 't!¥c4±; More stubborn would have been 2 . . . lLle5 3. Ae5 He5 4. �g4 with an extra pawn for White.
3. 1!rf71 llf7 4. e6
�e5
The alternatives are even worse.5. ef 1ff7 6. Ae5 Ae5 7.
lle5 1!ra2
8.Ilea
�c79. lle7 �c8 1 0. llde1 1
Starting my combination , I planned to double my rooks on the 7th rank. The immediate 1 0 . lldd7, however, does not work due
SUCCESSFUL BATTLE OF TWO ROOKS AGAINST A QUEEN 1 3 1 to 1 0 .. . Vib2, threatening to give
6 1 8.
Black ski l lful ly exploits a perpetual check by ffc 1 -f4.1 0. . .
poor position o f t h e opponent's1!fb2 1 1 . llt7!
White protects the king.1 .. . lld81 2. 1fh3
[2. Vies f4-square and prepares to double loses right off due to 2 . . . �h7 3.his rooks.
1 1 .. . �d8 1 2. llee7 '1fc3
¥Wa1 ild2]2 .. . lld1 3. �g2 lld2 4.
1 3. llb7
Here Black resigned , but I�g1
[4. �g3 ildf2-+]4 .. . llb71 5.
was disappointed - so pleasant was
'lff1 llb2 6. h4 llbc2 7. h5
[7. g5 the position . �g8-+]7 .. . gh 8. gh �h61 9. c5
Georgiev - lonescu Sofia, 1 986
61 7
D.+-617.
White wins by force. 1 .llf3
�h4 2. llf81 'lfc1 3. �h2 'lfd2 4.
llg2 'llh6
The only move.5. llf3 'lfe6 6. llfg31
(7. llg8)6 ... 'lld7 7.
llg8 'lfh3 8. �g1 'lfe3 9. �h1 'lfc1 1 0. llg 1 'lfh6 1 1 . ll8g2
Black resigned. A study in a practi cal game.
61 8
Stanciu - Vaisman Romania, 1 978
No better is 9. ¥Wf6 �h5 1 0. Vi'e5
�g4 1 1 . Vi'f5 �g3, and the black ki n g h ides from c h ec ks on the Q-side.
9 .. . llb21
But not 9 . . . �h5 because of 1 0. ti'h3 !1 0. �h 1
[ 1 0.ti'e 1 ilg2 1 1 . �f1 llh2-+]
1 0 .. . llf2 1 1 . 'lfd3
[ 1 1 . ti'g 1 � h 5 1 2.ti'd 1 �h4 1 3. ti'e 1 llbe2]
1 1 . ..
llbd2 1 2. 'lfe3 �h7 1 3. �g 1 llfe2
White resigned .
The following two examples de
monstrate the power of two rooks in realization of a positional advan
tage.
Gurgenidze - Averbakh Baku, 1 96 1
61 9
D.61 9.
White's plan is typical for positions of this type: 1 ) to attack the f7-pawn twice, thus forcing Black to advance it; 2) to double the rooks on the 7th rank; Black will have to defend passively; 3) to transpose into a won pawn ending .1 . �g2 �h6 2. lld 1 'lfe2 3. lld7
1 32
•c2
Black's only chance is to attack one of the rooks.
4. litig1 f5
Black is unable to avoid this weak
ening. Still, more stubborn would have been 4 . . . 't!fe2 .
5 . .fle1 •ca 6.
.flee7 1rh8 7. f41 .. a1 8. lifih2 'eb2 9. lifih3 •ha 1 0. lib7 •ga 1 1 . .flf7
White prepares to transfer his king to the a-side.
1 1 .. . 'lrha 1 2. litig2
620.
Black has an obvious advantage , and the young Moldavian player accurately converts it into a win .
1 . . . .fl8d51 2. b4
The best chance.2 .. . lig5 3. g4 ab 4. 'eb4 .flgd5 5. •e4 lies 6. •ea lifih7 7.
'lre1 .flcc2 8. •f1 Cilig8 9. a5 .fla2
First of all Black must eliminate the a-pawn .