Rating 1696 · Advanced · advanced pawn, crushing, deflection, endgame, long, promotion.
White: king f3; rook e1; pawns e7/g4. Black: king c4; rook e8; pawns b3/b7. Material is balanced. Black to move.
Black's solution exploits the fact that White's king and rook are tied to stopping the e7 pawn, leaving the b-pawn unstoppable. After 1...b2, White must choose: allow the pawn to promote, or activate the king. If 2.Kg5 (trying to support the pawn), then 2...Rxe7 3.Rxe7 b1=Q wins—Black queens with check imminent and White's rook is too far away. White's e7 pawn is advanced but undefended; the rook on e1 is the only piece preventing ...Rxe7, so once the king moves away to push the g-pawn, the rook must capture on e7, allowing Black's b-pawn to promote unobstructed. The deflection works because White cannot simultaneously stop both pawns—the king cannot defend e7 from g5, and moving the rook away from e1 permits the capture.
In rook endgames with multiple passed pawns, calculate whether your opponent's pieces are overextended defending one threat while you advance another. The key recognition here is that White's rook is pinned to the defense of e7 by distance and piece count—it's the only guardian of that square. When your own passed pawn is close to promotion (b2 is two moves away), a forcing push that makes your opponent's king commit to the wing often wins because the rook cannot defend both. Train yourself to count moves: if your pawn queens in 2 moves and the opponent's pawn is defended only by a rook that needs 3 moves to stop you, the race is already won.
advanced pawn, crushing, deflection, endgame, long, promotion, rook endgame. The key move is b2.
FEN: 4r3/1p2P3/8/8/2k3P1/1p3K2/8/4R3 w - - 0 47
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Analysis generated with Stockfish 18 and AI assistance. Puzzle data from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).