Endgames with Rooks on the Board (10.5h Video Running Time) 

Endgames with Rooks on the Board

The camp Endgames with Rooks on the Board is already a digital product. This product includes all the videos from the camp as well as the PGN file related to the training sessions. Overall, the material consists of 10.5 hours of video and a PGN database, which includes 118 files! 

You will find the following lectures:

✅ Rook Endgames - Important Theoretical Positions

✅ Practical Rook Endgames - Part 1

✅ Practical Rook Endgames - Part 2

✅ Rook and Bishop versus Rook and Knight

✅ Rook versus Minor Pieces - Part 1

✅ Rook versus Minor Pieces - Part 2

✅ Rook against Queen

Now, we shall take a look at the different lectures.

Rook Endgames - Important Theoretical Positions

In the introduction to this lecture, GM Ioannis Papaioannou writes, "

"Let me begin in an unusual way: by describing which endgames should (or should not) be studied.

The one you see on the board is a theoretical endgame—an endgame with very few pieces on the board that has occurred in several games and will likely appear in future games, where the correct play is already well established. Should we start our endgame training by memorizing such endgames (of which there are hundreds)? It depends on what kind of player you are.

If you are a strong amateur player (rated below 2400) who wants to improve your game, then from a practical standpoint, there is no need to memorize such positions. They will appear very rarely in your games. However, it does make sense to go through a book on endgames at least once—whatever you retain from it will become your knowledge! If you are considering becoming a professional chess player, then you should study these theoretical positions. Doing so will enhance your overall play.

In general, if your rating is below 2400, it’s more important to study practical endgames with many pieces on the board and develop the correct way of thinking."

SAMPLE EXAMPLE

Practical Rook Endgames - Parts 1 and 2

Rook endgames are the most frequent in chess -  because of the presence of the pawns the rooks get activated later in the game. Why are (rook) endings so difficult? The scientific explanation is that, since the chessboard is "empty", the pieces acquire a lot of freedom and can move in many directions!

You can try to analyze on your own the following position (the answer is given in the lecture).

How should White continue?

Rook and Bishop versus Rook and Knight

In this lecture will study the endgames where one side has a rook and bishop whereas the other has a rook and knight. The lecture is divided into the following sections:

1) Good Knight Versus Bad Bishop - In this section, we will examine games where one side has a good knight and the other has a bad bishop with rooks still on the board. However, note that this alone does not determine the evaluation of the position. You should never evaluate a position based solely on this factor, as there are various other elements to consider. For example, a centralized king in the endgame can be more valuable than a good knight.

2) Wrong Coloured Bishop - This is a very interesting topic in Rook-Bishop vs. Rook-Knight endgames. We will explore an extremely common theme where the side with the Rook and Bishop has an outside passed pawn. However, due to the wrong-colored Bishop, winning the game is not straightforward.

3) Dominated Knight - A bishop has the potential to dominate a knight, as in the case of a bishop on c4 versus a knight on c1. We are going to see a game with a similar theme in action.

SAMPLE EXAMPLE

Rook versus Minor Pieces - Parts 1 and 2

We will start the lecture "Rook against Minor  Pieces" by studying basic positions without pawns. We will briefly go through some theoretical endgames to clarify certain things.

This endgame is theoretically draw, though White may try to win and "torture" Black for some time. If we end up in a situation like this as Black, we must be psychologically prepared for this. Let's see how Black should defend:

Rook against Queen

In this lecture, we'll focus on endgames involving a queen vs. rook, both with and without pawns. Our primary goal is to understand how to play as the winning side by making small, restricting moves. Remember, simply checking your opponent isn't enough to secure a win. Additionally, you should learn to recognize and evaluate fortress positions, even when transitioning from a completely different endgame.

SAMPLE EXAMPLE