(137) Lucena Position #3



1.Rf4
White takes possession of the 4th rank straight off [ White can not win by simply moving his king out and zig-zagging down the board towards the rook... 1.Ke7 Re2+ 2.Kd6 Rd2+ 3.Kc6 Rc2+ 4.Kb5 Rb2+ 5.Kc4 Rd2 and Black wins the pawn.; White actually has a second winning method available: 1.Ra1 with the idea of evicting Black's rook from the c-file, thus providing another route for the king to emerge without those bothersome checks. After the rook takes his place on c8, it will be protected by the pawn and in position to eventually protect the new queen on d8, effectively preventing Black from either exchanging rooks or defending the queening square. 1...Kf7 2.Ra8 Rc1 ( If 2...Ke6 3.Ke8 Rh2 threatening mate on h8. 4.Ra6+ Kf5 5.d8Q ) 3.Rc8 the first step in the process; the Black rook must leave the c-file. 3...Rd1 4.Kc7 Rc1+ 5.Kb6 Rb1+ 6.Kc5 the second part: White will zig-zag down the board until Black runs out of checks, then queen his pawn.]

1...Rc1 2.Ke7 Re1+ 3.Kd6 Rd1+ 4.Ke6
[ 4.Kc6 also works.]

4...Re1+
[ If 4...Rd2 then 5.Rf5 intending 6.Rd5, again shutting out the Black rook.]

5.Kd5 Rd1+ 6.Rd4
and once again the pawn will queen. *