Chess Patterns   ❯   Rook and Queen Techniques   ❯   Lucena Position

  • Lucena Position strategy card with definition, diagram and tips - front
  • Lucena Position strategy card with definition, diagram and tips - back
  • Lucena Position chess icon
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Lucena Position

Lucena Position

The Lucena Position is a fundamental position occurring in Rook and pawn vs. Rook endgames. The main characteristic of this position is that the winning side has a passed pawn on the 7th rank, but has trouble promoting it because their King is either stuck in front the pawn or under constant checks from the opponent's Rook. The solution is to use one's own Rook as a "bridge" (hence the bottom-right symbol on the icon of the card) and shelter both King and pawn from the enemy Rook.

In the diagram above, White plays 1.Rd4, keeping Black's King as far as possible and preparing to support White's King march. A typical continuation is: 1...Ra1 2.Kc7 Rc1+ 3.Kb6 Rb1+ 4.Kc6 Kc1+ 5.Kb5 Rb1+ 6.Rb4 and the pawn soon promotes.

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Master the Lucena Position

When we started adding a playful touch to chess learning, we looked through thousands of videos and hundreds of books to find the best resources out there. Here's our curated selection of the best content we encountered on the Lucena Position. We also included some smaller creators who are growing fast and we believe deserve your attention. Check out these resources if you want to master this type of endgame position.

 
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