In the previous level "Drawing with the rook pawn", we saw how the rook pawn can help defend this endgame by creating stalemate threats, if the strong king is far away from the pawn. In this level we are going to look at examples where the king is close enough to the pawn to allow the strong side to win.

The two winning plans when the king is close enough

If the king is close to the pawn, the strong side can create checkmate threats, and either force checkmate or force the pawn to promote to a knight, to defend against the checkmate threat. Depending on the position of the king, there are two different ways to win with checkmate threats.

The first plan is to threaten a checkmate on the back-rank or on the second rank like this:

This can be achieved if the king is close to the f2-square (or the corresponding square for other rook-pawns). Here is an example:

Click the diagram to practice this.

The other plan is to allow the opponent to promote to a queen, but set up a mating net with the king on g3, and the queen on the second rank:

In this diagram, if it is White's turn, White can checkmate immediately, for example with Qf2#. But even if it is Black's turn, Black's pieces are so badly placed that they are unable to defend against the checkmate threat.

This can be achieved if the king is close to the g3-square (or the corresponding square for other rook-pawns). Here is an example:

First, bring the queen to the second rank with checks, then walk with the king to g6. Click the diagram to practice this.

Winning zones and an exception

The king has to be no more than two steps away from the f2 square for the first method to succeed, or no more than two steps away from the g3 square for the second method. The result of queen vs rook pawn depends almost entirely on how close the attacking king is to the pawn. Some endgame books draw pictures of these winning zones, but I find these very hard to remember, and they also depend on the exact position of the pieces. It is easier to remember the two winning methods and their key squares.

There is also an exception to the winning zones, which you should be aware of (and this isn't even mentioned in some endgame books). In the following position, the black king is four steps away from the key square g6, but Black can win anyway:

The white king is stalemated, and the black king is far away. However, Black can win by breaking the stalemate and getting closer with the king with 1...Kg3!. After 2.Kg8 Kf4+ (with a discovered check), the black king is now only two steps away from the key-square g6, and Black can win with the second method described above. Click the diagram to solve this puzzle.