Mate with king and rook against king is the second essential mate. It takes up to 16 moves, and it cannot be done without your own king: a lone rook cannot cut off the king and guard the squares next to it at the same time.
The final position
The mate is delivered on the edge of the board. The kings face each other (this is called the opposition), and the rook gives check along the edge.
White to move. Mate in 1
Show solution
1. Ra8# — the white king keeps the black king from stepping forward, and the rook sweeps the whole eighth rank.
How to drive the king back
- Cut off the king with the rook. Place the rook so that the enemy king is in a “box” — a part of the board bounded by a file and a rank.
- Bring up your king. Put it opposite the enemy king, one square apart.
- Check from the opposition. When the kings face each other, the rook gives check and the enemy king retreats by one line.
- A waiting move. If the enemy king steps sideways instead of into the opposition, make a quiet rook move along the same line without letting the king out of the box.
- Repeat until the king is on the edge — then deliver mate.
1.
Mistakes to avoid
- The rook next to the enemy king. If the king can take it and your king is far away, the rook is lost. Keep the rook at a distance — at the far end of its line.
- Stalemate. When the king is in a corner with one square left, it is easy to take that square away. Before every move, check that your opponent has a move.
- Endless checks. Checks without your king's help achieve nothing: the enemy king simply walks up to the rook. Bring your king up first.
Practice
Mate with the rook on the analysis board from different positions. Once you have mastered it, you can convert any endgame with an extra rook — and in practice there are very many of them.