Lucena Position





I want to arm you with a couple of things that will help your chess endgame play. The Lucena Position is named after the Spaniard, Luis Ramirez de Lucena. It's a well known procedure used to produce a forced win in a rook and pawn vs rook ending.

Upon first glance it appears that the attacking side is destined to be frustrated. It seems the defending rook will indefinitely postpone promotion. This by simply subjecting the stronger king to endless checks whenever he vacates the queening square.

But the stronger side has a fail-safe plan to thwart the defenders and win the game. He will give his opponent the unpleasant choice of giving up his rook for the pawn or allowing the promotion. Either will result in a dead loss. If you're well versed on the Lucena you can write an article or upload an annotated Lucena endgame.


Rook and Pawn Endgames




Chess Strategy: Lucena Position







Lucena Position

About 10% of all chess games develop into rook and pawn endgames. That's more than any other kind. It's important to be able to play these endings with confidence and with a concrete plan.


It's easy to panic if you don't have a very definite way forward. All it takes is one slightly miscalculated move and your advantage could be wiped out. Worse still you could find yourself on the ropes. Better to avoid complications and remove all risk from the equation.


If you have a slight advantage going into this kind of endgame like three pawns vs two then it is a good idea to simplify down by trading off two of your pawns. Then with the final pawn you play for the Lucena which is a won game.









Can You Seal the Lucena Position Deal?

The Lucena Position is a pivotal piece of chess theory in Rook and Pawn endgames. It is simply must know material for every player's memory bank of chess endgame building blocks. Maybe you would like to leave an article here on the Lucena. If you like you could enter an annotated game that reached the Lucena Position, either a game played by top class players or perhaps a game you played yourself. Not saying you're not top class! What have you got to say about it? Can You Seal the Lucena Position Deal?.

Lucena Position Articles and Games by other Contributors

Click below to see Lucena contributions from other Contributors...

Remarkable Endgame 
If a chess player is really good at endgame play it can be guaranteed that he possesses a clear understanding of the Lucena Position. Luis Ramirez de Lucena, …

Lucena Technique 
The Lucena position is an endgame position named after Luis Ramirez de Lucena and it is one of the most famous and important positions in chess endgame …

Click here to write your own.

Moving On




Chess Strategy: Philidor Position







Philidor Position

The Lucena is a pretty nifty resource in the rook and pawn endgame. When you have this procedure nailed down it will help you win many such games. Every good player should know it. How to engineer it, how to execute it.


Virtually any rook and pawn endgame can be simplified to it. It is an absolutely won position for the stronger side. The procedure is straight-forward and easy to learn as you have seen.


On the flip side if you find yourself in this kind of endgame as the side without the pawn, don't worry. You can avoid disaster. You must play to avoid the Lucena, you must instead reach another position which prevents it. That position is the Philidor Position.


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