Similar Positions May Be Drawn
de la Villa, position 10.4| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
| 8 | 8 | ||||||||
| 7 | 7 | ||||||||
| 6 | 6 | ||||||||
| 5 | 5 | ||||||||
| 4 | 4 | ||||||||
| 3 | 3 | ||||||||
| 2 | 2 | ||||||||
| 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h |
Not all similar positions are wins. In this position, Black draws because he can safely check from the side. For this defense to work, there must be at least three files between the defending rook and the attacking king, and the defending king must be positioned such that it doesn't block the checks; that is, the defending king is on the "short side" of the pawn (the one with fewer files between the pawn and the edge of the board) (de la Villa 2008:127–28). (See the "short side defense" at rook and pawn versus rook endgame for more details.)
Read more about this topic: Lucena Position
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