Today I learned about Bahr's rule and I was curious to know if there was a book that has compiled such principles.
"Dvoretzky's Endgame Manual"
There are literally hundreds.
"Chess Fundamentals" by Capablanca
What's Bahr's rule?
Bahr's rule helps determine quickly the result of KPPkp with White having a blocked Rook pawn and an outside passed pawn.
See for example: http://www.fraserheightschess.com/Documents/Bahrs_Rule.pdf
In Dvoretsky's "Endgame Manual" 5th edition, page 49, Dvoretsky has a discussion of Bahr's rule with some additions for positions the rule does not cover.
See for example: http://www.fraserheightschess.com/Documents/Bahrs_Rule.pdf
In Dvoretsky's "Endgame Manual" 5th edition, page 49, Dvoretsky has a discussion of Bahr's rule with some additions for positions the rule does not cover.
@jomega so basically the message of Bahr's rule is you should advance your blocked pawns but not the passed ones too far when there are no pieces left, did I get that right?
@xPhilosophusx Right.
If you can get the Rook pawn (the one that will get blocked eventually) past the middle of the board, then Dvoretsky says it is always a win. You will capture the opponent's Rook pawn and get your King to the escort square on the Knight file while the opponent is capturing your passed pawn. Otherwise, you need some extra tempi, and so don't want your passed pawn too advanced. Dvoretsky lays out a "formula" for figuring out the tempi fight. Dvoretsky's formula is more complex than the line drawing method of Bahr, but the formula works in more positions.
Of course if you have time you can just count. How long is it going to take to capture the opponent's Rook pawn, get your King out of the way (shouldering as needed) versus the opponent capturing your passer and getting to the corner in time.
If you can get the Rook pawn (the one that will get blocked eventually) past the middle of the board, then Dvoretsky says it is always a win. You will capture the opponent's Rook pawn and get your King to the escort square on the Knight file while the opponent is capturing your passed pawn. Otherwise, you need some extra tempi, and so don't want your passed pawn too advanced. Dvoretsky lays out a "formula" for figuring out the tempi fight. Dvoretsky's formula is more complex than the line drawing method of Bahr, but the formula works in more positions.
Of course if you have time you can just count. How long is it going to take to capture the opponent's Rook pawn, get your King out of the way (shouldering as needed) versus the opponent capturing your passer and getting to the corner in time.
@jomega I think this whole Bahr thing is for knowing it fast when still in the middlegame, where thinking 30 moves ahead would just be too much.
If, you are going to read a book. Not a chess book.
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