Endgame: Queen up against the Rooks

For each game, I’ve included detailed information within the attachments for better understanding — so please don’t forget to go through them as well. For some games, I’ve also shared my personal perspective (as requested by an enthusiastic reader in one of the earlier blogs).

Factors affecting the position (Strategic Principles)

1. King Safety:

In this endgame, king safety often determines which side can play for an advantage. It is especially critical for the side with the rooks. An exposed king is a constant target for the queen, which can single-handedly generate a relentless series of checks and pick off pawns in the process. Conversely, if the side with the rooks maintains a well-protected king and a solid pawn structure with no major weaknesses, the queen may struggle to create real threats.

2. Coordination:

Coordination is a decisive factor in this battle. While the queen can operate independently and deliver continuous checks to keep the initiative, true winning chances often arise only when the queen coordinates effectively with her pawns. The same principle applies to the rooks: having connected rooks alone is not sufficient. They must move in harmony. It means that the rooks must switch files and ranks together to create concrete threats and decisive counterplay.

3. Pawn Structure:

Pawn structure plays a crucial role in shaping the evaluation of the position. The placement and mobility of pawns can determine whether the queen can deliver perpetual checks or whether the rooks can consolidate and gradually convert their material advantage. We will explore this aspect in detail in the following sections.

4. Activity:

As in every endgame, activity is vital. The side with the more activity will be in the driver seat. In some cases, both kings must actively participate to tip the balance. This would also be dealt in depth in the upcoming sections.

Key Guidelines

Instructive Examples

Huebner Robert - Ljubojevic Ljubomir (1978)

Interpolis-02
In this game's attached position, there are 2 major observations;

1. Uncoordinated black rooks
2. Black king being vulnerable on the h3-c8 diagonal

This allows white to pin the rook on e6 (thereby stopping the coordination) & use the h-pawn effectively.

Even if it was black's turn, it wasn't an easy task to hold. Too many issues in black's position makes it harder to exploit white's king on h1. For instance the pawn on d5 is always weak and losing it would be just more trouble. White's h-pawn could also be a nuisance to black.

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Wojtaszek Radoslaw - Carlsen Magnus (2019)

Wch Blitz
In the following scenario, there are a few key factors;

1. White's rooks are coordinated and are ready for an attack.
2. Black's king is not that all safe nor does the black queen has scope as of now.

If it weren't for the pawn majority on the queenside for black, Magnus could very well resign. However one cannot simply stall as white's rooks are quite dangerous in this position. They are not just ready for an attack, but also restricting the black queen. Magnus needs to be desparate right now. On the brighter side, white's over-extension on the kingside has weakened their king. If black could take advantage of that fact, Magnus might survive or even play for more.

In this game, luckily black was in time to play c3 that helped to create a quick counterplay — Not just on the queenside, but also on the kingside. Since black was able to create problems on both sides of the board, white's rooks couldn't stay on the offensive.

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Xu Yi - Carlsen Magnus (2023)

Titled Tuesday intern op 03rd Jan Early
The critical points of the following example are as follows;

1. White is neither having enough pawns nor a stable pawn structure to deal with black's rooks.
2. Black's d5 pawn is weak and is about to fall.
3. Black's King is exposed and is having a hard time, dealing with the white queen.
4. Black's overall pawn structure is good,
   In such a situation what must one do? Well, the answer is quite simple — The king's safety is the priority

Once black was able to secure the king, the game got one-sided in favour of Magnus Carlsen. White needed more tempi to create counterplay (which is basically impractical to ask).

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Karpov Anatoly - Anand Viswanathan (1998)

FIDE-Wch k.o.f
Similar game
In this one sided endgame, the essential features are as follows;

1. Both kings being weak (black's even weaker)
2. Connected pawns on the queenside for white.
3. Black not having sufficient material.

In such a situation, the tasks for the side with the rooks is simple — Get the king to safety so that the rooks could operate freely. However, in this case it might not be possible. So white's king should participate actively — in helping the queenside pawns to advance (while the rooks would try to control the checks). White can afford to lose one, but not both the pawns.

Had white tried to keep his king on the kingside while hoping that the queenside pawns could be pushed, Karpov would have not made any progress. It was necessary for white's king to take part in the action.

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Obsidian - Seer (2024)

TCEC 27 Premier 2024
The key points are outlined below;

1. White's king is safe while black's king remains exposed.
2. The black rooks need one move to connect.
3. Black's pawns are isolated while white's pawns are connected.
4. Queenside pawn majority for white.

In this endgame, black might seem okay. But not really. White's objective is simple — eliminate the b-pawn to obtain connected passers (as they will do the rest of the work)

White had to utlize the king when pushing the pawns — not just for support but also for protection.

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Le Quang Liem - Carlsen Magnus (2022)

chess24.com INT
Below are the primary considerations of this example;

1. White's b-pawn being unstoppable, especially when Rb2 is played.
2. The d3-pawn is going nowhere — implies that black has no 'actual passed pawn'.
3. Both Kings are safe.
4. Black has more space on the kingside.

In such a situation, where there is no passed pawn for the side with the queen — they must try to attack the king as soon as possible. This case is even scarier that white has a passed pawn that could be helped by a rook from behind. Now let us observe the game.

All that it required for Magnus was just one move 'f3' to weaken the white king — that gives counterplay. It is hard to criticize for not having found the draw (in the end) as it was not an obvious thing to a human eye.

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Deac Bogdan Daniel - Carlsen Magnus (2022)

Titled Tuesday intern op 29th Nov Late
The major findings of this position are as follows;

1. Momentarily safe kings.
2. Material is balanced.
3. Potential passed b-pawn for white.
4. Symmetical pawn chain on the kingside

Black has no weaknesses or issues in this position. Black's task is quite straightforward. Eliminate the b-pawn and stack the rooks on the second rank and the rest would be assured. White needs to do the hard work to prove the draw. Now let us dive deep into the game.

Deac had a couple ideas to hold the draw.

• Getting a quick attack on the king (by opening up the kingside)
• Utilizing the back-rank (& the f7-pawn weakness) when the rooks abandon it while attacking.

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Topalov Veselin - Carlsen Magnus (2012)

Wch Rapid, Astana
Highlights of the current position includes;

1. Very weak black's king.
2. White's active rooks.
3. Liquidation of the central pawns favouring white.

In this particular position, black is so lucky to be the one to make the move. Magnus now needs to choose between the greedy Qd3 and c4. Lets see what Magnus played and how the game concluded.

Despite having many mistakes from both sides, Magnus' decision of play c4 was the only was to keep things going for him in this seemingly lost endgame.

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Bacrot Etienne - Anand Viswanathan (2006)

Sofia MTel Masters 2nd
Here are the main takeaways;

1. White has a very unstable and weak pawn structure/arrangement.
2. White's king being very weak.
3. Black's ability — to utilize the d-pawn and to activate the king.
4. Pawn endgame favouring black due to material advantage and queenside pawn majority.

White's position is miserable and hopless. This position is a reminder — to not end up with such a pawn structure or weak king when it is a fight between the queen and rooks.

There was simply nothing that white could have done. Even 2 tempi wouldn't have been helpful.

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Duda Jan Krzysztof - Adams Michael (2021)

EU-Cup Online Final
The important points are summarized below;

1. A relatively safer king for white.
2. White having the potential to create another passed rook pawn.
3. Both sides have an almost stable pawn arrangement — except for the d & h pawns (for white & black respectively)

Black would need 2 moves to eliminate the a-pawn. In the process the h-pawn would be lost. White could now use the h-pawn to put the rooks to passive defence. There is simply no time for black to generate counterplay against the white king — g2 will always be stable and protected and mobilized if required.

Black is losing mainly because of not having any sorts of counterplay — unable to create a passed pawn, a weaker king & lack of time to attack white's king. This is because the white king can also take part in the action together with the kingside pawns and the queen.

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Stevic Hrvoje - Atalik Suat (2002)

SLO-chT 12th
The main points are as follows;

1. A much safer king for white.
2. e7 being weak for black and f7 pawn is quite important.
3. Queenside pawn majority for black.
4. One of the rook needs to stay close to the king to guard the e7-square and the f7-pawn.

As said in the 4th point — A single active rook isn't sufficient for black to play for a win. The funny thing is that the only place safe for the black king is on a8. But after that, if black needs to make progress then the queenside pawns must be pushed. Having too many weak squares (despite a stable pawn structure) in the postion makes it nearly impossible for black to play for a win.

Both sides can't make progress unless the other tries. Black certainly pressed for a win. But white was always in time to get counterplay.

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De Guzman Ricardo - Atalik Suat (2005)

Reno Far West op
The principled points are listed below;

1. Safer kings
2. Symmetrical pawn structure
3. Active black rooks and not-so active white queen

Black's main idea of penetration is via the 2nd rank. So does that mean that the b5-pawn is not quite of an importance. Well let us see how both players showcae their techniques in this typical position.

Black chose to keep the b5-pawn alive for a white so as to slow down white's counterplay.

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Shirov Alexei - Gurevich Mikhail (2004)

FRA-chT Poule Haute
This is one-of-a-kind position. The primary considerations are summarized below;

1. White has material advantage and connected central pawns.
2. White's king being vulnerable to checks and mating nets.

This should be a techincal win for white it wasn't for Shirov's king. Despite being several pawns down, black is fine here due to the counterplay options against the white king.

A single tempo at the initial position could have changed the fate of the game!

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Naiditsch Arkadij - Jakovenko Dmitrij (2009)

Dortmund SuperGM 37th
The key points are outlined as follows;

1. White's king can use the rooks as a shield — eventhough it is out in the open.
2. Black's king is stuck on the last rank.
3. Extremely active rooks.
4. Potential to created a passed pawn in the center for white.

Due to such great activity of white's rooks, black's only piece had to settle for passive defence. If white adopts the right technique, it is a written win.

White's one inaccurate move was black's game changer. Had it not been for that one check, white would have emerged with a victory.

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Jussupow Artur - Dokhoian Yury (1994)

Bundesliga 9394, Germany
The major findings about this position are below;

1. Pawn advantage for white.
2. Safer king for white.
3. Queenside pawn majority for white.
4. White's passed h-pawn remains strong.
5. Black's ability to create a passed pawn on the e-file or the f-file that would be helped by a rook.

In this position should white go for pawn grabbing or stop black's counterplay of the central pawns. Let us observe Artur Jussupow's play right away.

Having the king being cut off makes it hard for white to stop black's e & f pawns from advancing. Hence white had to go for counterplay against the black king.

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Nakamura Hikaru - Caruana Fabiano (2016)

Sinquefield Cup 4th
This was a very high quality endgame with an excellent understanding and demonstration from both players. Fabi's approach was simply astounding. I have explained all the necessary points and information in the game's annotation itself. So let us start without further ado.

Please read the text inscribed in the PGN thoroughly for better understanding.

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Matuszewski Michal - Bluebaum Matthias (2020)

POL-chT Ekstraliga
The main points are as follows;

1. Black's active rooks vs white's lonely queen
2. White's queen has to operate by herself in this endgame.
3. Black's dangerous d-pawn.

In this endgame, the best attempt for white is not stalemate but to seek perpetual checks. Matuszewski Michal finds the best way to hold the game to a draw.

This was some impeccable technique from white.

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It took a long time to annotate the games and create this blog.

I just hope that this was helpful to the peeps out there :)