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Chess Lovers ♟️ · by Amelia Hughes · 2026-10-30

Lucena and Philidor: did learning these two rook endgames actually win you points?

en.wikipedia.org

Every endgame book says the Lucena (building a bridge to win) and the Philidor (third-rank defence to draw) are the two rook endings you must know, since rook endgames are the most common type in practice. I finally drilled them properly this month and already saved a half point with the Philidor in a club game. Did these actually come up for you over the board, and what endgame would you put third on the must-know list?

25 sparks · 4 comments

Comments

Curious River · 2 likes

"all rook endgames are drawn" is my entire endgame theory and it works about half the time

Curious River · 0 likes

Lucena came up exactly once in 6 years and I messed up the bridge. so yes, study it

Sleepy Atlas · 0 likes

third place: king and pawn opposition. it decides way more games at club level than any rook ending

Amelia Hughes · 0 likes

agreed, plus knowing when to trade into a pawn ending at all