tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6731383362544628080.post1951891745168361843..comments2024-01-29T11:56:08.613-08:00Comments on Soapstone's Studio: Practical Rook Endgames 15: Vancura CaveatsSoapstonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09615415471957675272noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6731383362544628080.post-55933895913890901152016-09-29T13:12:36.006-07:002016-09-29T13:12:36.006-07:00Nice post! Some of these variations were new to me...Nice post! Some of these variations were new to me. The position I suggested appears in Dvoretsky's book right after Vancura. He attributes it to Peter Romanovsky, and refers to it as the "Romanovsky position." He also puts it in blue, meaning he thinks you should have it memorized!<br /><br />Romanovsky studied this ending in more detail, and found that in the original position Black draws only if White's king falls in a weirdly shaped zone of squares:<br /><br />http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zNB31RnW0Mw/UVfnrXCxd7I/AAAAAAAAAnE/e-HXKKKQR_k/s1600/Drawing+zone.bmp<br /><br />Your analysis already clears up two cases:<br /><br />If White's king is on e6, we go 1...Rh1! I remember this was so surprising when I first found it.<br />If White's king is on f5, we go 1...Ra5+!<br />I think like your preference to go 1...Ra5 for simplicity if the king is on f4.<br /><br />I've been meaning to learn the full Romanovsky drawing zone for some time now, but I've been putting it off, as it seems REALLY pointless, even compared to some of my other adventures, like memorizing key positions in KQ vs KR.Todd Bryanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09678958123728884949noreply@blogger.com