It sounds much more like the latter, but in any event there is a lot of truth in it, sometimes even when one player is two pawns up.
The ending of rook, f-pawn and h-pawn versus rook "has been notorious ever since the famous game Marshall-Rubinstein, San Sebastian 1911," according to Reuben Fine in Basic Chess Endings.
I reached such an ending last month in the second round of the Highlands Open in Trebic, part of the Czech Tour.
Here is the position after White's 51.Rxa3:
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Black to play and draw in Spanton (1858) - Svante Norlander (1583) |
Here is a subbed down version of the convention (a fuller explanation is available on Wikipedia):
!: The only move which maintains the current evaluation of a win or a draw. An ! is used no matter how trivial the move in question, unless it is the only legal move.
!!: A particularly difficult-to-find ! move.
?: A move which negatively affects the evaluation of the position. ie turns a win into a draw or a draw into a loss.
??: An obviously bad ? move.
51...Rd1+
Seven other moves maintain the draw, including 51...Rc1 and 51...Kd7 - evidence that the drawing margin in this ending is wide indeed.
52.Ke3 Rh1 53.Ra4 Ke5 54.h5 Kf6 55.h6 Re1+
No fewer than 10 moves maintain the draw here, but they do not include 55...Rxh6?, which becomes a lost pawn ending after 56.Ra6+ Kg7 57.Rxh6 Kxh6 58.Kf4 (or Ke4 or Kd4, or even Kd3).
56.Kf4 Re8?
Only one rook move draws, 57...Re7, and so does the natural-looking 57...Kg6 and even 57...Kf7.
57.Ra6+
57.Ra7 also wins.
57...Kf7
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White to play and find the only move that keeps the position a win |
That wasn't so difficult. Clearly White's king and f-pawn need to advance.
58...Re1
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White again to play and find the only move that keeps the position a win |
I needed to find 59.Ra8! The point is that Black's king has no useful move, while 59...Rh1 can be simply met by 60.h7 (60.Kg5 also wins).
59...Rh1 60.Ra7+ Kg8!
A fairly obvious choice, but a sign that the drawing margin has significantly narrowed.
61.Kg6 Rg1+! 62.Kf6 Kh8?
Black had to play 62...Rh1! He may have been worried by the line 63.h7+ Rxh7?? 64.Ra8mate. But 63...Kh8! draws.
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White has two winning moves in this position - I didn't find either |
White wins with the understandable 63.f5 and the less obvious 63.Re7.
63...Ra1?
63.Rf1 and 63.Rh1 draw.
64.Rg6?
Again, 64.f5 and 64.Re7 win.
64...Ra6+ 65.Kg5 Ra1 66.Re6 Rg1+! 67.Kf6 Kh7 68.Kf7 Rf1 69.Rf6 Rg1
69...Rxf4?? is the only move that loses in this position!
70.f5 Rf1! 71.Kf8
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My plan over the last few moves has been to sacrifice the h-pawn in return for reaching a winning Lucena position, but Black has three moves that foil it |
Black had to keep his rook on the f file. After the text, I get to execute my plan.
72.Ra6 Rf1
Stockfish8 reckons 72...Rg8+ draws, but Nalimov (and Komodo9) show White winning after either legal king move.
73.f6! Kxh6 74.f7+ Kh7 75.Ra4 76.Rh4+ Kg6 77.Kg8 1-0
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