With optimal play, some complicated wins require sixty moves[9] to either checkmate, capture the defending rook, or successfully promote the pawn.
[12] The side with the pawn can cut off the opposing king or strive for the Lucena position, which is a win.
[18] Volume 2 of the Encyclopedia of Chess Endings devotes 92 pages to the analysis of 428 positions of this type.
[19] André Chéron wrote over 150 pages analyzing 120 positions of this endgame in their famous book Lehr- und Handbuch der Endspiele.
Some general rules (with exceptions) are: The rule of five is for positions in which the pawn is protected and the opposing king is cut off by files: Add the number of rank of the pawn to the number of files the defender's king is cut off.
[40] It may not be necessary to build a bridge (as in the Lucena position) to win, if the king is on its pawn's promotion square.
Black has several defensive methods available, depending mainly on the position of the pawn and their king.
The back-rank defense can also be used when the pawn is on other files if the attacking king has not reached the sixth rank.
Philidor's position (see the diagram) illustrates an important drawing technique in this endgame.
[43] If the attacking king has not reached the sixth rank, the defense works for any pawn.
This illustrates how the defense fails for a bishop pawn or central pawn: If Black is to move in the diagrammed position, they draw with which neutralizes the threat of Kg6, because Black can check from behind and there is no immediate threat of checkmate by White.
Sometimes, the defender's king is in front of the pawn, but the rook cannot get to its third rank to reach the Philidor position.
Thus, they have two choices: try to attack from behind, or retreat to the back rank with their rook to guard the mating threats.
But the defender can hold the draw with an accurately conducted "active defense" from behind the pawn while it is still on the fifth rank, with the king moving to the short side (see next section).
In positions such as the position in this diagram, the defending rook must be at least four files away from the pawn on the "long side" for the defense to work (the "checking distance"); otherwise the white king can support its pawn and approach the black rook to drive it away.
1...Rb6+ is too late because of 2.f6, forcing Black to retreat to the back rank, which is a loss as shown in the previous section.
Now Black threatens to check from the side to keep White from making any progress.
After this, and the same if Black prevents the check by placing their own rook on the d-file, White plays Kg7 Rg(any)+; Kf8 then f7, reaching the Lucena position.
[54] The Frontal Defense is a way that Black may keep White from getting to the Lucena position, even if the defending king is cut off from the pawn's file.
To have good drawing chances, there should be at least three ranks between the pawn and the defending rook (called the rule of three).
Even the equivalent of the Lucena position is no guarantee of success (it depends on the location of the white rook and who is to move).
If the defending rook gets in front of the pawn, the result depends on which king arrives on the scene first.
In this diagram, the only way for White to make progress is to get their rook to b8, but this allows the black king to get to the c-file and draw.
The reason is that if the black king is on another rank, the white rook can check and then the pawn promotes and wins.
Black's rook keeps attacking the pawn from the side from some distance away, while preventing the white king from finding cover from checks.
[65] The black king must be on the opposite side of their rook as the pawn to not block the attacks.
Black now checks on the f-file and aims to maintain a sideways attack on the pawn.
[66] In Shakhmaty v SSSR in 1950, Peter Romanovsky published a drawing zone (see diagram).
The game Bent Larsen–Walter Browne, Las Palmas 1982,[70] illustrates an alternate winning method with a knight pawn.
[79] Some of the zugzwangs are easy to understand (see position at the middle); some requires up to 54 moves to win.