Why should I learn it?
A Rook vs a Bishop—without any other pawns—is a curious dynamic in chess endgames. Basically, while the Rook is indeed the stronger piece by far, its advantage is laid waste if there is no extra material to cooperate with. For the weaker side, reaching with their King a corner of the opposite color to their Bishop, and keeping the Bishop by the King’s side, is a sure-fire way to draw. But… sometimes that isn’t possible, and the side with the Rook can maneuver their way into a win.
When do I use it?
When you have the Rook against the Bishop, your goal is to prevent the opposing King from reaching a corner of opposite color to their Bishop. If you succeed and the King finds itself trapped in a corner of the same color, then you’re in for the kill.
Link to Practice Problems
Step-by-Step Guide on Rook vs Bishop
White to move. Normally, a rook alone would not be enough to secure victory against an opponent who still has either a bishop or knight. In this position however, the Black king is successfully trapped by the White king into the 8th rank, just imagine what would happen if we were somehow able to bring the rook into the 8th rank. Yes, it would be checkmate.
- Rf2!
Thanks to this move, Black would be forced to move its bishop away from the threat. White’s goal here is to bring the rook into f8 and deliver a check. If Black decided to move its king instead, then we’ll just nab the bishop.
- …Be6
Going to defend the king after the White rook delivers a check.
- Rf8+
The king has nowhere to go but Black still has one move available.
- …Bc8
The only move. But as you can see here, the Black king now has access to a8 thanks to the bishop blocking the rook’s line of sight. In that case, White needs a move that forces the Black king to go into a8 in order to take the bishop for free.
- Rh8
Black has now fallen into zugzwang and the bishop cannot move.
- …Ka8
This move is forced.
- Rxc8#
Checkmate.
As you can see here, White has exploited the fact that the enemy king is trapped in the edge, thus limiting the squares it could retreat to. Otherwise, if the enemy king is at the center of the board, it could just circle around its other piece and draw the game.