The Saavedra position is the most famous endgame study in chess: White wins rook versus pawn with a stunning underpromotion to a rook.
The story is as good as the chess. In 1895 the position was published in a Glasgow newspaper as a draw, until Fernando Saavedra, a Spanish monk living in the city, spotted a win that everyone else had missed. His single move made this the most celebrated study ever composed.
The play: 1.c7 Rd6+ 2.Kb5 Rd5+ 3.Kb4 Rd4+ 4.Kb3 Rd3+ 5.Kc2. The king has walked the whole check ladder, always staying in touch with the pawn, and finally hides where the rook has run out of checks. Now comes Black's genius try: 5...Rd4, planning 6.c8=Q? Rc4+! 7.Qxc4 stalemate, when the cornered king has no move at all.
Saavedra's answer: 6.c8=R!. The underpromotion threatens mate on a8, and after 6...Ra4 7.Kb3 Black cannot deal with both Kxa4 and Rc1 mate. One quiet rook promotion turns a book draw into a forced win, which is why this study appears in nearly every endgame course ever written.
Because 6.c8=Q allows 6...Rc4+!: White must capture the rook, and taking it stalemates the black king in the corner. A new rook makes the same threats along the c-file and eighth rank without ever allowing that stalemate.
It grew out of one. The setting traces back to an 1875 game between Fenton and Potter, was refined into a study, and was thought to be a draw until Saavedra found the rook underpromotion in 1895.
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