user2282: Recently I've played a game (with blacks) which ended with this position (White to move) :  
[fen "3rk3/p1R2ppp/2p5/8/P1K5/8/1P3PPP/8 w - - 0 1"]

It's clear that White player can't protect his pawns in the second row, but the problem here is with the a file, should black protect his pawns in the a file, which will quite restrict his possibilities ?
Otherwise, Is it possible to just abandon this pawn, and go for white pawns in the 2nd raw ?
But the problem here is surely with the white pawn in a4 which is pretty advanced compared to black pawns.  
How should black play in order to save his game ( a draw at least ?!) 

user17: Black can't save the endgame if White plays well.
As Capablanca wrote in "Chess Fundamentals," a rook on the seventh rank is worth a pawn. Given that actual pawns are even, consider White a pawn ahead.
White will first capture the a pawn. Since there is no Black pawn on say, b6, White's a pawn is "passed." Such a pawn is worth two pawns. Now White has the value of three pawns (a whole piece), ahead, even though he has one extra pawn. He will move his b pawn to b4  while Black moves his rook to d2. Afterward, he will move his a pawn toward the queening square. Black has to move (and keep) his rook on the a file. White's king then picks up the c pawn because Black's king is confined to the seventh rank.

user2300: This endgame is lost for black, but the best plan here is for black to enter 2nd rank and try to gain some pawns and throw some checks. White's plan on the other side is just to take a7 pawn and advance his a4 pawn till promotion
Good luck trying to SAVE that one

user2001: White to move in that position? It looks pretty lost for black. White should probably choose 1.Rxa7 to grab the pawn and retain the control over the vital seventh rank. I guess that blacks best option is to play 1...Rd2 to try to grab some pawns and get counterplay. White should probably keep the b-pawn and play 2.b4 and black should probably grab a pawn with 2...Rxf2. Then, white should try to promote the a-pawn as soon as possible. Black will then most probably have problems stopping this. When black sacrifices the rook for whites a-pawn, blacks f-pawn will be too far behind to be a problem for white. So my line goes
1.Rxa7 Rd2 2.b4 Rxf2 3.a5 Rxg2 4.a6 Ra2 5.Kc5 Rc2+ 6.Kb6 Rb2 7.Rb7 Rxb4+ 8.Kxc6 Ra4 9.a7 g5 10.Rb8+ Ke7 11.a8=Q Rxa8 12.Rxa8
and my guess is that white is winning since blacks f- and g-pawns are too far behind, while whites King is very active and can catch the pawns with Kc6-d5-e4-etc.

2282: <p>Recently I've played a game (with blacks) which ended with this position (White to move) :  </p>

<pre><code>[fen "3rk3/p1R2ppp/2p5/8/P1K5/8/1P3PPP/8 w - - 0 1"]
</code></pre>

<p>It's clear that White player can't protect his pawns in the second row, but the problem here is with the a file, should black protect his pawns in the a file, which will quite restrict his possibilities ?<br>
Otherwise, Is it possible to just abandon this pawn, and go for white pawns in the 2nd raw ?
But the problem here is surely with the white pawn in a4 which is pretty advanced compared to black pawns.  </p>

<p>How should black play in order to save his game ( a draw at least ?!) </p>
 17: <p>Black can't save the endgame if White plays well.</p>

<p>As Capablanca wrote in "Chess Fundamentals," a rook on the seventh rank is worth a pawn. Given that actual pawns are even, consider White a pawn ahead.</p>

<p>White will first capture the a pawn. Since there is no Black pawn on say, b6, White's a pawn is "passed." Such a pawn is worth two pawns. Now White has the value of three pawns (a whole piece), ahead, even though he has one extra pawn. He will move his b pawn to b4  while Black moves his rook to d2. Afterward, he will move his a pawn toward the queening square. Black has to move (and keep) his rook on the a file. White's king then picks up the c pawn because Black's king is confined to the seventh rank.</p>
 2300: <p>This endgame is <strong>lost</strong> for black, but the best plan here is for black to enter 2nd rank and try to gain some pawns and throw some checks. White's plan on the other side is just to take a7 pawn and advance his a4 pawn till promotion</p>

<p>Good luck trying to SAVE that one</p>
 2001: <p>White to move in that position? It looks pretty lost for black. White should probably choose 1.Rxa7 to grab the pawn and retain the control over the vital seventh rank. I guess that blacks best option is to play 1...Rd2 to try to grab some pawns and get counterplay. White should probably keep the b-pawn and play 2.b4 and black should probably grab a pawn with 2...Rxf2. Then, white should try to promote the a-pawn as soon as possible. Black will then most probably have problems stopping this. When black sacrifices the rook for whites a-pawn, blacks f-pawn will be too far behind to be a problem for white. So my line goes</p>

<p>1.Rxa7 Rd2 2.b4 Rxf2 3.a5 Rxg2 4.a6 Ra2 5.Kc5 Rc2+ 6.Kb6 Rb2 7.Rb7 Rxb4+ 8.Kxc6 Ra4 9.a7 g5 10.Rb8+ Ke7 11.a8=Q Rxa8 12.Rxa8</p>

<p>and my guess is that white is winning since blacks f- and g-pawns are too far behind, while whites King is very active and can catch the pawns with Kc6-d5-e4-etc.</p>
