Longest mate in King and Rook versus King and Queen endgame

Mate in 19

Also available in PGN notation.

White to move
Mate in 19 with Ra1+. Worse are Kg1, Kg2, Rb1, Rc1, Rd1, Re2, Re3, Re4+, Re5, Re6, Re7, Re8, Rf1 and Rg1 which throw away the win.
1. Ra1+
White mates in 18 after Kb3, Kb4 and Kb5.
1... Kb3
Mate in 18 with Rb1+. Worse are Kg1, Kg2, Ra2, Ra3+, Ra4, Ra5, Ra6, Ra7, Ra8, Rc1, Rd1, Re1, Rf1 and Rg1 which throw away the win.
2. Rb1+
White mates in 17 after Kc3 and Kc4. Worse are Kc2 when White mates in 16, Ka4 when White mates in 12, and Ka2 and Ka3 when White mates in 11.
2... Kc4
Mate in 17 with Rxb8. Worse are Kg1, Kg2, Ra1, Rb2, Rb3, Rb4+, Rb5, Rb6, Rb7, Rc1+, Rd1, Re1, Rf1 and Rg1 which throw away the win.
3. Rxb8
White mates in 16 after Kd4 and Kd5. Worse are Kc3 and Kc5 when White mates in 15, and Kd3 when White mates in 14.
3... Kd5
Mate in 16 with Kg1, Kg2, Kh2, Rb1, Rb5+, Rd8+, Re8 and Rh8. Worse are Ra8, Rb2, Rb3, Rb4, Rb6, Rb7, Rc8, Rf8 and Rg8 with mate in 17.
4. Kg2
White mates in 15 after Ke4. Worse are Kc4, Kc5, Kc6, Kd4, Kd6, Ke5 and Ke6 when White mates in 14.
4... Ke4
Mate in 15 with Kf1, Kf2, Kg3, Kh3, Ra8, Rb1, Rb2, Rb4+, Rb5, Rc8, Rd8, Re8+, Rf8, Rg8 and Rh8. Worse are Kg1, Kh2, Rb3, Rb6 and Rb7 with mate in 16, and Kh1 with mate in 17.
5. Kg3
White mates in 14 after Ke5. Worse are Kd4 and Kd5 when White mates in 13, Kd3 and Ke3 when White mates in 12, and Kf5 when White mates in 10.
5... Ke5
Mate in 14 with Kf3, Kg4, Ra8, Rb5+, Rd8, Re8+, Rg8 and Rh8. Worse are Kf2, Kh3, Kh4, Rb1, Rb2, Rb3, Rb4, Rb6, Rb7, Rc8 and Rf8 with mate in 15, and Kg2 and Kh2 with mate in 16.
6. Rd8
White mates in 13 after Ke4. Worse are Ke6 when White mates in 11, and Kf5 and Kf6 when White mates in 10.
6... Ke4
Mate in 13 with Kf2, Kg4 and Kh4. Worse are Kh3, Rd2, Rd6, Rd7 and Re8+ with mate in 14, Kg2, Kh2, Ra8, Rb8, Rc8, Rd1, Rf8, Rg8 and Rh8 with mate in 15, and Rd3, Rd4+ and Rd5 which throw away the win.
7. Kh4
White mates in 12 after Ke3 and Ke5. Worse are Kf3, Kf4 and Kf5 when White mates in 11.
7... Ke3
Mate in 12 with Kg5. Worse are Kg4 with mate in 13, Kg3, Kh3, Kh5, Rd1, Rd6 and Rd7 with mate in 14, Ra8, Rb8, Rc8, Rd5, Re8+, Rf8, Rg8 and Rh8 with mate in 15, and Rd2, Rd3+ and Rd4 which throw away the win.
8. Kg5
White mates in 11 after Ke4. Worse are Kf2 when White mates in 8, and Ke2 and Kf3 when White mates in 7.
8... Ke4
Mate in 11 with Kf6. Worse are Kg4, Kg6, Kh4, Kh5, Rd1, Rd2, Rd6 and Rd7 with mate in 13, Kh6, Ra8, Rb8, Rc8, Re8+, Rf8, Rg8 and Rh8 with mate in 14, and Rd3, Rd4+ and Rd5 which throw away the win.
9. Kf6
White mates in 10 after Kf3 and Kf4. Worse is Ke3 when White mates in 9.
9... Kf4
Mate in 10 with Re8. Worse are Rd4+ with mate in 11, Ke6, Rd1, Rd3, Rd5, Rd6 and Rd7 with mate in 12, Kg6, Ra8, Rb8, Rc8, Rd2, Rf8, Rg8 and Rh8 with mate in 13, and Ke7, Kf7 and Kg7 with mate in 14.
10. Re8
White mates in 9 after Kg4. Worse are Kg3 when White mates in 8, and Kf3 when White mates in 7.
10... Kg4
Mate in 9 with Ke5 and Re4+. Worse are Kg6, Re1, Re3, Re6 and Re7 with mate in 10, Ke6, Ra8, Rb8, Rc8, Rd8, Re2, Re5, Rf8, Rg8+ and Rh8 with mate in 11, Kf7 and Kg7 with mate in 12, and Ke7 with mate in 13.
11. Ke5
White mates in 8 after Kf3 and Kg3. Worse are Kg5 when White mates in 7, Kh3 when White mates in 6, and Kh4 and Kh5 when White mates in 3.
11... Kf3
Mate in 8 with Kf5. Worse are Kf6 and Rd8 with mate in 10, Kd4, Ra8, Rb8 and Rh8 with mate in 11, Kd5, Kd6, Rc8, Re6, Re7, Rf8+ and Rg8 with mate in 12, and Ke6 with mate in 13.
12. Kf5
White mates in 7 after Kg3. Worse are Kg2 when White mates in 6, and Kf2 when White mates in 5.
12... Kg3
Mate in 7 with Re3+. Worse are Ke4, Kg5, Re5, Re6 and Re7 with mate in 8, Ra8, Rb8, Rc8, Rd8, Re1, Re2, Re4, Rf8, Rg8+ and Rh8 with mate in 9, Ke5, Kf6 and Kg6 with mate in 10, and Ke6 with mate in 11.
13. Re3+
White mates in 6 after Kf2, Kg2 and Kh2. Worse is Kh4 when White mates in 2.
13... Kf2
Mate in 6 with Kf4. Worse are Ke4, Re5, Re6, Re7 and Re8 with mate in 8, Re4 with mate in 9, Rc3 and Rd3 with mate in 10, Ra3, Rb3 and Rh3 with mate in 11, and Ke5, Ke6, Kf6, Kg4, Kg5, Kg6, Re1, Re2+, Rf3+ and Rg3 which throw away the win.
14. Kf4
White mates in 5 after Kg2. Worse are Kg1 when White mates in 3, and Kf1 when White mates in 2.
14... Kg2
Mate in 5 with Re2+ and Rf3. Worse are Kg4, Re4, Re5, Re6, Re7 and Re8 with mate in 6, Ke4, Kf5, Kg5, Ra3, Rb3, Rc3, Rd3, Re1 and Rg3+ with mate in 7, Ke5 with mate in 8, and Rh3 which throws away the win.
15. Re2+
White mates in 4 after Kf1. Worse are Kg1 when White mates in 3, and Kh1 and Kh3 when White mates in 2.
15... Kf1
Mate in 4 with Kf3. Worse are Ke3 with mate in 5, Rc2, Rd2, Re4, Re5, Re6, Re7 and Re8 with mate in 6, Ra2, Rb2, Re3 and Rh2 with mate in 7, and Ke4, Ke5, Kf5, Kg3, Kg4, Kg5, Re1+, Rf2+ and Rg2 which throw away the win.
16. Kf3
White mates in 3 after Kg1.
16... Kg1
Mate in 3 with Kg3, Ra2, Rb2, Rc2, Rd2, Re1+, Re3, Re4, Re5, Re6, Re7 and Re8. Worse are Rf2 and Rg2+ with mate in 4, Ke3, Ke4, Kf4 and Kg4 with mate in 5, and Rh2 which throws away the win.
17. Rd2
White mates in 2 after Kh1. Worse is Kf1 when White mates in 1.
17... Kh1
Mate in 2 with Kg3. Worse are Kf2, Rd1+, Rd4, Rd5, Rd6, Rd7, Rd8 and Rf2 with mate in 3, Ke3, Ke4, Kf4, Kg4, Ra2, Rb2, Rc2, Rd3 and Re2 with mate in 4, Ke2 with mate in 5, and Rg2 and Rh2+ which throw away the win.
18. Kg3
White mates in 1 after Kg1.
18... Kg1
Mate in 1 with Rd1#. Worse are Rf2 with mate in 2, Kf3, Rd3, Rd4, Rd5, Rd6, Rd7, Rd8 and Re2 with mate in 3, Kf4 and Kg4 with mate in 5, Rc2 with mate in 7, Ra2, Rb2, Rg2+ and Rh2 with mate in 8, and Kh3 and Kh4 with mate in 10.
19. Rd1#
Checkmate.
1-0


An endgame analysis by Joe Leslie-Hurd on 16 February 2005.