Lolli position

The Lolli position is a specific king, rook, and bishop versus king and rook setup. Although this material is usually drawn with correct defense, the Lolli position is one of the formations in which the side with the bishop can force a win.

The defending king is restricted near an edge. The attacking king limits its squares, the bishop controls escape routes of one color, and the rook can switch sides to threaten checkmate, an attack on the king for which no legal reply exists. The defending rook can still check, but it has little room and is gradually caught in a domination net, a coordinated restriction that removes useful squares until it can no longer prevent checkmate or a decisive exchange.

The method is not a series of random checks. The attacker must preserve coordination, cover defensive checks, and transfer the rook at the correct moment. A rushed move may let the defending king leave the edge or give the rook a supply of repeated checks.

Giambattista Lolli presented this winning position in 1763. A second Lolli position, published later, is drawn despite similar geometry. The name therefore refers to an exact setup within pawnless ending theory, not to every rook and bishop versus rook position.