Luft: giving your king somewhere to go

German for air. One pawn move gives your king a square off the back rank, and it is the difference between a won endgame and a rook landing on your first rank with check.

German for air
Usual move h3, or h6 for Black
Prevents back rank mate
Costs one tempo and one weakened square

Luft is German for air, and in chess it means the breathing space you give a castled king by pushing one of the three pawns in front of it. The problem it solves is specific and extremely common: a king on g1 behind pawns on f2, g2 and h2 cannot step off the first rank, so any check along that rank that cannot be blocked or captured is checkmate.

That is the whole of back rank mate, and it is responsible for more finished games than any tactic except the fork.

Count the king's squares

White's king has two legal moves and both of them stay on the first rank, which is exactly where the check is coming from.

One pawn move later. The king now has h2, so a rook arriving on the first rank is a check and nothing worse.

Which pawn to push, and when

h3, usually. It gives the king h2, leaves f2 and g2 standing together in front of it, and does not put a pawn on the diagonal a bishop would want. h6 is the same move for Black.

g3 is the alternative and it is right when you want a bishop on g2, or when you need to cover f4 and h4 against a queen. It gives the king g2, but it puts a pawn on a dark square and leaves f3 and h3 as holes, which matters a great deal if the enemy dark-squared bishop is still on the board.

f3 is normally the worst of the three. It takes f3 away from your own knight, weakens e3 and g3, and opens the diagonal that runs at your king from a7. Play it for a reason, not for air.

When making luft is the mistake

It costs a move, and in a sharp position the move is the whole argument. If your opponent is attacking and you spend a tempo on h3, you have handed them the tempo you were short of. Play it when the position is quiet, which usually means before you need it rather than when the rook is already on its way.

It also creates a target. A pawn on h3 is a hook: your opponent plays g5 and then g4, and the pawn you pushed for safety is the thing the attack is levering against. In opposite-side castling positions this is not a small risk, it is the main one, and strong players routinely leave the back rank alone in those structures and watch it instead.

And often the best luft is not a pawn move at all. A rook on e1 guarding the first rank, or a bishop dropping back to f1, solves the same problem and weakens nothing. That is prophylaxis done properly: fix the weakness without creating a second one.

White to move. Black has just captured on e2 and is completely winning. It makes no difference at all.

Show the answer

41...dxe2 42.Rd8#

The line ends in checkmate. The position is from a real game on Lichess, rated 404 in their puzzle pool, and it is one of the positions in the No Warning skill in the trainer.

One earlier ...h6 and there is no mate in that position, and Black wins it without any trouble at all. That is the whole case for spending a move on air.

Make luft when the queens are still on and heavy pieces can reach an open file. With the queens and rooks traded, it is a wasted move.
If your rook is guarding the back rank, you do not need luft yet. If that rook has a job somewhere else, you do.
Check your opponent's back rank as often as your own. The seventh rank and a back rank with no air are the same tactic seen from two sides.
In an endgame, h6 or h3 also fixes a pawn on a square where a rook or bishop can attack it. Free air is not free.

Questions people ask

What does luft mean in chess?

It is German for air, and it means an escape square created for a castled king by advancing one of the pawns in front of it, most often the h-pawn one square. The purpose is to make sure that a check along your back rank can be answered by stepping the king up a rank instead of being checkmate.

Is h3 or g3 better for making luft?

h3 is the default because it gives the king a square while keeping f2 and g2 side by side, and because the hole it leaves on g3 is hard for your opponent to use. g3 is better when your bishop wants g2 or when you need to control f4 and h4, and worse when the enemy dark-squared bishop is alive and looking at h6 and g5.

When should I make luft?

In a quiet moment, once heavy pieces are still on the board and files are opening, and before your opponent has a concrete threat. Making it under fire costs the tempo you need for defence, and making it in a position with opposite-side castling gives your opponent a hook to attack. If neither applies and you have a spare move, spend it.

Luft sits under Endgame words in the reference. Nearby: