About the most basic wining position in queen vx rook.

[Enrique Stefanini]

This is about the most basic wining position for the queen vs rook endgame, the Philidor position:

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White:       Kc6, Qa5
Black:       Kb8, Rb7

If black plays first, then distance to mate, as the position is translated parallel to the the ranks, swings between 7 and 21. White playing, the distance goes from 6 to 10, with 10 being the distance for the classical position seen in text books (agains the corner). I, not being more than a beginner, ask myself: from the practical point of wiew, is it justified for black to memorize the winning tactics for the Philidor, for all displacements of this type? I'm sorry if this is not the best place for my question. Glad to join the forum.

EDIT: I count the moves not as plies but as chess players do.

[syzygy]

from the practical point of wiew, is it justified for black to memorize the winning tactics for the Philidor, for all displacements of this type?

I don't know how much of a beginner you are, but from a practical point of view I am pretty sure spending time on QvR is not justified. Unless you're not a beginner at all and you fear that not knowing how to win it could at some point in the future lead to an embarrassing draw. (My guess is you'd need to be an IM before it gets embarrassing. Some top-GMs have failed at.)