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 Highly technical ending...Taking the original position w I did a quick check to see what might be the outcome of 1.Nf3 Kd6 2.Ne5!? ... It turns out, as one might expect, that leaving the h-pawn to run gives Black too many chances: 2...h4 3.Nxg6 h3 4.Nh4 b4 (not 4...h2 5.Nf5+ Ke6 6.Ng3 etc) 5.axb4 a3 6.Kc3 Ke6 7.Nf3 ... (forced, now, since the tempo-gaining check is no longer available) 7... Kf5 8.b5 Kxf4 9.Nh2 a2 10.Kb2 Kg3 11.b6 a1=Q+ 12.Kxa1 Kxh2 13.b7 Kg2 14.b8=Q h2 with a well-known book draw: w Draw For readers unfamiliar with this endgame, even though it is White's move, he cannot win even though he has Q for P. This is the peculiarity of rook-pawns (and bishop-pawns for that matter). The reason is that The Queens can't nail down the king long enough to alow the distant White King to get close enough to make a difference (this is due to Stalemate possibilities). Note that if we were to move the Black pieces one square to the left, White would win, because Black would have no Stalemate threats available. w White wins. |
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At a loss... Here's the plot. zyla vs ionadowman Gameknot 2005. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nf3 ... Rather a tame way of dealing with the Modern Benoni, but safe enough. t has its psychological upside of frustrating an aggressive opponent. 3...cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Nc3 Bb4 7.Bd2 0-0 8.a3 Bxc3 9.Bxc3 Ne4 10.Qc2 Nxc3 11.Qxc3 d5 12.cxd5 Qxd5 13.Rd1 Qe4 14.g3 Nd4 A small force is attacking White's centre surprisingly strongly... 15.Qd3 Nc2+! 16.Kd2 Bf5 17.Qxe4 Bxe4 18.Nxe5 ... In view of the threats hanging over him, White gives up the exchange for a pawn. 18...Rad8+ 19.Kc1?? Rxd1+?? Played too quickly, and overlooking the winning shot 19...Nd4!! 20.Kxd1 Bxh1 21.Kxc2 Re8 It is at this point that the endgame begins, and Black has to find a plan. A diagram seems appropriate here: w What to do? Already I suspect that 21...Rd8 might have been a better choice, but better yet was simply to consolidate by bringing the bishop to d5. 22.Nd3 Bd5 23.Nf4 Bc6 I ought to have played this a move sooner. What I wanted was somehow to exchange off the bishops, leaving rook vs knight. As the bishops are operating on opposite coloured squares, this will be hard to arrange. Probably I ought to have eschewed any such thought and looked to breaking up White's pawns on the K-side. A more knowledgeable endgame player might have some better advice here. 24.e3 Be4+? 25.Kc3 Rc8+ 26.Kd4 Bg6 I really, really hoped White would be tempted to exchange on g6 here. Nothing doin. 27.Bc4 b5!? Well, I finally hit on a plan: give up a pawn for an attack. The fact was that my shilly-shallying had allowed White to consolidate strongly enough to fancy his drawing chances. I decided to go for the win, sacrificing a pawn to open lines. However, Black is conceding not so much the pawn, as I was only too aware at the time and which will become apparent as the game unfolds, but a Q-side pawn majority. 28.Bxb5 Rc2 29.b4 Rxf2 30.h3 Rd2+ 31.Kc3 Rd1 32.a4 ... Already White is making effective use of his major asset. 32...Be4 33.a5 g5 34.Ne2 h5 The plan is to break up White's K-side pawns, knock them off with his pieces and create a passer on that wing. Black has to hurry, because White has already made good progress on the other flank. 35.Bc4 Bg2 36.h4 gxh4 37.gxh4 Rh1 Look at Black's pieces, committed to the extreme King's flank. Sure, the bishop has effective control of the long light diagonal, but that proves to be conditional. Can Black snaffle the h-pawn and then intervene on the Q-side in time? 38.Nf4 Bf3 39.b5 Rxh4 40.b6 axb6 41.axb6 Rh1 42.Bd5! Bxd5 43.Nxd5 Rb1 44.Nb4 ... Cutting off the rook. b How is Black to proceed? Obviously the check. There's nothing else: 44...Rc1+ 45.Kd4? ... A mistake that renews Black's winning chances. I had realised already that White could hold out the rook, whereupon the game would be drawn: 45.Nc2 Rd1 46.Nd4 Rb1 47.Nb3 Rd1 48.Nd4 and there is no way Black's rook can break out from behind enemy lines. On the other hand, by threatening to do so, he can keep White occupied and unable to advance the b-pawn. The game could - and should - have ended in a draw hereabouts. 45...Rc8! I was now pretty confident I could win this, and had already mapped out a plan. What this plan was, you will see, as the game followed it pretty much right to the end. Bear in mind, that in endgame planning, you don't always think in specific moves. The game followed my plan in its outlines very closely, but there were some variations in detail. 46.Kd5 h4 47.b7 Re8! A key move in my view. There was no point in sticking the rook directly in front of the b-pawn. The threat against White's e-pawn is incidental. Meanwhile, White's knight will be diverted to stopping the h-pawn. The effect will be to commit all White's forces, and leaving Black with an unopposed reserve - his King in particular - to intervene decisively. 48.Kd6 h3 49.Nd3 h2 50.Nf2 Kg7 51.Kc7 Kg6 52.Kd7 ... White could have promoted at once, but it would have made no real difference. 52...Rb8 Probably 52...Rh8 was marginally better, but I had done my sums already. 53.Kc7 Rxb7 54.Kxb7 Kg5 55.Kc6 Kh4 56.Kd5 ... Going after the f-pawn was no good. Black would have queened long before the e-pawn got close. 56...Kg3 57.Ne4+ The writing was on the wall. Since 54.Nh1 obviously was insufficient, White tries something else. A Q vs N ending is winning, but it does have its tricky points. My opponent was going to make me work for the win (as if he hadn't already!). 57...Kf3 58.Kd4 h1=Q 59.Nd2+ Ke2 0-1. White jacked it in at this point, as it's clear his pawn won't survive. A possible finish was 60.Nc4 f5 61.Nd6 Qf3 62.Nc4 Qf4+ 63.Kd5 Qxc4+ 64.Kxc4 Kxe3 and the f-pawn runs home. |
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Black to play and win. A straight forward, but instructive position The answer can be found on page 5 here: www.chesscafe.com |
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Clarification ... Black is playing UP the board. The pawn is a b-pawn, not a g-pawn. Incidentally, supposing Black were playing DOWN the board, then 1...g3 is good enough, with the idea 2.Bc5 Ke4 then 3...Be3 and wins. White could stick a spanner in the works with his King: 1...g3 2.Kd5 Be3! 3.Bd6 g2 4.Ba2 ... Of course, if the pawn now promotes, the bishop snaps it off, and the position is dead: King and Bishop are insufficient to defeat a lone King. So the importunate White bishop has to be dug out of h2 somehow. Now, good enough is 4...Kg4, but I prefer to play here 4...Ba7! Why? It's a tempo thing (specifically, 'zugzwang'). White's bishop has to maintain watch and ward over g1, as indeed Black's bishop undertakes the same duty. This means that the White King has to move, but every available move carries him away from the scene of the action. 4...Ba7 5.Kc4 ... It's no use going after the bishop. The moment he is attacked, the clever cleric bugs out to a safer spot, such as f2. 5....Kg4 6.Kd3 Kh3 7.Bg1 Bxg1 8.Ke2 Bb6 and the pawn promotes next turn. In the actual diagram position (note the square labelling) the situation isn't quite the same. For one thing, the defending King is closer to the Queening square... |
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Is it OK for me to give the solution? I didn't see it on that chess-cafe page, just an explanation why a certain move would be a draw. |
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Nothing wrong with the diagram as it stands... A more 'conventional' orientation would look like this: b In that case, the question becomes: is the move 1...b5-b4 good enough to win? Maybe it's essential? Or perhaps Black might be better advised to look around for another move? I know what I'd play... |
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Here's something from a blitz tournament GM Carlsen vs GM Nakamura BNBanks Blitz Tournament 2009 b Black to play. What result? If the attacking K is too far away, the defender can duck his K into the corner, hoping for Qxf-pawn Stalemate. Useful trick to know (rook-pawns have a similar power to draw based on Stalemate tricks). But here, the Black King is fairly close, but, worse, the White K is on the wrong side of the pawn. Among Grandmasters, even in a blitz game, this is a gimme: 1...Qg7 2.Ke8 ... The only move. Once the Q gets in front of the pawn, White's chances vanish to zero. But now comes ... 2...Kc6! Allowing the pawn to promote! But then if 3.f8=Q Qd7 is checkmate. Promoting to N won't do (3.f8=N Kd6), so White has to move the K again. There is no option: 3.Ke7 Kd5! 4.Ke8 ... White can not allow the pawn to be taken, except and unless the capture delivers instant Stalemate. 4...Ke6! Again allowing White to promote, and once again 5.f8=Q 6.Qd7 is Checkmate. This time, no King move is available to White, so he tries a last, desperate under-promotion, this time with check: 5.f8=N+ Kd6! end of story: it's mate in 3 6.Ng6 ... Else Black mates at once. 6...Qxg6+ 7.Kf8 Qh7 8.Ke8 Qg8# or ...Qe7#. One for the toolbox... |
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 game Team match tugger (1727) vs. osvaldas (1642) 38. Ke4 Rg8 w After a dazzling opening saw me take a pawn lead, black's position is weak; he has dropped another pawn and is fighting for his life. But he is threatening some counterplay with 39. Bf5 followed by 40. Be4+. It's not difficult too deal with, I can retreat the rook now if I want, but didn't somebody once say attack was the best form of defence? 39. Rxg4! Rxg4 40. Kd5! Rxf4 41. e6 Rg4 42. e7 Rg8 w So, we have pawn at the 7th. Can he win the rook? Of course he can! Stop the king! 43. Be5! Kb7 44. Ke6 Kc6 45. Kf7 1-0 b Black resigns, he cannot stop the pawn without massive material loss. Of course, he was already lost in the original position, but that did not stop me from enjoying this endgame! |
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E104.03 Ponkratov, P (2564) - Smirnov, Alexey (2415) Corporation Centre Cup Izhevsk RUS (3), 17.07.2009 Evaluate the position with White to move Solution can be found here: www.chesscafe.com |
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For mine... Aron Nimzovitch had something to say about this sort of thing in "My System". White's chances lie in his majority on the K-side, and the pawn you should play first is what he called 'the Candidate' - the pawn that had no enemy pawn on the same file. Here it's the g-pawn. Instead 1.h4? would be disastrous, Black replying at once and with glee: 1...h5, leaving the majority crippled. Black might well be winning after that. After 1.g4 (a5 2.a4) Ke6 3.h4 and Black has to give ground: 3...Kd6 or 3...Kf6. [a] 3...Kd6 4.Kf5 Kd5 5.g5 hxg5 6.hxg5 g6 and White will promote first and with check, leaving the e-pawn stranded. [b] 3...Kf6 4.Kd5 zugzwang: Black has to drop a pawn, and hence the game. |
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maca 10-Jan-10, 03:54 |
Regards, MaCa. |
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Granted that it might not go quite this way but this line illustrates principles behind the position: 1.h3 h5 2.g4 hxg4 3.hxg4 Ke6! and Black can barely squeak out a draw by shoring up the a file then defending against the g pawn promotion. Certainly White will be up a pawn, but it won't matter in this instance. White cannot force his King ahead of his own pawn. If White gives up the g pawn to go for the a file promotion, Black still has time to get to the corner to defend. P.S. If the a file pawns were on the b file instead, things might be different and 1.h3 would be viable. |
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Tactical ending This is a position from a recent rapid game of mine. Black to move and win. |
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Very, very pretty... 1...g4 With the idea of decoying the bishop to g4 and permit the mate at a1. White might try 2.Nh7?! ... In turn hoping to decoy the rook off the back rank, whence he can promote his c-pawn. However, I think 2.Bf1 or possibly even 2.Bg2 is the main line... 2...gxh3 Goes a rook ahead unless... 3.c8=Q Rxc8 4.Nxc8 ... How to proceed from here? Black's passer, though closer to promotion, looks more easily stopped than White's! 4...h2+! 5.Kh1 e3! 6.fxe3 f2 7.Kg2 h1=Q Black wins. This is just one possible line. Check out the decoy motifs in... 1...g4 2.Bf1 Rh8! 3.Na7 Bh2+! 4.Kh1 e3! 5.c8=Q ... Otherwise, 5.fxe3 Bf4+ 6.Kg1 Bxe3#. 5... Rxc8 6.Nxc8 e2 ... and wins. A very pretty ending! |
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1... g4! 2. Bf1 Rh8 3. Na7 Bd4! 4. c8=Q Rxc8 5. Nxc8 g3! and white is finished, promotion is inevitable. White can promote himself if he makes it his primary target, but he will be mated in two immediately afterwards. There are plenty of other lines, all seem to me to drop material or result in a quicker mate. There may well be other wins by force here, black has a considerable material advantage for this stage of the game. |
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Nice analysis, it seems there is more than one way to skin a cat after all... |
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Here is my assessment... 1... g4! 2. Bf1 Rh8 Here is Ion's... 1... g4 2. Bf1 Rh8! Notice the difference? I think the difference in move 3 sums up our logic... Tugger - 3. Na7 Bd4! Ion - 3. Na7 Bh2+! In my line, the pin sets up the crippling advance. In Ion's, Rh8 prepares Bh2+. Interesting side issue... |
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It turns out... 1...g4 2.Bg2?! fxg2!? I had spent more time looking at 2...d5, and I do think that is the better line, but the text is the most straightforward. What can White do about it? [a] 3.Kxg2 Rc8 ... end of story, really: Black is a rook ahead, and the lead c-pawn won't survive very long. [b] 3.Na7 d5! 4.c8=Q Rxc8 5.Nxc8 dxc4 6.Nb6 c3 7.Nd5+ Ke6 8.Ne3 Bf4 9.Nc2 Kd5 Black looks to have it all his own way from here. |
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Sorry, tugger... Actually, I should have given 1...g4 an exclam, whence comes to that: that is the key move for what follows. I doubt that Black can win with any other move. I didn't look at the 3...Bd4 line, but it seems pretty effective! My analyses in any case isn't exhaustive. No doubt improvements will be found for both! Cheers, Ion |
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Try this one for fun... w White to move and win. |
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H'mmm... Tricky... (Deep Thorcus) 1.Kd6... with the idea [a] 1...Nh7 2.Nc5+ Kb5 3.Ne4 ... [b1] 1...Ng6 2.Nc5+ Kb4 3.Nd3+ Kc3 4.Be4 [b2] 1...Ng6 2.Nc5+ Kb5 3.Nd3 Nh4 4.Be4 [c1] 1...Kb4 2.Nc5 Nh7 3.Ne4 [c2] 1...Kb4 2.Nc5 Ng6 3.Nd3+ Kc3 4.Be4 I think that would be my approach. Cheers, Ion |
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The key move is indeed correct, with the right idea, go after the knight. There is no escape for the knight if white plays accurately. your [a] line is spot on, [b1] you have allowed black to draw after 3. Nd3+?, you want 3. Ne6! [b2] after 3... Nh4, you need 4. Ke6! for win in 32, or 4. Ke5 will drop four moves, still within the 50 so we're ok. Unfortunately, 4. Be4? will draw. [c1] this line is correct [c2] again, 3. Nd3+? draws, and again you want 3. Ne6! It find this an incredible position. The first six moves are all critical, only one correct move in each case. Each move if played by a GM in a real game would be followed by at least three exclamation marks! I was interested to see how a player rated 2000+ would approach this, in particular, is this a position you would play, or would you draw it off? It's an automatic draw for me, there's no way I could win this without cheating. Of course, I found this position messing about with a tablebase. I was looking for positions with these pieces that were not drawn, ie winnable in 50 moves, and then analysing to try and understand the theory better. |
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Thanks, tugger - Interesting that in one line, though, Nd3 was correct. I am intrigued that the obvious Be4 proves inadequate in the lines I looked at. I did play though quickly some lines to the end, and thought the knight couldn't escape from h4 if White was careful. Seems the Black King is capable of springing the prisoner after all! Good one, Ion |
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My first ever Master Draw! After the horror shows against Freddy the Master Mater I am over the moon to achieve my first ever Master Draw. My opponent was not Freddy but she did have a rating of 2292(!) at the time of her draw offer. It was a Q & P ending so I thought it might be relevant to this thread. Here is the draw game. I may annotate it later. gameknot.com Hope you have a good read. Cheers and bye for now. Joanne |
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Here Muller says "Black has the amazing shot 60...c4+!!, which should not be allowed." I cannot see what is so amazing about ...c4. It looks like White simply plays Rxc4. |
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The ideqa is actually quite simple... After 60...c4+ [a] 61.Kxc4 Nd6+ 62.Kd5 Rxg6 [b] 61.Rxc4 Nd6 62.Rc6 (say) Rxg6 So the pawn is inviolable. What if White plays [c] 61.Ka2, then? One possibility is 61...Nd6 62.Bxh5 Ne4 (or maybe 62...Rh6 63.Bf3 Rg6). Can't say either looks very reliable. The other is, having driven back the WK, now to enter the rook and pawn ending: 61...Rxg6 62,Rxc8+ Ke7 63.Rxc4 Rxg3 with the threat of picking up the h-pawn. I reckon 60...c4+ was definitely worth a look! If Black had gone at once into the rook ending, the WK would have been that much closer to the action... My two penn'orth anyhow: no doubt others will find refinements... Cheers, Ion |
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