White to move. Can you win this game? Is this a win or draw for White?
8/8/8/8/3k2P1/4R2P/2r5/4K3 w – – 0 0
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Critical endgame
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White to move. Can you win this game? Is this a win or draw for White?
8/8/8/8/3k2P1/4R2P/2r5/4K3 w – – 0 0
USA’s own Tatev Abrahamyan , the only 4-0 at the Girls World Junior in Turkey! Keep up the good work Tatev!
White wins …
1. Re2!! Rc3
2. h4!! RH3
3. Kf2!! Rh2
4. Kf3!! Rh3
5. Kf4 Rxh4
6. Kf5 and get the R behind P
end of …
According to the tablebases here http://www.k4it.de/index.php?topic=egtb&lang=en
This is the correct continuation.
1. Re2 Rc3 2. h4 Rh3 3. Kf2 Rxh4 4. Kg3 Rh1 5. g5 Rg1+ 6. Kf4 Rf1+ 7. Kg4 Rg1+
8. Kf5 Rf1+ 9. Ke6 Rg1 10. Kf6 Rf1+ 11. Kg7 Rg1 12. g6 Kd5 13. Kf7 Rf1+ 14. Kg8
Rg1 15. g7 Kd6 16. Rh2 Ke6 17. Rh7 Rf1 18. Kh8 Rg1 19. g8=Q+ Rxg8+ 20. Kxg8 * and Mate in 15 moves.
The website orders the moves according to how long the win is afterwards.
However, the ‘correct’ move for the defender is not necessarily the one at the top. They may wish to play the move that gives White the hardest job of finding the (possibly unique) reply.
You will see that, in many Chess Studies, where Black is supposed to play the best defence, Black does not necessarily play ‘the top move’ from this website.
“You will see that, in many Chess Studies, where Black is supposed to play the best defence, Black does not necessarily play ‘the top move’ from this website.”
That might be true but this is objectively the “best moves” for both sides even if it wasn’t asked for in this study. 🙂
This ending illustrates a fundamental concept in R+P endings — that rook position can be more important than material. After 1.Re2! Rc3 2.h4! Rh3, compare and contrast:
A) 3.h5? Rh4! 4.Rg2 Ke3 — White has retained his two-pawn material edge, but he can’t win. Black has maneuvered his rook onto the ideal square, and his king can reach the action in time to blockade the pawns.
B) 3.Kf2! Rxh4 4.Kf3 (or 4.Kg3) — White wins, even with only one extra pawn. He has managed to cut off the Black king and keep the Black rook from sneaking in behind the g-pawn.
“That might be true but this is objectively the “best moves” for both sides even if it wasn’t asked for in this study.”
actually I think you are wrong. There is nothing in the game of chess that gives credit for winning in fewer moves. there is only win, loss or draw. in a sense you are right because if nothing else is considered then the fewer moves to checkmate the better. But in this and many other cases, something else to consider is the point with the moves. I think a good example of this that is easily understood is in an endgame with bishops, where one king has to move 2 squares. moving on the squares that are opposite color of the enemy bishop is the best move in a sense, since it “makes sense” to do that even if it actually doesnt matter in the game. which is also the case in this endgame, for a human, the fastest move isnt allways the best move since a human doesnt calculate moves the same way a computer does. so the factor “meaning” is easily a important as “quickest” here.