White to move. Which side is better? How should White proceed? This is very similar to one of the games that was played earlier today by 2 Grandmasters.
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Another unbalanced endgame
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id move by king to g7 the play Nh6 so i can take the f7 pawn and promote my f pawn. then it should be easy to win the game.
wolverine
Kg5 a5
Kh6 a4
Kg7 a3
Pxa3 c3
Nh6 c2
Nxf7 Ke6
Ng5 Kd7
f7 c8
Nh7 Qa3
f8 Qe7
Qxe7 Kxe7
Kxg6
the black queen promotes ealier but isnt a immediate threat which just causes a trade off and the white knight is left over to take black pawns and promote his own panws to take the win.
wolverine
I won against Fritz 8 using the following line.
1. e5ch, ke5 2.ne7 a4 3.nc6 kd7 4.nd4 c3 5.bc3 c5 6.e6ch ke8 7.ke5 kd7 8.h4 kc6 9.f7 with an easy win. The position after 8. h4 puts blace in a zugzwang. He can move a few pawns on the queen side, but white just moves his knight and eventually black has to move his king and white picks up the king pawn and queens his bishop pawn. The secret is to get the knight as active as possible in stopping blacks queen side play,
wolverine: I think black can improve by starting with his c-pawn, then advancing his a-pawn.
This has the advantage that the a-pawn is further away, so more difficult for white’s knight to stop it.
Furthermore the a-file is open, so after an eventual a1=Q, the queen can go back to a8 if need be (on the c-file there’s another pawn that loses a tempo in some lines).
I also think there is no need for black to give white a free tempo to clear a path for the f-pawn after
Nxf7+ Ke6?
Ng5+
maybe better is
Nxf7+ Kc5
and use the extra tempo to queen the pawn. The king isn’t going to help stop the f-pawn from e7 anyway.
And in some lines with white’s king on g7, black’s queen can capture on c3 with check (and tempo), this could be another plus for black.
This all should give white more difficulties, without being able to say what the result will be.
I think black will play c3 asap to free his a pawn and limit white options. Then he should be able to advance his queenside pawns to create at least one passer. If white stops them with his knight or king, black has to move his h and g pawn up to get the other big white piece away from whites central pawns. That should be enough to cash them in with the black king.
My guess is a draw.
I found the following variations:
1.Kg5 c3!?
2.bxc3 a5
3.Kh6 a4
4.Kg7
(1)4…. a3
5.Kxf7 a2
6.Kg7 a1Q (6.Ke8 a1Q 7.f7 Qa8 mate)
7.f7 Qxc3+
8.Nf6 and black cannot prevent f8Q.
(2)4…Ke6
5.Nh6 a3
6.Nxf7 a2
7.Ng5+ Kd7
8.f7 a1Q
9.f8Q Qxc3+
10.Nf6 wins
On the other hand there is another defence:
1.Kg5 b5
2.Kh6 b4
3.Kg7 Ke6
4.Nh6 c3
4.bxc3 bxc3
5.Nxf7 c2
6.Ng5+ Kd7
7.f7 c1Q
8.f8Q should win
It seems that white wins after all.
Loïc
This is a tricky one, but I think it’s a win for White. You just have to be careful. Trapping the black king early so he can’t move around much helps you whittle away at the black pawns with your king while blocking the others with your knight. Example line:
1 e5+ Ke6
2 Ne7 h5
3 Nc6 Kd7
4 Nd4 Ke8
5 h4 c5
6 Nb5 Kd7
7 Nc3 Ke6
8 Ke4 Kd7
9 Kd5 Kd8
10 Kc6 Ke8
11 Kxb6 Kd7
12 Kxc5 Ke6
13 Kd4 g5
14 hxg5 Kf5
15 Ne4 h4
16 Nf2 c3
17 bxc3 Kxg5
18 c4 h4
19 Kc3 Kf5
20 Kb4 Kxe5
21 Kxa4 Kxf6
22 Kb5 Ke6
And now you just march your c-pawn down the line and queen it. Black’s h-pawn is blocked by the knight, he can’t get his king there in time to help, and his f-pawn is similarly time-constrained.
that a possibility then you have the c pawn in blacks way. it doesnt seem to change the outcome whether you choose a or c pawn first. heres your line choosing c pawn first trying to queen the a pawn.
Kg5 c3
Pxc3 a5
Kh6 a4
Kg7 a3
Kxf7 a2
Kg7 a8 promote
f7 Qxc3
Nf6 Ke5
f8 promote Qc6
Kxg6 b5
h4 Ke6
Qh8 b4
Qxh5
now you can see theres an easy path for the whites h pawn to promote. black is in a hopeless position. i dont think if black trys the a or c pawn first it makes a difference. even though black promotes a couple moves earlier than white whites king has the knight and is well insulated from attack. this allows white to promote his f pawn and position his knight to protect his king then start picking off blacks weak g and h pawns. the insulation of whites king and the close proximity to blacks g and h pawns proves the difference in the game.
wolverine
1. e5+ Ke6
2. Nh8 c3
3. bc3 a5
4. Nf7 Kf7
5. Kg5 a4
6. e6 Ke6
7. Kg6 a3
8. f7 a2
9. f8=Q a1=Q
10. Qf7+ Ke5
11. Qf5+ Kd6
12. Qd5++