Alekhine – Yates (1910)
White to move. Is this a win or draw for White? How should White proceed?
8/4k3/8/1p2Pp2/p7/P1K1P3/1P6/8 w – – 0 1
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e4 f5; Kd2 should win
There are a couple of moves that immediately catch my eye. The first of them, Kb4, seems too slow to me to win though:
1. Kb4 Ke6 (only move, I think)
2. Kb5 Ke5
3. Ka4 Ke4
4. b4 Ke3
5. b5 f4
6. b6 f3
7. b7 f2
8. b8(Q)f1(Q) and with proper play, this should be a draw. Black need only avoid the forced exchange of queens. However, it is easy to screw this up. I have screwed up similar positions more than once playing blitz and have had victories handed to me by opponents doing the same.
The other move that immediately catches my eye is Kd3, but why it catches my eye rather than Kd4 is this principle that you will see over and over and over in king+pawn endgames:
1. Kd4? Ke6
And now white is in a type of zugzwang position- he must either leave the e5 pawn or he must move either the b-pawn or the e3 pawn. Kc5 leads to a draw similar to the line above, but with black queening first and white on the next half move. The b-pawn move loses outright:
2. b3 ab3
3. Kc3 Ke5
4. Kb3 Ke4
5. Kb4 Ke3
6. Kb5 f4
7. a4 f3
8. a5 f2
9. a6 f1(Q)+, but even without the check, black wins this race.
At move 2, playing e4 looks like a draw to me, but white must choose carefully his king moves after e5 falls:
2. e4 f4! (fe3 loses, of course)
3. Kc3
This is the only move that draws, unless I am overlooking something. Continuing:
3. ……Ke5 (f3 is below)
4. Kd3 f3 (Kf,e,d6 5.Ke2, 6.Kf3=)
5. Ke3 f2 (only move)
6. Kf2 Ke4
7. Ke2 and neither player can make progress to a win. At move three in this line, black can do no better with
3. ……f3
4. Kd3 f2 (Ke5 is the line above)
5. Ke2 f1(Q)(Ke5 6.Kf2 Ke4=)
6. Kf1 Ke4
7. Ke2 with another draw.
At move 3 above, as I mentioned, white loses with any other king move:
3. Kd3? Ke5 and the e4 pawn will fall giving black a passed and protected f-pawn which is decisive. I should not have to analyze Kc5??, do I? So, we are back to 1.Kd3:
1. Kd3
Now, if black retreats to the 8th rank, Kd4 will win since Ke6 is no longer possible. If black plays Ke6, Kd4 also wins as it it now black that is in zugzwang:
1. ……Ke6
2. Kd4 Ke7 (Kd7 or Kf7 is below)
3. Kd5! Kd7 (Ke,d,f8 4.Ke6 wins)
4. e6 Ke7
5. Ke5 wins the f-pawn and the game. At move 3 in this line, black does no better with
3. ……Kf7
4. e6 Kf6 (Ke7 is same as above)
5. Kd6 and the advanced e-pawn cannot be stopped. At move 2 in this main line, the alternatives are no better:
2. ……Kd7
3. Kd5 Ke7 (Kd/e8 4.e6,5.Ke5+-)
4. e6 and we have already seen this position loses above. Or
2. ……Kf7
3. Kd5 Kf8 (Ke7 4.e6+- see above)
4. Kd6 Ke8
5. e6 Kd8
6. Ke5 wins easily as we have already seen. The last loose thread here are black’s 1st move alternatives laterally along the 7th rank- Kd7 and Kf7:
1. Kd3 Kf7
Now, white cannot play Kd4 as black answers with Ke6, and we already have shown this is a draw, so
2. e4! f4 (Ke6 3.ef5 Ke5 6.Kc3+-)
3. Ke2! Ke6 (what else?)
And, again, you must carefully choose as white! Kf2, not Kf3! If white plays 4.Kf3, then black takes at e5 and white is in zugzwang and loses his remaining e-pawn:
4. Kf2! Ke5 (what else?)
5. Kf3 Kd4 (everything loses)
6. Kf4 Kc4
7. e5 Kb3
8. e6 Kb2
9. e7 Ka3
10.e8(Q) b4
11.Ke3 b3
12.Qe7 Ka2
13.Qb4 a3
14.Kd2 b2
15.Kc2 and mate follows on the next move. And, lastly:
1. Kd3 Kd7
2. e4 f4
3. Ke2 and this will transpose to the line above after Ke6, or white will win the f-pawn outright if black plays Kc6.
So, white wins with 1.Kd3 in every variant I see.
Irrespective of how the black king responds, white king should be able to get to Kd4 and Kd5 if it starts with Kd3. I have not analyzed beyond this, but the immediate thought is White should hold a very strong advantage from that point on.
kd3 and wh puts blk in zugswang in five moves to win
han
looks like a draw.
1.Kd3! Kd7 (1…Ke6 2.Kd4 +-) 2.e4 f4 (2…fxe4+ 3.Kxe4 +-) 3.Ke2 Ke6 4.Kf2! Kxe5 5.Kf3 (mutual zugzwang) +-
White can win with e4.
eg
e4 f4
Kd3 Ke6
Ke2 Kxe5
Kf3 and white wins the pawn
or
e4 f4
Kd3 Kf7
Ke2 Ke6
Kf2 and again white will win the f-pawn
1 Kd3! Kd7 2 e4 f4 3 Ke2! Ke6
4 Kf2! (the difficult to find move)Ke5 5 Kf3 and White wins.
1 Kb4(?) Ke6 I think leads to a drawn queen and pawn ending.
-Justin Daniel
I think white will queen first. White to take b5 first.
If white go after black’s queenside pawns both side promote in 8 moves so white must try to reach a position where he has 1 pawn left in kingside. crucial position is white’s king in d4 and black’s in e6 with side moving in disadvantage,so 1kd3 kd7[if ke6 then 2kd4] 2d3 f4 3 ke2 ke6 4kf2 kxe6 5kf3 black lost pawn on f4.
how to see old news & info?
Let’s calculate the two variations that spring to the mind :
I) 1.Kb4? Ke6 2.Kxb5 Kxe5 3.Kxa4 Ke4 4.b4 Kxe3 5.b5 f4 6.b6 f3 7.b7 f2 8.b8/Q f1/Q =
II) 1.Kd4? Ke6! = 2.e4? f4 3.Kc3 Kxe5 4.Kd3= or 3…f3 4.Kd3 =
So that leaves us with :
III) 1.e4! f4 (otherwise black is doomed) 2.Kd2 Kd7 3.Ke2 Ke6 4.Kf2 Kxe5 (otherwise Kf3! is now simply winning) 5.Kf3! +-
win for white – something like Kd3 ke6 e4 f4 ke2 kxe5 kf3 or kd3 ke6 e4 kxe5 exf kxf5 kd4. Anyway a win for white – just need to watch that you have the oposition.
1. Kd3, Kd7
2. e4, f4
3. Ke2, Ke6
4. Kf2!, Kxe5
5. Kf3 wins
Dear Susan,
I love the way you publish all the wrong solutions first. It makes it so much more fun to send in the correct one. I’m not sending in a solution to this endgame, because for once I was stumped, and in a simple-looking king and pawn endgame at that. I did see Kd3 as the must first move, but still didn’t see how White can win after Black plays Kd7. So I finally, out of desperation, looked up the Alekhine-Yates game.
I don’t feel too bad, though. I find solace in the fact that I once beat Walter Browne in a king and pawn endgame in a simultaneous exhibition that he gave. I was the only one that evening to beat him.
Lucymarie Ruth