White to move. How should White proceed?
8/2p5/2p2K2/5B1p/k7/8/2P1P3/1b6 w – – 0 1
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I first thought about the following continuation 1.Bd3? h4 2.e4 h3 3.e5 h2 4.Be4 Bxc2 5.Bxc6+ Kb4 6.e6 h1/Q 7.Bxh1 Ba4 8.Bb7 c5 9.Bc8 c4 10.Bd7 c3 (10…Bxd7? 11.exd7 c3 12.d8/Q c2 13.Qd2!+- of course) 11.Bxa4 Kxa4 12.e7 c2 13.e8/Q + but it’s a draw because of the bishop pawn
So i wondered “why not 1.e4 at once ?!”
So 1.e4! (best by test ^^) Bxc2 2.e5 Bb3 3.Bc2! Bxc2 4.e6! and the promotion cannot be prevented !
1..Ba2 2.e5 Ka3 i suppose it may pose problems but in that case i think 3.Kg5 might rule it out
White has an easy draw with Kg5
But the Black king is out of play… can White take advantage?
1. e4! Bxc2 2. e5 Bb3 3. Bc2! and the e-pawn queens…
Does Black have any better responses?
A better try for Black is:
1. … Kb4
2. e5 Ba2
3. e6 Bxe6
4. Kxe6! (4. Bxe6? Kc3! 5. Bf5 h4 and the Bishop is overburdened)
4. … h4
5. Ke5 Kc3
6. Kf4 and the White King picks up all three black pawns
Hi Susan Polgar,
Ref:”Bishop and pawn endgame”[White has to move]
Sub: White wins /Draw. [Based on Black’s potential ]
1.Kg5 Kb4
2.K*h5 Kc3
3.Kg5 Kd2
4.e4 B*c2
5.e5 Bb3
6.Kf6 Ke3
7.Be6 B*Be6
8.K*Be6 Ke4
9.Kf6 c5
10.e6 c4
11.e7 c3
12.e8(Q)+ Kd3
From here on,if Black is cautious then the game will head for Draw,if not White will win the game.
By
Venky[Chennai – India]
e4, e5
I would think e4 should win:
1. e4 Bc2
2. e5 Bf5 (Bb3 3.Bc2!! wins)
3. Kf5 h4 (c5 4.e6 c4 5.e7 wins)
4. Kg4 and white stops the h-pawn, his e-pawn is going to beat the c-pawn, and black’s king can’t get to e8 in time.
At move 2 above, white will end up with a queen vs the bishop and three pawns if black plays 2. …Bb3, but white should be able to quickly liquidate the position, especially with the doubled c pawns and the exposed black king, and I don’t really see a way to defend/advance the h-pawn either.
The last loose threads arise from the following line:
1. e4 Ba2
2. e5 Kb4 (h4 see below)
3. Kg5 Kc3 (Kc5 see below)
4. Kh5 Kd4 (what else now?)
5. e6 Be6 (Ke5 and Kc3 are below)
6. Be6 and this is a won endgame for white because there is no potential for exchanging off white’s last pawn.
At move 5 in the above line, black had two other playable options- Ke5 and Kc3. Taking them in order:
5. …..Ke5
6. e7 Bf7 (only move to stop e8Q)
7. Bg6! Ke6/f6 (Be8 8.Be8 wins)
8. e8(Q)Be8
9. Be8 and white has the same basic won ending as previously
And at move 5 above:
5. …..Kc3
6. e7 Bf7
7. Bg6 wins, obviously.
At move three in this line, black could have played
3. …..Kc5
4. e6 Kd6 (the point of Kc5)
5. Kf6 Be6 (h4,c5,Bb1 is hopeless)
6. Be6 and white will eventually win the h-pawn with either the king or the bishop (since black is too far away to threaten the remaining white pawn at c2) and end up with the same won endings as above.
And, lastly, at move 2 above, black could have played h4 instead of Kb4
2. …..h4
3. e6 Be6
4. Ke6 Kb4 (h3 5.Bh3 wins)
5. Ke5! Kc3
6. Kf4 and white is now within the square of the h-pawn and will win it and the game.
If there is a quicker win, I don’t immeditely see it, but 1. e4 wins in every line for white, I believe.
Venky,
I think Kg5 (and black’s Kb4 is a blunder to boot since b3 wins the bishop) is too slow and risks losing for white, though I think the positions that arise are drawn. Also, incidentally, the correct first move no longer wins but loses, but I will let that go unrevealed in this comment.
For example:
1. Kg5 h4 (c5 also possible)
2. Kh4 c5 (again, not Kb4??)
3. Kg4 c4 and now it is white that is in danger of losing. The key feature is that the black king is now in the square of the e-pawn and can get back to e8 in time to hold up white counterplay. I haven’t done a complete analysis on this, but white must play something different at move 3 in this line to hold the draw like, possibly Bd3, but I am unsure right now.
1 e4 Bxc2
2 e5 Bb3
3 Bc2 & the pawn is unstoppable
If 1…Ba2 then White advances the pawn to e5 & then plays Be6 to clear the diagonal for the pawn to cross the e6 square.
1.e4 Bc2: 2.e5 looks interesting
but 2. … Lb3 (2. … Lf5: looses of cource at once) 3. Le6 Le6: 4.Ke6: h4 5.Kd7 h3 6.e6 h2 7.e7 h1D 8.e7D and White looses ?!?
Black can easily go wrong and lose rather quickly, but with best play, I think White wins only eventually by retaining her Queen’sBishopPawn after making Black sacrifice her Bishop on e6 to stop the White KingPawn.
Black loses quickly after:
1. e4 Bxc2
2. e5 Bb3
3. Bc2
in which case, White will queen her KingPawn and win.
But if Black plays something like
1. e4 Ba2
2. e5 h4
then White must push the KingPawn:
3. e6 Bxe6
4. Kxe6 Kb4
5. Ke5 Kc3
6. Kf4
eventually pocketing the remaining
Black pawns starting with the King’sRookPawn.
Lucymarie
Hi Susan Polgar,
Hi Yancey Ward,
Well,I slightly differ,with due respect to you all,I don’t think initial “e4” leads towards White’s win,if Black is stood enough.
Let me give some examples initial “e4” that most likely lead to Draw, when Black is stood enough.
1.Example leads most likely to draw
================================
1.e4 Bc2
2.e5 Bb3
3.Bc2 h4
4.e6 h3
5.e7 h2
6.e8(Q) h1(Q)
Anybody’s game now on.
2.Example leads,most likely to draw
==================================
1.e4 Bc2
2.e5 Bb3
3.Be6 B*Be6
4.K*Be6 h4
…
Here again its anybody’s game
3.Example leads,most likely to draw
==================================
1.e4 Bc2
2.e5 Bb3
3.Be6 h4
4.Bb3+ K*Bb3
5.e6 h3
6.e7 h2
7.e8(Q) h1(Q)
Here again its anybody’s game.
Well,we shouldn’t forget that Black has two pawns in column “C” – if situations as above said examples happen then Black has upper hand.
So I favor the “Kg5” initial move.
By
Venky[Chennai – India]
@Venky you are correct that the reasons given so far for 1. e4! are incomplete, but I think I can remedy that. Let’s take a closer look at your line:
“1.Example leads most likely to draw
================================
1.e4 Bc2
2.e5 Bb3
3.Bc2 h4
4.e6 h3
5.e7 h2″
So far so good. Now I agree that 6. e8Q? h1Q (covering c6) is unclear but White can improve:
6. Be4! Bd5
7. Bxd5 cxd5
8. e8Q+ followed by Qh8 wins.
Well, Venky @4:43, you will seldom find such cooperative white players. In the three variations you have shown, white will play:
Variation 1: White will not play 6. e8Q. Instead, he will play 6. Be4! covering h1, black’s promoting square. Black can play 6… Bd5, but then after the bishops are exchanged white promotes with check and thus black’s h-pawn will not get a chance to promote. White wins.
Variations 2 & 3: White will obviously not play 3. Be6 – we have shown that 3. Bc2 leads to a win (see above).
Also, Venky @10:56, 1. Kg5 is a losing move for white – because black will play the much better 1… Ka3 (1… Kb4, your choice of move, is a blunder – 2. c3+ loses the black bishop). Then it could go 2. Kxh5 Kb2 and the black king will follow the white e-pawn to the other end of the board while the white bishop is tied to protecting the c-pawn.
The thing to note is that all these problems Susan posts have an implicit condition “given black’s best defence” (or white’s, as the case is). You seem to forget this condition many a time, and instead expect the opponent to cooperate with you. Real life seldom works that way, I’m afraid.
Hi Susan Polgar,
Well,this blog seems to be very healthy,the response to my last comment was really reflects working minds of this blog,that’s very nice.
Well,with due respect to both “Maurits & John Rebus” : I am thankful to both,for your replies,I had never said White can’t win the game from the position where I had left,I had just thrown lights on the possibility of queening from both sides,When initial move is “e4”,By the by In every game of chess,our each move is the combined result of opponent’s move and desired destination,so if Black’s reply is “Ka3” then White would have responded correspondingly.
Implicit implication of Susan’s puzzle will always be kept in mind – thank you.
By
Venky[Chennai – India]