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White to move and win! No computer help please 🙂
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Nd4+ 🙂
Catalin Ionescu said…
“Nd4+ :)”
That would work, if the pawn were going the other direction, but after 1 …Ke1, the pawn protects against the mate on d2 and white doesn’t seem to have anything.
I think I’m close, but I’m just not getting it. I can win the pawn, you see, but then with a knight up, I can’t find a win. Here’s where I am so far:
1 Qc4+ I like this move mainly because I can force black’s move several times and there’s only one way out each time. Hopefully there’s a mate at the end and I’ve just not looked deep enough yet.
1 …Kf2 which is the only move saving the queen
2 Qf4+ Kg1 which is the only move (…Kg2? 3 NxP+ with a royal fork, or …Ke2? 3 QxP+ Kd1 4 Qd2++)
3 Qxe3 wins the pawn but I don’t see what to do now. Or White could play:
3 Qg3+ and now if …Kh1 4 NxP, or if …Qg2 4 QxP.
All three of these win the pawn outright, but I fear that black will just find perpetuals, as white can’t mate if black can ever trade queens.
Sorry, this one is beyond me. Maybe I’ll get it later on, or someone else can find a winning line I missed if I have the first move, which seems to feel right to me.
Well, I’ve pretty much given up on 1 Qc4+ and now I’m starting to think 1 Nd4+ might be right after all, but after 1 …Ke1, I just can’t find the follow-up moves. I’m terrible at endgames.
1.Nd4+ Ke1
2.Qh2! Kd1!
3.Qh7! Ke1!
4.Qh4+
4.Qe4? leads to 4… Kf2 5.Qf3+ Kg1 6.Ne2+ Kh2 7.Qxf1 (stalemate!!)
The problem now branches into two main possibilities
a)4…Kd1
5.Qe4! Qe1+
6.Kb3 Qf2
6…Qd2 leads to 7.Qh1+ Qe1 8.Qh5+ e2 9.Nf3
7.Qb1+ Kd2
8.Qc2+ Ke1
9.Qc1#
b)4…Qf2
5.Nc2+ Ke2
6.Qh5+ Kf1
7.Qh1+ Qg1
8.Qf3+ Qf2
9.Nxe3+ Kg1
10.Qd1+ Kg2
11.Ng4+, and white has a queen and king v. king situation.
See? Easy.
Not sure this is an endgame. Usually endgames are defined as when the queens go off the board.
A king and knight do not win against a king. You can however give up the knight for the pawn after winning the queen. You must win the queen first. Then you can give up the knight for the pawn and then with king and queen against king you should be able to mate.
Susan this is a super awesome puzzle.
1. Nd4+ Ke1
if 1…..Kd1 then
2. Qa1 mate.
so the next move here is ………….
2. Queen to ……..
Good Luck that is enough help for now.
to previous anon of 4:26pm
.. it is so “easy”, if you “steal” the solution from wikipedia!
Neat little puzzle, thanks!
1. Nd4+ Ke1
or
1. Nd4+ Kd1
2. Qd2#
I don’t find this puzzle brilliant. Rather bothering, I’ve spent an hour on it, not being even close to full solution :/ But I’m not 2500, and maybe that’s the reason.
(w)Nd1+ (B)KxD1 (w)Qe2++ Or
(w) Nd1+ (b)Ke1 (w)Qe2++
Emma Bentley. England
very tricky. I could find only one winning line. 1 Nd4 Ke1 (kd1 qh8 mate) 2 Qa7!! Qc7 (only move; black must keep d7 under control 2…Qh3 3 Qb8 Qc8 4 Qd6 mates) 3Nf7 and now:
A) 3…Ke8 4 Qa8 kd7 5 Ne5 mate
B) 3…kc8 4 Qa8 Qb8 (kd7 5 Ne5 mate) 5 Qc6 Qc7 6 Nd6 Kb8 7 Qe8 Ka7 8 Nb5 wins
C) 3…Kd7 4 Qa4 Kc8 (4…Qc6 5 Ne5 wins) 5 Qa8 Qb8 (5…Kd7 6 Ne5 mate) 6 Qc6 Qc7 7 Nd6 Kb8 (7…Ke8 8 Qe8 mate) 8 Qe8 Ka7 9 Nb5 wins
The second move 2Qa7!! was the tricky move to see. You have to be disciplined with your calculations and really focus on the weaknesses of the black king. I kept trying moves until i found Qa7, realizing that black was in a kind of zugzwang. Excellent puzzle. A good training problem.
-Justin Daniel
woops. I just realized I got the board backwards. Qa7 should be Qh2 and b8 should be g1. My solution still works as I knew which way the black pawn was moving.
-Justin Daniel
Anonymous said…
“1. Nd4+ Ke1
2.Qh2! Kd1!
3.Qh7! Ke1!
4.Qh4+”
Wow, you found it. Yes, that works. I could find neither 2 Qh2! nor 3. Qh7!, both of which are retreating moves and not checks, and hence very unintuitive, yet wonderfully effective.
“See? Easy.”
Yeah, right. Only for a GM or a cylon.
As for someone’s comment that “Not sure this is an endgame. Usually endgames are defined as when the queens go off the board.” Nah. Queens have nothing to do with the stage of the game, only the number of pieces. Besides Kings there are 2 pieces or pawns each. That’s definitely the endgame.
White is so lost.
Nd4+ is tempting but incorrect.
1.Qc4+ Kf2 (Kd1 loses the queen)
2.Qf4+ is a forced checkmate or black loses the queen as
2…Ke2 3.Qxe3+ Kd1 4.Qd2#
otherwise 2.Qf4+ Kg2 loses the queen to Nxe3+ fork
Ahsan, what is your continuation after
1.Qc4 Kf2
2.Qf4 Kg1
the pawn falls, but Black isn’t dead yet.
Anonymous said…
“to previous anon of 4:26pm
..it is so ‘easy’, if you ‘steal’ the solution from wikipedia!”
Why, you’re right — that anon (the scum) copied the solution word for word, and even left in the punctuation (e.g. “stalemate!!”)
At least try the puzzle yourself. Zheesh!
The solution is found at:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Puzzles/Chess_problems/Chess_endgames/Chess_endgame_puzzle_2/Chess_endgame_puzzle_2_solution
On the other hand, looks like Justin Daniel found the solution fair and square, which was more than I could do.
And Ahsan said…
“Nd4+ is tempting but incorrect.
1.Qc4+ Kf2 (Kd1 loses the queen)
2.Qf4+ is a forced checkmate or black loses the queen as
2…Ke2 3.Qxe3+ Kd1 4.Qd2#
otherwise 2.Qf4+ Kg2 loses the queen to Nxe3+ fork”
No, you missed my first post, where I also thought Qc4+ wins, but then I abandoned it. As I wrote above:
TVTom said…
“I can win the pawn, you see, but then with a knight up, I can’t find a win. Here’s where I am so far:
1 Qc4+ I like this move…
1 …Kf2 which is the only move saving the queen
2 Qf4+ Kg1 which is the only move (…Kg2? 3 NxP+ with a royal fork, or …Ke2? 3 QxP+ Kd1 4 Qd2++)
3 Qxe3 wins the pawn but I don’t see what to do now.”
You merely skipped over 2 …Kg1, which, as I said, was the only reasonable move black could make. Turns out Nd4+ is the winner, as pasted and posted by the patzer punk who plagiarized the wiki solution.
if the pawn is moving forward i found the solution in about five seconds. if its moving to be promoted i cant find a solution. would be nice to know which way the pawn is moving. about looking up the solution. come on get real. this is a problem for beginners. who needs to look it up to find the solution.
Regardless where the pawn moves the solution I think is Qe6 (or Qd3).
Ashot
1. Nd4+ Ke1(forced)
2. Qc3 e2(forced)
3. Qe4 Kf2(forced)
4. Qf3= Kg1(forced)
5. Nd2+ Kh2(forced)
6. Qxf1 Soon to be mate
PitbullofWar
Sorry made a spelling error
1. Nd4+ Ke1(forced)
2. Qc2 e2 (forced)
3. Qe4 Kf2(forced)
4. Qf3+ Kg1(forced)
5. Nd2+ Kh2(forced)
6. Qxf1 Soon to be mate
PitbullofWar
The other variation is
4.Qf3+ Ke1
5.Nc2+ Kd1
6.Qd3+ Kc1
7.Qd2+ Kb1
8.Na3+ Ka1
9.Qb2++
Sorry about the last posts after
@. Qc2 Qa6 opens a new can of worms
My humblest appologies for the last 3 posts @. Qc2 Qa6 disrupts the previous mate patterns please forgive me im a rookie, I have a headache
as far as im concerned its a draw,
if anybody nows the solution please post it
Ke6!