Kaminer, 1927
White to move. Can White hold this game? How should White proceed?
Hint: This is quite difficult and tricky so think carefully 🙂
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1. Rc3+ … 2. Rxc6 Kxc6 3. Bf3+ … 4. Bxh1
If black doesn’t capture the rook, white moves the bishop to protect it.
1.Rc3+
Clearly the only chance
1….Kb5 ! (1….Kb6? or 1…Kd6? 2.Rxc6 comes with check ! Of course 1…Kd5?? 2.Bf3+ ! )
2.Rxc6 Rg1 !
3.Bf3 ! Rg3
or 3…Rf1 but this is less tricky on account of 4.Be2 !
4.Ke2! (4.Ke3 ?? Rxf3 with check, or 4.Ke4?? Kxc6 5.Kf4+ Rxf3+! How this resembles the problems Black were facing at the beginning at the variation)
4….Rxf3
5.Rh6!!
I) 5…gxh6 6.Kxf3 =
II) 5…Rf7 6.Rxh7 is perfectly drawn == !
Hi! Isn´t Rc3+ following Rxc6 and Bf3+ enough?
Riku from Finland
I see:
1 Tc3+ followed by 2. Txc6 and Bf3. Is that correct?
I see Tc3+ followed by Txc6 and Bf3. Is that correct?
Rc3+ followed by Rxc6. Unless I’m missing something, what is so difficult and tricky about that?
I saw that the White Bishop can simultaneously attack the Black Bishop and Rook, but did not see the solution till I went to an engine.
This is too difficult. The problem is black can play Rg1 and White has big problems.
let´s see, there´s only one move, that makes sense to me, but i´ve found a way, how black can create complications:
1. Rc3+ Kb5
2. Rxc6 Rg1
and now
3. Bf3 Rg3
3. Rc4 Rg3+
3. Bd7 Rd1+
all seem to lose a piece, and i think, this loses the game also. as this was announced to be a difficult one, i imagine, the first moves might be right, and the follow-up can be improved, but i don´t see how.
greets, jan
Like others, I thought Rc3 had to be good for the draw, but black does not need to cooperate:
1. Rc3 Kb5
2. Rc6
Here, I think black draws with a variety of moves, but if he wants to win, I see only one attempt:
2. …..Rg1
The rook is still under threat, so is the bishop, and if black takes the bishop, the g-pawn will be protected, thus limiting the scope of action of white’s rook on the next move. White could try a move like Bd7, but I think black will win with Rd1+. The best I can find for white here is the obvious
3. Bf3 Rg3
Plays itself- reasserts the double attack on white’s pieces, putting him to a decision. Not an easy decision. I make this decision based on a single aspect of the position- when black takes the bishop, I want to be absolutely certain that my king is not cut off from the kingside by the rook in the rook pawn endgame (I consider that lost-see below)- This argues for 4.Ke2.
4. Ke2 Rf3
I see absolutely no alternative to this move. If black does not take the bishop, he cannot win. Now, the question is, what does white do now? Exchanging by taking at f3 is a loser- the resulting king pawn endgame is lost. White can attack the g-pawn with Rc7, but this also looks to lose to me:
5. Rc7 Rg3 (what else?)
6. Kf2 Rg5
At least, I have accomplished part of my plan, the white king isn’t cut off, but things still don’t look good. Since I was pretty sure this was a loss for white, rather than waste a lot of time with it, I just looked this position up in the Nalimov tablebase, and it is a loss in 44 moves for white, so clearly white loses with the line above.
Is there a way to save this line. I have a hard time envisioning any other beginning than white’s first two moves. Black’s reply at move 2 also seems irrefutably correct. The alternatives would have to come at move 3, 4, or 5 for white. At move 3, I just don’t see how any move other than Bf3 has a chance, and I looked at it for over an hour, off and on while watching Tiger Woods this afternoon on the Golf Channel. Move 4 looks more interesting, but, again, I don’t see a reasonable way to end up in a better endgame than the one Nalimov tells me is a loss above. So, that leaves move 5 for white. Now, there is one move at move 5 that really throws some wrenches into black’s winning plans. It is an odd-looking move, but the position itself is often one I have encountered on the entry into single-piece-each endgames where each player has a bishop, knight, or rook under attack (often at the end of a liquidation sequence), like you see with the two rooks after black’s 4th move. White can move the rook to where it is under attack by the pawns. This isn’t so silly since black’s rook is still en prise. There are two such moves for white, but only one makes much sense on first principles:
5. Rh6
Why this and not Rg6? Well, on Rg6, black can consolidate his position with Rf7, cutting off the white king, and protecting his pawns, and that should be won for black. Here, black cannot take at h6- white takes at f3 and beats the black king to the h-pawns. So, this move wins at least one of the pawns, I think. Continuing:
5. …..Rg3
6. Rh7
So, since I have a family dinner tonight, I just looked this position up in the Nalimov Tablebase, and it tells me it is drawn. So, yes, white can hold this with the line above.
1.Rc3+ Kb5 2.Rxc6 Rg1 3.Bf3 Rg3 4.Ke4 Rxf3 5.Rh6! Interesting
Had to work on that one… I think it is: Rc3+ – Kb5, Rxc6 – Rg1, Bf3! – Rg3, Ke2 – Rxf3, Rh6! – gxh, Kxf3 and white holds the draw.
I believe the trick is that after Rc3+ if you capture the bishop black doesn’t have to recapture and allow the fork, he still has a winning plan.
In the critical variation, White’s 5th move is indeed a tricky one! 🙂 Congratulations to anyone who sees that in the initial position.
It’s not as simple as checking the King and taking the Bishop.
1 Rc3+ Kb5
2 Rxc6 Rg1
Of course, 2 … Kxc6, 3 Bf3+ draws.
3 Bf3
Not 3 Bd7 Rd1+
3 … Rg6
The other possibility is 3 … Rf1, 4 Be4, and White is safe. With the given move, Black pins the Bishop.
4 Ke2 Rxb3
It doesn’t appear that White can save the game now. Exchanging Rooks results in a lost pawn ending. Also, moving the Rook to a neutral square results in a lost Rook and pawn ending. But White has a resource.
5 Rh6!!
Every other move results in a lost ending.
5 … gxh6
It doesn’t matter what Black does. On other moves, White captures the pawn on h7, and the resulting position is a known draw.
6 Kxf3
White heads to h1, and Black can have six pawns on the h-file and still can’t win.
6
The anonymous commenter at the end is right, the critical move is white’s fifth, and it is difficult to see unless you have encountered such situations before (it helps to have played 20,000+ online games in 7 years like me). If Susan will publish it, a clue is that when both players have a piece hanging, the player to move has three potential options- (1) capture his opponent’s piece and and allow his opponent to capture his, (2) move one’s piece out of danger and allow his opponent to move his out of danger, or (3) simply move one’s piece to some other square where it can still be captured, and allow the opponent to face the three same options above. Of course, in option 3, it is sometimes a sub-option to leave your piece en prise where it is already, though this isn’t the case in this particular problem.
1 Rc3+ Kb5
2 Rxc6 Rg1
3 Bf3 Rg3
4 Ke2 Rxf3+
5 Rh6
i think Rc3 is enough to win followed by (2.Rxc6 Kxc6 3. Bf3+!!)