L. Centurini 1847, presented by Andreas
White to move. How should White proceed? No computer please 🙂
2KB4/1P6/2k5/8/8/8/7b/8 w – – 0 1
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Get the bishop around to a7 and then b8. The black bishop will move to the other long diagonal in order to move to a7. Then move the bishop on the b8-h2 diagonal several squares, then onto the a7-g1 diagonal.
Yes this is a zugzwang type of issue. The white bishop needs to get up to b8 with the black bishop unable to get to a7 in the meantime.
Dr. Karlsson
jud you are halfway there
…Bh4, Kb6 Bf2+, Ka6 hmm
not so easy to get Ba7
1. Ba5 Bg3
2. Be1
Now if king moves BxB and if bishop moves, white will play Bf2
P.Anandh
”1. Ba5 Bg3
2. Be1
Now if king moves BxB and if bishop moves, white will play Bf2”
What if :
1.Ba5 Bd6
?
First three posts are on the right track. Look at the geometry of the board. There are two critical squares d6 and h2 where the black bishop is safe. We must forces the bishop away from them. 1 Ba5! Bd6 only move for black. If for instance 1… Bg3 white plays Be1 with tempo and makes it to f2-a7-b8. 2Bb4 Bh2 3Bc3 Kb6 forced as white threatened Bd4-a7. 4 Bd4 Ka6 5Bc5 and white finally forces black away from both of his safe squares d6 and h2. 5…Bg3 6 Be7 white threatens bd8-c7 6…Kb6 7Bd8 Kc6 8Bh4 Bh2 9Bf2 and now it is a standard book win white will go bb8, chase black off of long diagonal and then chase the bishop off the short diagonal to win.
-Justin Daniel
By the way, my dumb fritz computer could not find the right moves without using its tablebase (I looked it up after finding the solution). It took me nearly an hour and a half to find the solution. This one is tough folks.
-Justin Daniel
Now that I think about it 1Bh4 Kb6 2 Bf2 Ka6 3Bc5! works fine. Now it is the same idea as in my solution. As long as white finds the bc5 move and chases the black bishop then white wins. Maybe I made this tougher then it really is (though finding Bc5 was not easy for me).
-Justin Daniel
By the way, who the hell is this ‘Andreas’ ?
It is not that dificult to get the bishop to b8.
1.Ba5 (so the king can’t go to b6)
1…, Bg3
2.Be1, Bf4
3.Bf2, Bh2
4.Ba7
and white can move his bishop to b8
4…, Bf4
5.Bb8, Be1
6.Bc7, Ba7
and now the black bishop is trapped.
7.Bf4, Kb5 (c5 and b6 are forbiden)
8.Kc7, Ka6
9.Bf2
and white wins
Very nice explanation of the solution, Justin Daniel. I couldn’t find the Bc5 move. Congratulations!
Sorry, I don’t think this example has any practical value. It makes no sense to create “clever wording” around database-like solutions which cannot be generalized.
I can prove my point with this alternative example:
diagram
White to move. – We see that it looks quite similar. Can you solve it without database help? 🙂 Good luck.
I can prove my point with this alternative example
Sorry to be obtuse here. I looked at your diagram and I don’t see what point you were trying to make with it. Could you elaborate, please?
With that second position, you can test yourself if studying the first position and it’s solution, helps you in similar positions. Because that’s what a useful endgame idea, or pattern, is supposed to do.
(Later, you can verify your own analysis with an online 6-piece endgame database.)