White to move. Is this a win for white? How should white proceed?
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f3!
I don’t see the problem.
1. f3 an d the black king must leave the opposition.
addendum:
1. e6 should be the only move not to win.
addendum 2:
i looked for the Game. Irina Krush really played e6.
e6 needs to be played,
f3 gives away white’s tempo move.
after 1 f3 white may still win but e6 is better.
e6 kd6
kd4 ke6
kc5 etc
… g5 will lose because there is a pawn on f2 or f3
here the notation of the original game:
68. e6 Kd6 69. Kd4 Kxe6 70. Kc5 Ke7 71. Kd5 Kd7 72. Ke5 Ke7 73. Kd5 Kd7 74. Ke5 Ke7 75. Kd4 ½-½
f3 allows the white king to worm its way in. I don’t see a win with e6.
Up to a point, I can certainly understand her playing 1. e6- it is possible to believe that the ending is still won since the black king has to also give up the opposition in that line, and white still has the tempo in hand, however, white can make no progress after giving up the passed pawn. I don’t know what Krush had to say about this game, but if I had to guess, she may have been playing quickly on a faulty pattern recognition theme- i.e. the pattern she was operating on has a pawn on g5, too, that makes the f6 square unavailable for black’s king- a common theme for K+P endings with weak backward pawns. It is critical in the line she chose that black has that square available.
For me 1.Kb3 wins. Black will eventually leave the opposition or leave the e5 pawn queen.
1. Kb3 Kb4. 2. Ka3 Ka4 and 3. e6 easy win. 2. .. Kc5 and white king breaks through easy win.
1… you must read Kb5 of course. Same for Ka5.
Here is the quickest way to end this:
1. f3 Kd5 (other moves are equally fruitless now for black, Kd5 makes g5 more interesting)
As Urso points out, white wins with almost every other move, too, but for 1.e6. White can even give ground by backing the king up since black must not let the passed pawn get away, but 1.f3 almost literally plays itself on general principles alone. Continuing:
2. Kb4
White has no worries now- she would now be pushing black back relentlessly. If black plays 2. …Kc6, white takes the opposition again with 3.Kc4. If black plays 2. ….Ke6, white plays 3.Kc5 etc. The only really interesting line for black to try is…..
2. …………..g5 (to undermine e5, and hope white errs with 3.hg5)
3. fg5!
It would be a serious mistake to think the pawn race is a win for white since he would be queening with check- black would just play Ke6 after g6 and white would be unable to queen with the time to spare, though the position should then be drawn because of the other passed pawn. Continuing:
3. …………..Ke5 (nothing better)
4. f4
And it is over.
The question is whether f3 should be used now or later:
Kb3 Kb5
Ka3 Kc6
Ka5 Kb6
Kb4 Kc6
Kc4 Kc7
Kd5 Kd7
e6 Kd8
Ke5 Ke7
f3
There are many other ways to win.
My point is why use tempo moves unless they are needed – better safe …
My original comment was wrong as I assumed (as I presume Irina did) that a tempo was enough to win.
It isn’t a question at all in this case- the white king is closer on c3 to where it wants to be in the end- rampaging through the kingside pawns or protecting the e-pawn’s march- than it will be on a3. Playing 1.Kb3 just adds moves to final tally one has to navigate. In other words, in general, one is just as likely throw away the advantage of the tempo before utilizing it as one would be to throw it away after doing so.
It is interesting to me that Krush never played f3- she probably realized immediately her mistake and tried to retain it for the proper time- after black returned the mistake- but black never did. I have sympathy for her- I have lost count of the number of king and pawn endings I have mistakenly evaluated on faulty pattern. This is one of the mistakes that arise from “playing from instinct” too much. Even though 1.f3 appealed to me immediately, on almost instinct, I had to carefully evaluate the line where black plays g5 to get the tempo back while undermining the passed pawn.
Well if your second move is going to be Kb4 then you might save your tempo and play 1. Kb3. That is the logical “human” move. White realizes he wants to break through and might need to save a tempo. He also sees black cannot leave the protection square of the e5 pawn. Only if black plays 2. Kb5 maybe it will be more moves overall. But then Ka3 as I said is a simple win.