Black to move. Can Black save this game? How should Black proceed?
This was an actual position between Carlsen and Cheparinov.
- About Us
- Chess Improvement
- Chess Puzzles
- Chess Research
- College Chess
- General News
- Home
- Major Tournaments
- News
- Polgar Events
- Privacy Policy
- Scholastic Chess
- SPICE / Webster
- Susan’s Personal Blog
- Track your order
- USA Chess
- Videos
- Women’s Chess
- Contact Us
- Daily News
- My Account
- Terms & Conditions
- Privacy Policy
I think a lot of players would play g3 here almost automatically, but that loses, and it is instructive to see why:
1. ……….g3??
2. Bd5!
It is important to note, here, that white cannot play either Bd3+ with the plan to cover g2 from f1, or to play Bf1 immediately and still expect to win. For example:
2. Bf1? Ke4 (Kf4 ok, too, left as exercise)
3. c4 Kd4 (e7 or e6 should draw here)
4. Kb4
Of course, the pawn isn’t safe on c4 via the bishop- black is threatening g2 to remove that guard. Continuing:
4. ……….e5! (the only move now)
5. c5 e4 (Kd5 keeps balance too)
6. c6 e3!
7. c7 g2!
The last hidden hurdle. Black will lose with a careless e2: [7. …e2?? 8.Be2! g2 9.c8Q g1Q 10.Qc5+-]. Continuing:
8. Bg2 e2
9. c8Q e1Q
And the black king can retreat through e3 to prevent any skewer along the e-file. Now let’s return to the main line where black has erred with 1. …g3??:
2. Bd5! e7 (Kf4 no better, left as exercise)
3. Bg2!
Here, 3. Bh1 should sufficient, too, but not 3.Bf3 as that loses a critical tempo. Continuing:
3. ………. e4 (nothing holds)
4. Kb3!
It is critical to get the king off the a-file closer to the e-pawn (so, Kb2 good, too, but not Kb4)otherwise white will now lose: [4. c4?? e3! and black will queen with time to spare to win the b-pawn]. Continuing:
4. ………..e3 (nothing holds)
5. Kc2! Kf4 (e2 6.Kd2 wins)
6. Kd3
Here, 6.Kd1 should be ok, too- white still needs to make sure he controls e2 before advancing the pawn. From this point, it should be obvious that black will lose- he is in zugzwang at this point and must lose the e-pawn, and does not have time to attack the c-pawn before the white king retreats to d2 to protect it. Black cannot even blockade at c5 or c7 since white has the option of moving the bishop off of g2 to force g3 or a king move.
With the above, it should be obvious that black can draw with an immediate e7, or probably Ke4. I will cover this in the next comment.
Crap, the move in the main line should read 2. …e5 not e7. In my mind, I keep thinking about a pawn as the square it is sitting on rather than the move itself.
I spent many years playing correspondence chess in the 1980s and early 90s, and the group I played with used the long-form notation for a move; for example e7-e5 for moving the black e-pawn. That habit still crops up in my transcriptions.
Relatively difficult and slippery position. Both have to play precisely and the strategy may change from step to step.
points
Black should advance both Ps to survive. though the Ps are not connected they are stable (passively stable against king only ).If they come to e3 and g3 bishop alone can not stop them; at the same time WP can advance if not stopped by black K. Intervention by the kings makes analysis difficult.
i think best for black is 1…. e5 for the Ps to go hand in hand.
some possiblities
1…e5 2.Kb2 Ke4 3.Bf1
(3.Kc2 g3 4.Bf1 Kf3 5.c4 Kf2 6.Bh3 e4 7.c5 g2 8.Bxg2 Kxg2 9.c6 e3 draw )
3…Kf3 4.c4 g3 5.c5 Kf2 6.c6 Kxf1 7.c7 g2 8.c8=Q g1=Q draw
O.k. just now Yancey’s comment has come.
In my previous comment, I showed, I hope, how black loses with the “obvious” 1. …g3. So, let’s cover the two moves with which I think black draws quite easily:
1. ……….e5
2. Kb3
I think white draws with lots of moves here, so I won’t cover them all, but with the previous comment in mind, it should be obvious what the plan is with Kb3- to help stop the e-pawn (and g-pawn in some lines, I am guessing). I like Kb3 here because it invites black to make a mistake again, but with the other pawn:
2. ……….g3 (or Kf4/Ke4)
Here, black will lose with a careless e4 since the white king gets inside: [2. ….e4?? 3.Kc2 Kf4 4.Kd2! g3 (or 4. …Kf3 5.Be2+-) 5.Ke2 and white has it all under control- the g-pawn is under the white king’s control now, and the e-pawn under the bishop’s control, and black cannot force the exchange of the bishop for the e-pawn without letting the c-pawn run away]. Continuing from 2. …g3 above:
3. Bf1 Ke4!
One should now be able to see that black must prevent the white king from hindering the e-pawn, and this cannot be done with Kf4 any longer: [3. ….Kf4?? 4.Bg2! e4 5.c4 and black no longer has the tempo gained from attacking the c-pawn we saw in my previous comment- if he advances the e-pawn now, white defends with Kc3/Kc2, and Ke3 allows Kc3 forcing the king back to f4 or lose the e-pawn]. Continuing from 3. ….Ke4!:
4. Bg2
Lots of draws here that I won’t cover. I chose 4.Bg2 simply to prevent black from playing g2 at a point where the c-pawn’s only guard is the bishop. Continuing:
4. ……….Kd3!
This is certainly the only draw. A move like Ke3 threatening Kf2, for example, won’t hold since the bishop can guard g2 from d5, while the white king marches into win the e-pawn if black forces the exchange at g2; and the e-pawn can’t be advanced with the black king on f2. Continuing:
5. c4 e4 (or Kd4 keeps the balance, too)
And it should be clear that black won’t lose the queening race. Finally, let’s go back and look at an immediate 1 …Ke4:
1. ……….Ke4
2. Kb3 e5 (not the only draw, I think, but obvious move)
3. Kc2
Same plan we have seen before, but now black has things under control for a draw:
3. ……….g3 (or Kf3/Ke3)
4. Bf1 Ke3 (or Kf3 ok)
5. Bg2 Kf2! (only draw now)
6. Bd5 g2
7. Bg2 Kg2
8. Kd3
Moving the pawn won’t gain any time for white. Continuing:
8. ………..Kf3! (again, only draw)
9. Kd2!
Now the only draw for white. If white plays c4, black wins the pawn race with the two tempii he picks up with the checks with e4 and e3 while he keeps the opposition with Kf2: [9.c4?? e4! 10.Kd2 Kf2! 11.c5 e3! 12.Kd3 e2 13.c6 e1Q-+]. Continuing:
9. ………..Kf2
Several ways to draw here- e4 should draw with the tempo that is waiting on e3+, and Ke4/f4 simply offers the pawns in exchange. Continuing:
10. Kd3=
Also, I can now count out that black should draw with an immediate 1. …Kf4, but will leave that to the curious.
A move which is best at one stage becomes worst in a slightly altered case.
Like 1…. g3?? Bd5!
but 1…. e5 Bd5?? 2.e4! this move does a lot of things. It takes P away from catchment area (my own terminology) of WK and blocks WB’s control on long diagonal and wins.
I am from 1.PK4 PK4 era
find the full game between the players ,click on the following link
full game
Where has this puzzle which appeared 2 days before, vanished?
7k/1p6/1pp2K2/r7/4R3/p1P3P1/7P/2n5 w – – 0 5