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1 … Kb3 seems to win
2. e3 Kc2 3. Kf4 Kd3 4. Kf3 Rxg5 5. e2 Re5 wins
2. e3 Kc2 3. Kf4 Kd3 4 g4 Ke2 5. g3 Rg2 wins
2. g4 Kc2 3. Kf4 Rf1+ [Kd2 3. Kf5 looks drawn] 4. Ke3 Re1+ 5. Kf3 also looks drawn
2. g4 Rf1+ 3. Ke5 Kc2 4. Kd4 Kd2 is won – the g pawn will fall, and the e pawn is blocked
I haven’t analyzed 2. g4 Rf1+ 3. Kg5 fully
You are looking at the board from black’s perspective in this problem, though you do identify the files correctly. Weird.
Yes, scratch all that. Wasn’t thinking.
A tougher problem than last night’s in my opinion, even though the mate in the end is easier than the Q vs R ending. Much like yesterday’s problem, black can cleanly draw by checking the white king when he is on the f-file, between the pawns, and then attacking whichever pawn is unprotected when the king moves in front of the other- the weakness of the disconnected pawns in such endings when they aren’t advanced to the point where one is on the 7th rank and the other is on the 6th. However, unlike yesterday’s problem, the black king is closer to the action, so a win by black can’t be discounted. If it can be won, it probably starts with the most agressive king move:
1. ………….Kb5!
2. g6
Or reverse order of 2.Kf6 followed by g6, I suppose. The white king can’t cut of the black king without conceding the g-pawn, so these are the only chances. Continuing:
2. ………….Kc6!
3. Kf6
White must try to force the sacrifice for the g-pawn, but I can already see this is hopeless- from d7, black’s king makes the rook check from f1 deadly…..
3. ………….Kd7!
4. Kf7
If white plays 4.g7, black just cuts the white king off from f7 with 4. …Ke8- white must play 4.Kf7 first:
4. …………Rf1!
5. Kg8
White loses more quickly with 5.Kg8, but in a similar manner. However, black must continue to play accurately:
5. ………..Ke6!
Believe it or not, this is also another only winning move. If black played the similar looking Ke7, white can draw with 6.e7! which keeps black’s king out of f6 for a critical lost tempo- by playing the king to e6, black can capture the e-pawn if white moves it on the next move. On e7, the black king needs an extra move to capture the annoying e-pawn, long enough for white to get his king off of g8 and move the g-pawn forward. The rest is easy:
6. g7
Or the reverse order of 6.Kh7 and 7.g7. Continuing:
6. ………….Kf6! (another only winning move)
7. Kh7 Rh1! (an obvious move, no?)
8. Kg8 Rg1
I think 8. …Kg6 simply transposes. Continuing:
9. e5
Disrupting the double attack on the g-pawn, but it is hopeless now:
9. …………Kg6!
The e-pawn is too far from the queening square, but it is white’s only hope…..
10.Kf8
If white pushes 10.e6, black just puts his king on f6, and takes at g7 no matter what white does- one occurs with check and the other will have the e-pawn double attacked after 11.Kf8 and 12.e7. Continuing:
10. ………..Rf1 (more accurate than Kh7)
11. Ke8
If 11.Kg8, black plays 11. ….Rf7 to win more quickly. Continuing:
11. …………Kg7
12. Kd7 Kf7 (shortest, I think)
13. e6 Kf6 (the point of the previous move is this and the next move)
14. e7 Rd1 and the e-pawn will fall to a double attack after 15.Ke8 Re1. The rest is a simple K+R vs K mate.
Looking it over, I made small typo in one of the hypothetical lines where black chooses between 5. ….Ke6! and 5. …..Ke7?…..white draws after 5. ….Ke7 with 6. e5!, not the illegal 6. e7!. Oh, to have edit functionality.
I think you’re pretty much right , Yancey. The basic method to play against disconnected passed pawns with K+R is to get the K in front of one of the pawns and the R behind the other, using the R to keep the enemy K in front of the pawn while the K snatches the pawn on its file and then double attacks the other pawn with the R.
It is always good to try to boil the method down to an easily remembered phrase, or description.