White to move. How should White proceed? No computer analysis please.
8/8/1p2K3/8/2P5/5k2/1N1p4/8 w – – 0 4
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ke5,kd5 h
I always use my computer to solve puzzles. It makes me feel like I am a grandmaster. Does that mean I cannot compete?
1.Ke5! (1.Kd5 Ke3 2.Kc6 Kd4 3.Kxb6 Kc3=) Ke2 2.Kd5 d1(Q)+ 3.NxQ KxQ 4.Kc6 Kc2 5.Kxb6 Kd3 6.c5 & promotes soon +-
1.Ke5!
It’s important to prevent the black king from entering d4 (1.Kd6 Ke4! 2.Kc6 Kd4 3.Kxb6 d1=Q 4.Nxd1 Kxc4 1/2)
1…. Ke3
2.Kd5 d1=Q (Ke2 3.Kc6 1-0)
3.Nxd1 Kd3
4.Nb2+ Kc3
5.Kc6 Kxb2
6.Kb6 1-0
1…. Ke2
2.Kd5 d1=Q
3.Nxd1 Kxd1
4.Kc6 Kc2
5.Kb6 Kc3
6.c5 1-0
1.Ke5! (1.Kd5 Ke3 is zugzwang for instance 2.Kc6 Kd4 3.Kxb6 Kc3 =, although 2.Ke5! still seems to win: Ke2 3.Kd6 Ke3 4.Kd5 etc) Ke2 (1…Ke3 2.Kd5 Ke2 3.Kc6 +-) 2.Kd6 d1Q 3.Nxd1 Kxd1 4.Kc6 and White wins.
1.Ke5!!
(1.Kd6?? Ke4!! draw)
(1.Kd5?? Ke3!! draw)
1…Ke2
(1…Ke3 2.Kd5!! winning)
2.Kd6!!
(2.Kd5?? Ke3!! draw)
2…Ke3
3.Kd5!!
We assume White can win, and therefore has to protect its pawn. If the Black King is allowed to come to e4, the White Knight will soon be overloaded to protect both the Black d2 pawn from Queening, and guarding the White c4 pawn, as the White King is then unable to come to the White pawn’s defense via c5 or d5. Black would simply sacrifice the d2 pawn, take White’s only pawn, and draw the game.
If White is allowed to capture the Black b6 pawn, he can sacrifice his knight for the other pawn, Queen and win the game, as Black’s King will be nowhere near close enough to prevent that.
So, White will want to prevent Black’s King’s access to e4, and threaten to take on b6, so White’s first move will be:
1.Ke4
What else can Black do than to threaten to take on c4 if White takes on b6? Its King has to move closer to the White pawn, but e4 is guarded by the White King, and 1..Ke2 leaves no access to the d-file as d3 is guarded by the White Knight, so:
1..Ke3
White now cannot leave the 5th rank, as then the Black King will come to d4, again overloading the White Knight, but What can White do?
(continued in next post)
It’s time you gave us hints, ok?
When i started playing chess against my computer i lost all games. But since i’m playing chess boxing… either i’ve improved my performance or its own are not the same as before…
Anyway, if i were White i would take the king to b5 (three moves), and if both my pawn and knight were attacked by the king in c3 (three moves) i would move the knight to d1. If the black king doesn’t want to go to c3, the game is easily won by capturing the black ‘b’ pawn.
1.Ke5 Ke3 2.Kd5 Ke2 3.Kc6
Normally I think the strategy is to play the N to d1 and have it dance around the pawn while guarding the promotion square, but in this case that only leads to a draw because the Black King can invade and take the White pawn.
So, 1.Ke5! bodychecking the Black King looks to be the move.
1.Ke5 Ke3 2.Kd5 and Black is in trouble.
“I always use my computer to solve puzzles. It makes me feel like I am a grandmaster. Does that mean I cannot compete?”
No. It just means that you are loser.
That was a nice one! Is it a study or from actual play?
/L
i think kd5 looks okay..so if white lose the knight on the passed pawn, he could create a passed pawn of it’s own
Let’s see… black has two drawing ideas: Black king walking to e2 and push the pawn or walking to c3 to attack the knight and win white’s last pawn.
Something like 1. Kf5? allows Ke2 as now white needs too much time to get to the black b pawn. 2. Ke4, d1Q(R,B,N) 3. Nxd1, Kxd1 (=) as white can’t win b6 without losing c4.
The direct approach 1. Kd6? allows Ke4 2. Kc6, Kd4 3. Kxb6, Kc3=.
The critical position should be something like white’s king being on d5 and black’s king being on e3.
With black to move (Ke2) white has won one sufficient tempo (Kc6 +-).
1. Kd5?, Ke3 2. Ke5!? (trying to triangulate), Ke2? 3. Kd6!, Ke3 4. Kd5 but 2. -, Kf3!! 3. Kd6, Ke4! =
Better seems to be 1. Ke5!, Ke3? 2. Kd5 +- or 1. -, Ke2/Kf2 2. Kd6!, Ke3 3. Kd5! +- (Ke2 4. Kc6, Ke3 5. Kxb6, Kd4 6. c5, Kc3 7. Nd1+, Kc2 8. Nf2 +-).
Have I miscalculated or overseen important things? Thanks for posting this endgame, Susan.
Best wishes from Germany
Jochen
It looks like Black’s only defensive idea is to put her king on d4, force the knight away with d1Q, then capture White’s last pawn. So I guess White needs to approach the b-pawn in a way that defeats this idea. Maybe 1.Ke5 Ke3 2.Kd5 and Black is in zugzwang; there is no answer to Kc6, Kxb6, etc. Also 1…Ke2 and 2…d1Q does not work, because Black is a tempo short.
If white is not careful, black can achieve a draw.
1 Ke5 (best) Ke2 (avoiding Ke3 +-)
2 Kd5 Ke3!
and now white can make no progress because of…
3 Kd6 Ke4
4 Kxb6 Kc3
as Jochen pointed out.
So instead, white must play
1 Ke5 Ke2
2 Kd6! Ke3 (to try to come to d4)
3 Kd5!
and black is in zugzwang.
I can’t claim to be first to this insight, as I see, reading the comments, that “anonymous” at 1:39 am CDT beat me to it. But since no one was paying attention to his comment, I’m providing a little textual analysis to make sure everyone sees the correct method.