Jones – Ernst
White to move. How should white proceed?
Source: Chessdom
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White is dead. Game over.
Rg6 ..
Rg6
White wins with Rg6….
Well, I spotted Rg6 fairly quickly- within about 10 seconds, though I must admit I couldn’t really see how strong it was– I could just see that the rook couldn’t be taken and that black would be forced to reply with Kg8 eventually, and white would then play b6 protecting the pawn on c7 while threatening an eventual b7. However, a few moments of of thinking it through without even a chessboard leads to me to think it is the solution:
1. Rg6 Kg8
Black can try a check from c1 with his rook, but how is that better? At worst, the white king just walks over to the d-file on the dark squares to end the checks- black must play Kg8 eventually. Later, I will discuss white’s other first move that occurred to me- 1.Rc6 and why I dismissed it almost in the time it takes to count to 6. Continuing:
2. b6
As I wrote above, this also threatens b7 at some point. Continuing:
2. ……Bb7
I will come back to move 2 in a moment- I just want to outline the plan for white here. Continuing:
3. Re6
This is the part I couldn’t see in the first 10 seconds. Indeed, I thought about this for a good hour, and have landed on this move. The idea behind this is below at move 5:
3. ……Kg7 (alternatives later)
4. Re8 e4 (alternatives later)
5. Rb8 Ba6 (what better now?)
6. b7
Continuing to harass the bishop with Ra8 and Ra7 just doesn’t have the power of this move, though I can’t quite convince myself white can’t win with that line either. Continuing:
6. ……Rc7 (now or later)
7. Rg8
The keystone move. Here, a move like Rg8+ is a common motif of rook and pawn endings- clearing a man with force from the queening square. White will get a queen at b8 for the sacrificed rook. The ending should be a technical win for white, though not trivial in nature, since black can save his pieces, I think:
7. ……Kg8
8. b8Q Rc8 (only try)
9. Qg3 Kh7
10.Qf4 Rg8
And black has gotten the rook near the king, and I think the bishop can be saved, too, now. In any case, this is white’s game to win now. Also, I may well be overlooking a much quicker win for white- it might be possible to win one of the remaining black pieces and I just not seeing it.
Now, we need to tie up the loose ends. Working backwards, the first one is at move 4 in the line above, and the critical line I find leads another non-trivial winning edge for white:
1. Rg6 Kg8
2. b6 Bb7
3. Re6 Kg7
4. Re8
What can black do here that is fundamentally different than the above (with other loose ends at moves 1, 2, and 3)? If he plays Kf7, white just proceeds with Rb8. If black tries Rc1/Rc2+, white walks the king over to the d-file before proceeding with the plan, and on 4. …Rg2+, white just carefully plays Kf1 before we find the critical variation:
4. ……Rg2
5. Kf1! Rb2 (what better now?)
6. Rb8 Ba6
7. Ke1 Rb3 (now or later)
8. b7! Rb7 (Bb7 9.Rb7 Rb7 10.c8Q+-)
9. c8Q Rb1 (only hope)
10.Rb1 Bc8
And you tell me- is this won for white or not? I can’t put it in a Nalimov tablebase since it is a 7-man problem, and I don’t have access to a 7-man tablebase, though they do exist. I can put in the position with either of the black pawns removed from the board (into the Nalimove), and they are won by white in about 43 and 48 moves! I am guessing, if white can win this, the only winning move for move 11 is Rb6 cutting the black king off from the 6th rank long enough to bring the white king forward to win one of the two black pawns.
I will continue this in my next comment due to length.
In my previous comment, I discussed the idea of the line below:
1. Rg6 Kg8
2. b6 Bb7
3. Re6 Kg7
4. Re8
And I showed that black loses with 4. …e4, and 4. …Rg2 leads to an ending that is unclear to me, but with white holding the upper hand. Beyond, those, we need to address the loose ends at moves 3, 2, and 1 in that order.
1. Rg6 Kg8
2. b6 Bb7
3. Re6 e4 (alternatives below)
4. Re8 Kg7
5. Rb8 Ba6
6. b7 Bb7
7. Rb7
And we have transposed into one of the variations from the previous comment. White is threatening c8 with discovered check, so the black king must vacate the 7th rank, but now white’s connected passers are the decisive element once again, with the b-pawn playing a secondary role as a protector of the rook on the c-file:
7. ……Kf6 (any better king move?)
8. b4
As before, there is no time to waste. Continuing:
8. ……e3 (Ke5 9.Rb5)
9. Kf1!
Now black has the same dilemma as we saw before in the side variation in the previous comment- if he goes to the fifth rank with the king now, white checks from b5 and plays Rc5: [9. …Ke5 10.Rb5! Kd6 11.Rc5 e2 12.Ke1+-]. If the black keeps moving towards the pawn with Ke6 along the sixth rank….[9. …Ke6 10.b5! Kd7 11.b6 Rh2 12.Rb8 Rc2 13.Rd8+-]. With these alternatives lost, black must try….
9. ……e2
10.Kf2 Rc4
11.Ke2 Kf5
12.Kd3 Rc1
13.b5 and this is clearly won as before.
Finally, at move 3, checking from g2 with the rook is hopeless, leading the same ending we saw at the end of my first comment:
1. Rg6 Kg8
2. b6 Bb7
3. Re6 Rg2
4. Kf1! Kg7 (Rb2 is a var. above)
5. Re8
It is an illusion that white can play 5.c8Q here since the white rook will also be hanging at e6 after white captures at g2. 5.Re8 is the primary plan once again:
5. ……Rb2
6. Rb8 Ba6
7. Ke1 Rb3
8. b7 Rb7 (again, Bb7 9.Rb7+-)
9. c8Q Rb1
10.Rb1 Bc8 with the same somewhat ambiguous ending from before- white most likely wins this with an immediate 11.Rb6, but I am not sure.
So now, let’s turn to black’s second move alternatives:
1. Rg6 Kg8
2. b6 e4
3. Re6
Well, it is flashier than Rd6, but no better, I think. Black can’t take the rook anyway:
3. ……Kg7 (Be6 4.b7! Rc7 5.b8Q+-)
Black could play 3. …Bb7 now, but after 4.Re8+ Kg7, what is different than what follows?
4. Re8
I think 4.Re4 likely wins, too, but am too tired to work it out thoroughly- I just want to use my cut and paste from the work I have already done so far:
4. ……Bb7
5. Rb8 Ba6
6. b7 with the same line we have seen in the first two comments where white’s edge was surely decisive.
The sheer complexity of this “solution” makes me doubt myself a bit, but not a lot- I feel good about white’s first two moves, the rest is obviously more hazy overall. I just want to show why I ruled out an immediate Rc6 followed by a push of the backward b-pawn- it is just too slow as a quick count revealed to me:
1. Rc6? Rc6
2. bc6 Kg7
And now it was only a question of whether or not the black king can get there in time to help the bishop. I could count quickly to see he could, though for explication…..
3. b4 Kf6
4. b5 Ke6
5. b6 Kd6 (only move now)
6. b7 Bb7 (Kc7 ok, too)
7. cb7 Kc7
8. b8Q Kb8
And this ending is lost for white.
Rg6
Rg6 maybe
1.Rg6!!!.Kg8 forced (if 1….Be6.2.Rxe6.Kxg7.3.Rxe5 wins easily. For white).2.b6!
A>2….e4.3.Re6!!
A1>3….Bxe6.4.b7! And the b pawn queens for a easy white win.
A2>3….Kxg7.4.Rxe4.
A21>4…Kf7!.5.Rd4!.Rc6.6.Rd8!.
A211>6….Bb7.7.Rb8!.Ba6.8.b7!!!. (8….Bxb7.9.Rxb7 and wins).Rxc7.9.Rf8+!.Kxf8.10.b8=Q+! And wins!
A212>6….Ba6.7.Ra8!.Bb7.8.Rb8! Transposes into A211 and wins for white!
A3>3….Rb2/c3.4.Re8+!.Kxg7.5.Rxc8.Rxb3.6.Rg8+!.Kxg8.7.c8Q+ and wins easily.
B>2…Rb2/c3.3.Rd6!.Kxg7.4.Rd8!!! And follows variation A21 above for a easy win for white!
White will win the bishop for the b pawn and queen the
Other c pawn or win the rook for the c pawn for a easy win!
Rg6 wins for white.
1. Rh6+ Kg8
2. Rg6 Bf5
3. Rg5 Be6
4. b6 Rb2
5. Rg3 …??
Rg6
Tower behind pawn. Black king takes tower. Pawn becomes queen and check. King move away, queen takes springer and so on….
Rg6 – Kg8
b6
1.Rg6
45.Rg6 Kg8 46.b6 would have given winning hopes (http://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2014-heite-i/03-Jones_Gawain_C_B-Ernst_Sipke), but white made a mistake 45.Rc6 and lost.
I’d go with Rg6 to support pushing g7-g8 and then b6 protecting c7.
Rg6 looks like a good move.
White may just save his skin by
1.Rg6 Kg8
2.b6 but it may be insufficient for win.
i play white Rg6
i play white Rg6
play white Rg6
1. Rg6 Kg8 2. b6
and than may be 2…Rb2 3. b7 Bb7: 4. Rb6
Rg6 and sacrifice Rook for converting the pawn to a queen.
Rh6+ looks like a good try, to force the queening of the g pawm.
Rc6 should get the job done I guess.
Yancey,
In the morning I had very little time but I spotted 1.Rg6 and 2.b6.But you have conducted a marvelous analysis.I work only on themes and hate exhaustive analysis (to hide my weakness?)But one thing here is certain,outside passed P benefit is not there as the last P remaining is RP.So
1.Rg6 Kg8 2.b6 Bb7 3.Re6 e4 4.Re8+ Kxg7 5.Rb8 Ba6 6.b7 Bxb7 7.Rxb7 Kf6 8.b4 Ke5 9.Rb5+ Kd6 10.Rc5 I think you hinted at this move. Rxc5 11.bxc5+ Kxc7 is drawish since c5 P will also go and white can not win with RP.
And the alternative is to advance b pawn to relieve R as soon as possible.9.b5 Kf4 10.b6 Kf3 This threatens mate.11.h4 Rc1+ 12.Kh2 Rc2+ 13.Kh3 Rc1 14.Kh2 leads to draw by perpetual check.But your other variations I still have not assimilated.
In my first comment, I forgot I had deleted a key variation in an attempt to get under the character limit for a comment. That variation is included with detail in the second comment, though it will read a bit weirdly since I had thought it included previously.
In any case, it is useful to study the chessbomb link an anonymous commenter provided- it seems Rg6 is the correct line, though it includes a key Rd6 rather than Re6. I can’t say for certain it makes a difference, but I will have to look at it. The best line found by the chessbomb engine is the line where white gets the R vs B ending with 1 white pawn vs the 2 black ones. The best line was then a subsequent Rb6, but the line is unclear to me still.
Prof S.G,
Yes, you are correct- that line is not only drawish, but is an actual draw after 11. …Kxc7 (I verified via Nalimov tablebase). The alternative you offered is almost surely a draw for black, agreed. I will have to reconsider the line at an earlier point, though right now I can’t see how white can win it- only draw it.
Initially I toyed with 1.Rg6 Be6 as a defense for black. 2.Rxe6 is not possible because of 2…. Rxc7.But quiet 2.b6 does the trick and black loses instantly as 3.b7 can not be prevented.