White to move. Can White win this?
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
King and Pawn endgame
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White to move. Can White win this?
Yes! By moving a pawn up wins in all variations.
Yes. White king just needs to make it to a7 or c7, which is not difficult. E.g.,
Kc6 Kb8
Kb6 Kc7
Ka7…
Its much more difficult than you are making it out to be… white has to be careful to not trap blacks king at a8. How about, for instance…
1. Kc6 Kb8
2. Kb6 Ka8
3. Kc7 Ka7
4. a5 Ka8
5. a6? Ka7!
6. axb7 stalemate
so soemthing like
5. Kc8 b6
6. Kc7!
or
5… Ka7
6. b6+ Ka8
7. a6 bxa6
8. b7+ Ka7
9. b8=Q++
You are of course right, Tyler, that you need to be careful of stalemate, but the key is to think first about where you need the king to be rather than blindly moving the pawns forward.
1. Kc5 Ka8
1. … b6+ 2. Kc6 immediately wins the b-pawn.
1. … Kb8 2. Kb6 Ka8 3. a5 Kb8 4. a6 bxa6 5. Kxa6 Ka8 6. b6 Kb8 7. b7 and White wins.
2. Kb6 Kb8 3. a5 Ka8
3. … Kc8 4. Ka7 Kc7 5. b6+ Kc~ 6. Ka8 and White wins the b-pawn.
4. Kc7
4. a6? Kb8! and Black draws.
4. … Ka7 5. a6 bxa6 6. b6+ Ka8 7. b7+ Ka7 8. b8=Q#
yeah – white wins.
Nice endgame – re-freshing
Joshua has given (I think) the right and complete variation. Very good.
For me there where two traps not to fall into (maybe I would have OTB…):
1) Not directly rush with my pawns (because either of stalemates possibilities or black’s king controlling a8 after pawn exchange…) but improve my king’s position…
2) As Joshua mentioned one variation is 1.Kc5 Ka8 2. Kb6 Kb8 3. a5 Kc8 4. Ka7 Kc7 5. b6+ Kc~ 6. Ka8
I could have played 4…a6?? Kb8! and either 5.axb7 stalemate or 5.a7 Ka8 and I will lose my pawn and position is a draw
For me 4…Ka7 was the most difficult move to find…
And you?
Ok,let us win this endgame…my moves:
1.Kc5(the king goes first in all the pawns endgames)
1… b6+ 2.Kc6 and 3.Kxb6 winning
1…Ka8 2.Kb6 Kb8 3.a5
3…Ka7 4.Kc7 Ka8 5. a6 bxa6 and b6,b7,b8=Q winning
3…Kc7 4.Ka7 Kc8 5.a6 bxa6 and b6,b7,b8=Q winning
1…Kb8 2.a5
2…Kc7 3.Ka7 Kc8 5.a6 bxa6 and b6,b7,b8=Q winning
2…Ka7 3.Kc7 Ka8 5.Kc8 Ka7
6.b6+
6…Ka8 7.a6 bxa6 8.b7+ and b8=Q winning
6…Ka6 7.Kb8 Kxa5 8.Kxb7 winning
In pawn endgames is really difficult to see a position with pawn less with possible defence: near all of them are lost.And extra pawn+good king is impossible to stop.
To Jose A Delgado
I can’t follow your moves (typo or display problem or talking about other position?)
For example: 1.Kc5 Ka8 2.Kb6 Kb8 3.a5
3…Ka7 ?
How could black king go on a7 after 2.Kb6
Greetings
Jean-Luc the notation is a tad sloppy in some of the comments.
The essential point is that the white king covers the queening squares of the b pawn, and then plays a5, when b6 is played with a check, following up with a6 to avoid a stalemate of the black king in the corner (if he hides there).
This doesn’t seem to work if white starts with the very natural a5.