White to move. Is this a draw or loss for White? This was an actual game which took place at the Women’s Grand Prix in Mongolia between former Women’s World Champion Zhu Chen and Zhao Xue.
8/1KP1q3/8/8/3k4/8/8/8 w – – 0 0
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
It a draw for white if he goes to
Ka8 and Black can’t force mate or a win.
Normally King and a c of f pawn against King and Queen is a draw. If the King abandons the pawn and goes to a8 (or the respective corner) then Qxc7 will result in stalemate. However, there are exceptions, and in this position if White plays Ka8, Black will not play Qxc7 stalemate , but will move the King, Kc5. Then if c8=Q, Black will play Kb6 and mate is inevitable.
Draw
1 Ka8 (only) draws.
1. Ka8! Qxc7= because of stalemate. This means that Black cannot force white to guard the pawn such that the K has the chance to come closer.
If I recall rightly there are positions where this ending with the Bisop pawn where the side with the Queen can win, but the K has to be closer than it is.
Generally the a, c, f, or h pawns draw against the Q if on the seventh and guarded by their K. Otherwise the K and Q win.
Jeremy Sillman clasifies this ending as one that every “C” class or better player should understand, but I once watched a B clas player unable to win with the Q as white against a pawn on g2.
A beautiful position and one that can easily be misplayed from either side.
This is an easy win for black, as long as he understands the technique.
So, there are two ideas here, which need to be understood —
#1, that c- or f-pawns on the 7th against a queen can easily be drawn by hiding the defending king in the corner and then inviting the queen to take the pawn for a stalemate.
#2, that if the winning king is close enough, this method doesn’t help.
The reason this is not a draw is shown here –
1.Kb8 Kc5! 2.b8->Q+ Kb6, mating next move.
A mistake for black would be (I was convinced that this was black’s best line of at first) the natural,
1.Kb8 Qb4+, allowing white to get his drawing position, with his King tucked away on a8.
I just looked up the game in question and it looks like Xue knows her endgame theory!
John
Ka8 ! Draw !
Draw or loss depends on which line the pawn stands. c,f are drawn.
Easy one: Ka8 is the only move to draw, but is theoretical one!
1. Ka8 and black must play 1…Qd7 (not Q:c7??=) Now 2. Kb8 forces Qd6, and Ka8 forces Qd7. Black can not find a tempo to bring his K into play, so the game is drawn.
The tempting 1. Kb8 seems to lose:
1. Kb8 Kc5
2. c8Q+ Kb6
and Black mates.
1. Ka8 seems to hold, though:
1. Ka8 Qd7 (1. … Qxc7 stalemate)
2. Kb8 and Black cannot make progress.
Isn’t this the classic draw where pawn on seventh rank vs. queen? Normally a win for Black but int his case the pawn is on the c file which makes it a draw (draw if on a file as well)
The zones for these positions are given in Paul Keres’ fantastic but somehow unknown book, “Practical Chess Endings”.
Ka8! draws by provoking the BQ to a spot where it will be attacked upon promotion, e.g. Qd7 Kb8.
Kb8? loses to Kc5! e.g. c8(Q)+ Kb6, with unavoidable mate.
draw ka8
I think that the black king is close enough that Black should win.
Black wins by checking the king and moving his king toward the c7 pawn and the only square white has is c8 to hide and stay in contact with the pawn so 1..Qb4+ 2.Kc8 Kd5
3.Kd8 Qd6+ 4.Kc8 Kc6 5.Kb8 Qxc7+
6.Ka8 Qb7#
A theme we have seen before in previous puzzles of the recent past informs some of the variations here:
1. Kb7 Kc5!!
And, now, white can’t queen!
2. c8(Q) Kb6! and mate can’t be prevented since there are no checks on the black king that don’t give up the queen or are mate when black takes it.
The same theme dominates part this first move alternative:
1. Kc8 Kc5
2. Kb8 Kc6! (Kb6? 3.c8(N)=)
3. Ka8 Kc7 wins for black. At move 2 for white, he does no better with
2. Kb7 Qd7!
3. Ka6 Qc8 (Qc7? stalemates)
4. Ka7 Qc7 wins for black. Or
3. Ka8 Qc8 wins for black. Or
3. Kb8 Kb6 wins for black like before.
White can play 1.Ka8 and, here, black cannot use the previous theme of bringing the king to b6- for example:
1. Ka8 Kc5?
2. c8(Q) Kb6
3. Qc7! Qc7 and white is stalemated. The difference, of course, is that the take at c7 is with check in the previous lines with the white king at b8, but with the king at a8, it isn’t. So, black must try something different with his first move in this line, but he is going to find a recurrent problem with this type of position- white can always shuffle his king from a8, b8 and b7, always threatening to queen the pawn whenever black doesn’t pin it. This keeps the black king at bay just long enough, and black can never capture the c7 pawn when the white king is at a8 since it is stalemate. For example:
1. Ka8 Qc5 (Qc7 is stalemate rem.)
2. Kb8 Qb6/b5/b4
3. Ka8 and black can make no progress.
I have actually used this knowledge of king plus seventh rank c/f-pawn vs king plus queen endgames from both sides in online blitz games. This is a definite must know for all chess players. The key feature, of course, is that the pawn cannot be taken if the king retreats to the corner due to the stalemate. The other key feature in this particular endgame is that the closeness of black’s king means that white cannot be careless for even one move and must play Ka8 immediately- something that Ms. Zhao Xue didn’t know, or forgot in her obvious time trouble (Chessbomb shows her with 14 seconds left on the clock). My guess is that she knows how to draw this, but overlooked the black reply to Kb8- something I would not have known instinctively, though I could see it pretty quick afterwards. A painful way to lose.
King in corner. Only way out.
“2. c8(Q) Kb6! and mate can’t be prevented since there are no checks on the black king that don’t give up the queen or are mate when black takes it.”
Sorry, but this is nonsense. In the line given white has 3. Qb8+ =
Then 3 … Kh6 4 Qc8+ etc.
There is no mate for black.
The simplest looking endings can be so complicated, so that folks come to the wrong conclusions!
This position is a draw.
Responding to some of the other comments:
After 1. Ka8 Kc5 2. c8=Q+ Kb6 3. Qb8+ is a draw: if 3… Ka6 4. Qc8+ or 4. Qd6+ !, and if 3… Kc6 4.Qc8+
After 1. Ka8 Kc5 2. c8=Q+ Kb6 3. Qc7 is a big mistake: black takes on c7 with the King, not the queen.
This is a very instructive position. As previous commentators have said, most positions with K and c or f pawns against K and Q are drawn if the King is far away. This is one of the exceptions where the King is close enought to make a difference. But Black has to proceed carefully. Taking the pawn on c7 (or f7 or c2 or f2) with the Queen, while the King is in the corner, a8 (or h8 or a1 or h1) leads to stalemate. But, as some of the other commentators have shown there are other subtleties, and Black needs to be sure that after White promotes to a Queen, there is a mate, or else White will have perpetual check.
A)
1.Ka8 Kb5
2.c8=Q Kb6
3.Qb1+ and White draws. So this is a variation Black must avoid.
B)
1.Ka8 Qd7 (to be able to take the pawn with check if it Queens or if the King does not protect it).
2.Kb7 Kb5
3.Kb8 Kb6
4.c8=Q Qh7 mate.
C)
1.Ka8 Qd7
2.Kb8 Kc5
3.c8=Q+ Kb6 Now White has no checks that don’t lose the Queen, and cannot prevent mate on either g7 or h7.
D)
1.Ka8 Qd7
2.Kb7 Kb5
3.Kb8 Kb6
4.c8=N+ Kh6 and Black wins.
E)
1.Kb8 Kc5
2.c8=Q+ Kb6
Same comment as in C.
Conclusion: This particular position is a win for Black, and is an exception to the normal draw of K and Q versus K and bishop-pawn (c or f pawn).
The position is drawn. The closeness of the Black King makes no difference.
1.Ka8 Qd7 (!…Qxc7 is stalemate).
2.Kb8 Qd6
3.Ka8 and Black can only draw.
In the above variation, 2.Kb7 loses to
2…Kc5
3.Kb8 Kb6
4.c8=Q Qa7 mate.
If 3.Ka8 then Qc8+. For the position to be a win, Black must be able to move the King to b6 before the pawn Queens and must also be wary of Knight promotions that fork King and Queen.
Note there is a flaw in variation C of anonymous, since after the c-pawn Queens, if Black does not exchange Queens, White wins with Qxd7.
Again, thanks for drawing attention to this position, that was presumably misplayed by a former world champion.
Ed,
There is a typo in the very first move of that line (I sometimes have trouble reading my own writing)- it should be
1. Kb8 Kc5
2. c8(Q)Kb6 and there is no useful check on the black king.
Lucymarie,
LOL! In my haste to finish up last night with a “clever” motif, I motiffed myself into a blunder worse than Ms. Zhao Xue’s. Of course, the right plan is to just start perpetually checking the black king from b8 instead.