White to move. Is this a win, draw, or loss for White? How should White proceed?
8/1P6/p4p2/p1k2Pp1/B1p1K1p1/R1P1P3/5PPp/7n w – – 0 1
Rusinek, 1971
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
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white wins as there is no mate on ce or g3
it cannot be a loss.
or else, you wouldn’t be asking how to proceed.
cheers
I think defending this mate threat would be a good start and then try to make some sort of zugzwang for black
White has no defence to Nf2 mate. There are no checks that White can give.
Therefore, if White is to avoid mate, it seems that the previous move by Black must have been g7-g5.
If so, White can take on g6 en passant vacating the f5 square for the king. After that, White may be able to win.
Ravi V
Ra2 Nxf2+
RxN h1-Q
Rd2 wins
Brit-Mate
I think, white can win. Or not? 🙂
3. Rd2 was wrong. However
Ra2 Nxf2
Rxn h1-Q
Rb2 works, not Rd2 due to the winning Queen check on b1
Brit-Mate
I believe white wins:
1 Ra2 (b8=Q Nxf2++)
1 ….. Ng3+
2 f2xN h1=Q
3 b8=Q Qh7 (to prevent 4 Qc7 mate)
4 Qc8+ mates or wins Queen.
white wins by
1. Ra2 Ng3#
2. fxg3 h1-Q
3. b8-Q Qh7
4. Qf8# Kb6
5. Rb2# Kc7
6. Qb8##
i am gonna say win Ra2 (if nxf2+ rxf2 h1=n rf3 wins) so ng3+! pxg3 h1=n! b8=B!! wins (if black plays h1=Q b8=R!! (if b8=Q then nf2+ forcing stalemate) nice puzzle in took me less then 1 min to solve!
1.Ra2 Nxf2+ 2.Rxf2 h1=Q 3.b8=Q black has only one check at Qb1 and Qxb1 takes care of black any other move leaves whites queen a free hand to checkmate
I think white wins after;
1 Ra2 Ng3+ (1 .. Nxf2+ 2 Rxf2 h1=N 3 Rf3!)
2 fxg3 h1=N
3 b8=B! (3 b8=Q?? 4 Nf2+ 5 Rxf2 stalemate)
the other move for black after queening on h1 is Qh7 to stop the mate on c7 but white can play Qf8+ Kb6(forced)Qd6+ and whites bishop joins in the mating net
According to Logan’s words in some other puzzle, it’s a win, draw and loss for white, depending on the level of both players.
Got to love his logic when solving puzzles, huh?
1. Ra2 Ng3+
{
1…Nxf2
2.Rxf2 h1N
[
2…h1Q
3. b8R +-
( 3.b8Q = )
]
3.Rf3 +-
}
2. fxg h1N
[
2…h1Q
3. b8R +-
]
3. b8B Nxg3
[
3…Nf2+
4.Rxf2 Kb6 +-
]
4. Bxg3 Kb6 +-
phew
i hope that white wins and that this is the correct answer
i must say, it was some puzzle. a really really nice one. plz lemme know if this is correct 🙂
Black wins!
White must defend the mate
1.Ra2 Ng3+
2.fxg3 h1N!
and mate next move
@anon
after
1.Ra2 Ng3+
2.fxg3 h1N
3.b8Q both f2 and g3 are protected so it’s a win for white
draw:
1.Ra2 Ng3+
2.fxg3 h1N
3.b8Q Ng3+
4.Qb3 stalemate
White wins after
1.Ra2 Ng3+
2.fxg3 h1N
and now 3.b8Q? prevents the mate but would lead to a stalemate, while 3.b8B! wins.
1.Ra2 Ng3+
2.fxg3 h1N
3.b8=B wins
If b8=Q Nf2+
Rxf2 Stalemate
If b8=R Ng3#
1. Ra2 Ng3+
2. fg h1N
3. b8Q defends the mate threat on g3 and Black is toast.
to anon 1:38:00
after …h1=N, then white can Q, preventing mate.
Oops!
1. Ra2 Ng3+
2. fg h1N
3. b8Q Nf2+
4. R:f2 is stalemate.
The right idea is
1. Ra2 Ng3+
2. f6 h1N
3. b8B nf2+
4. R:f2 and black’s king has a flight square on b6.
White wins
I think white can save the game with a draw :
1 Ra2 (only move) – Ng3+
2 fxg3(only move) – h1N !
3 b8Q (or B) – Ng3+ or Nf2+
4 Q (or R)xN pat
White must play 1.Ra2 to defend the mate on f2.
Then there seem to be two lines:
1. Nxf2
2. Rxf2 h1(Q)
or 2…h1(N); 3. Rf3 winning
3. b8(Q) and black is down a lot of material, has no good checks, and doesn’t have a Q sac for stalemate because the g pawn can move.
1. Ng3(!)(to stalemate the g-pawn)
2. fxg3 h1(N)
3. b8(B)!
And white wins. If white promotes to a queen, 3…Nf2+; 4.Rxf2 is stalemate.
In order to prevent stalemate an underpromotion is necessary in the main line:
1. Ra2! (prevents 1 .. Nf2 mate)
1. .. Ng3+! 2. fxg3 h1 N!
and now 3. b8Q ?? Nf2+ 4. Rxf2 stalemate..
so: 3. b8B!! prevents Nxg3+ and gives the black king the field b6.
White wins
1. Ra2 Nxf2
2. RxN H1=N
3. Rf3 (stops the Knight mate on both squares)
3. … gxRf3
4. Kxf3 and the King escapes mate
3. … g4
4. Rxg4 opening the f3 square for the King
I don’t really see a problem here.
1.Ra2 and white wins in all variations. Critical is
1…Nxf2+ 2.Rxf2 h8=N 3.Rf3 and white is safe.
also
1…Ng3+ 2.fxg3 h8=N 3.b8=Q and white is safe.
It’s useless if black promotes to queen because white will always control g2 pawn (with rook) and b1 square (with queen). Hence black has no checks and is lost.
clever stalemate
ra2 ng3+
fg h1(n)
b8(q) nfe+
rxf2 stalemate
Definate win.
having looked at it again the underpromotion to a knight forces white to underpromote to a bishop on b8 the rest is
1.Ra2 Ng3 2.fxg3 h1=N 3.b8=B Nxg+
4.Bxg Kb7 5.Rd2 Kb7 6.Rd7+ Kb6 7.Bb8 Kc5 9.Ba7# there are other moves blacks king can make but the end is still a checkmate
1. Ra2 Ng3+ 2. fxg3 h1=Q 3. b8=R Qe1 4. Rc8+ Kb6 5. Rb2+ Ka7 6. Rc7+ Ka8 7. Bc6# 1-0
For goodness’ sake Susan, stop asking if it could be a loss for White if it is White to move.
White wins. If pawn B7 moves to B8 then you can promote it to a queen. If queen B8 moves to C7 it will be checkmate since the black king is helpless and can’t move anywhere.
Infact the black king can’t move neither to B6 or D6 once the pawn from B7 to B8 promotes to a queen.