White to move. Is this a win, draw, or loss for White? How should White proceed?
8/8/1p3p1p/pP1pkP1r/P6P/3P2K1/3P4/7B w – – 0 1
Note: The lines are quite long and some are tricky.
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Can white win the rook?
Kg4 Rxf5 d4+ Kxd4 Kxf5.
Then it looks like white needs eight moves to queen. Kc4 Bxd5 Kxd5 can be played and then Kxf6.
I think white will win that endgame
d4+! and the rook is trapped.
I should have mentioned the next important move after d4+ if …Kxf5 Bxe5 …Kg6 and Bf3 wins the rook after …Rf5 Be4 and pinning the rook. If Kxd4 then Kg4.
White wins
1.d4+ Kxf5 (otherwise 2.Kg4 wins rook)
2.Bxd5 Kg6
3.Bf3 f5 (3..Rf5 4.Be4 h5 5.d5 wins rook)
4.Bxh5 Kxh5
5.Kf4 Kg6 (with Kxh4 black h pawn is too slow)
6.Ke5 and white wins f pawn and the game.
1.d4 Kf5
2.Bd5 Kg6
3.Be4 f5
4.Bf3 f4
5.Kg4 and
rook trapped
win starting with 1. d4+! and utilizing some zugzwangs
1.d4 Kf5
2.Bd5 Kg6
3.Be4 f5
4.Bg3 f4
5.Kg4 Rf5
6.Be4 f3
7.Bf5 Kf6
8.Bd3 white wins
(I hope)
this is more complicated than it first appeared to be. but it can be done. the idea is
1. d4+ Kxd4
2. Kg4 and the rook is trapped. but black will play differently and we will have to rely on zugzwang:
1. … Kxf5
2. Bxd5 Kg6
3. Bf3 Rf5
4. Be4 h5
5. d5 zz. if
3. … f5, then
4. Kh3 f4
5. Kg4 Rf5
6. Be4 h5+
7. Kf3 zz. if
6. … f3, then
7. Bxf5+ Kf6
8. Be4 f2
9. Bg2
greets, jan
My kind of problem.
I would be tempted to play Bd5 to try to take advantage of the trapped rook at h5, but I don’t think this is going work for white:
1. Bd5
The idea is that if black takes at d5, Kg4 will win the rook. However, I think black can actually take the bishop:
1. …..Kd5
2. Kg4 Rg5!
3. hg5 hg5 and the black king will scoop up the two d-pawns and win the game with his protected passed g-pawn. So white definitely needs a different plan.
I can note that black is about to win the f-pawn, or win the g-pawn if the white king leaves it’s defense. Now, at first, I didn’t think protecting the f-pawn with the king was possible, but that is wrong:
1. Kg4 Rf5 (else?)
2. d4! Ke6
3. Bf3
Took me a while to find this move, but it is the only way to keep the rook imprisoned. Now, black has only two possible moves- give up the exchange at f3, or play h5. Each in order:
3. …..h5
4. Kg3
Black has 5 realistic moves- Kd6, Kd7, Ke7, Kf7, and Rf3. Again, I must examine each in order:
4. …..Kd6
5. Bg2
Why this move? The idea I have is to bring the bishop to h3 and win the rook. But for this to work, the bishop must come to h3 at a time when black’s king will be sitting on e6, or be able to play a waiting move to force the black king off of e6 if he comes there after Bh3. This same maneuver might well be possible from e2/d3, but I don’t want to give up the ability to play d3. Continuing:
5. …..Ke7
Black cannot play to e6 since Bh3 wins the rook due to zugzwang. Also, if the king plays to d7, Bh3 pins the rook, and when the black king comes to e6, white plays the waiting move of d3 and zugzwang once again occurs. Ke7 isn’t going to solve this problem either:
6. Bh3 Ke6
7. d3 and the rook is lost since black must either lose the rook at e5, g5, or any square of the f-file. In fact, we can eliminate every single king move alternative black had at move 4 since white always has the waiting moves of d3 or Kg2 available to counter whatever black does with his king’s attempts to maintain the guard on rook. Now I am ignoring the issue of whether black gets anything to save the game by giving up the rook at either g5 or e5, but I don’t see black holding the resulting endgame against a full bishop.
So, we are back to the last move 4 alt. for black, which is to concede the exchange at f3 before the bishop can kill him from h3:
4. …..Rf3
5. Kf3 Kf5
No other move for black has a chance of winning the game, black couldn’t lose this with the worst looking move of f5 (see the lines below). Cont.:
6. d3
With black holding the opposition, I d3 is the only move for white to not lose:
6. …..Kg6 (or Ke6)
7. Kf4 f5
Here, Kg7 draws, too. Kf7 might well lose since white penetrates with the opposition to f5. Kh6 definitely loses to Kf5 followed by Ke6. Playing f5 is the surest, cleanest way for black to draw:
8. Ke5 f4!
9. Kf4
Forced, otherwise white loses the pawn race if he tries Kd5. Cont.:
9. …..Kf6
10.Kf3 Kf5
11.Kg3 Kg6 and it is clear that neither player can penetrate with proper play.
Lastly, we need to examine what if black sacrifices the exchange at move 3 instead of move 4 in the line above:
3. …..Rf3
4. Kf3 Kf5
5. d3 h5 (else?)
6. Kg3 and this will end in a draw with proper play.
Continued in my next comment.
White wins a Rook.
1. d4+ Kf5: (on anything else, 2.Kg4)
2. Bd5: Kg6 (There is nothing else.)
3. Be4+ f5 (On other moves, 4. K3)
4. Bf3 f4+
5. Kg4 Rf5 (Aain, what else?)
6. Be4
In my previous comment, I covered the line that begins:
1. Kg4 Rf5
2. d4 Ke6
3. Bf3 and I think I proved that, with proper play after this point, the game ends in a draw as black is forced to give up the exchange at either move 3 or move 4 in order to avoid ending up down a piece in the ending. The last thing to examine is whether or not there was a way for white to win the hindered rook without giving up his bishop to do so, or to engineer a won pawn ending otherwise. There was one other move that caught my eye before I looked at 1.Kg4, and that was an immediate playing of d4:
1. d4
Now, black has a choice- take at d4 or take at f5 with the king, leaving, for the moment, the rook trapped on h5. Let’s look at both:
1. …..Kd4
2. Kg4 Rh4
Here, Rf5 is worse since both black king side pawns will be toast and the h-pawn will march to h8. Also, with the bishop still on the board, Rg5 won’t help as the white king will march through h5-g6 to win at f6 before black can win the d-pawn while retaining his own. Cont.:
3. Kh4 Ke5 (best, I think)
4. Kh5 Kf5 (again, what else?)
5. Bd5 Ke5
6. Bf3 f5
7. Kh6 Kf4
8. d4
I don’t know if this is the quickest way to win for white, but it is the most elegant:
8. …..Kf3 (nothing else)
9. d5 Kg3
And white will queen in three more moves while it will take black four moves. Even if there were no other pawns on the board, this would be a won ending for white. So, back at move 1, black must take at f5 with the king:
1. d4 Kf5
2. Bd5
I spent a while here trying to make Bf3 win, but it doesn’t after black plays Kg6. The point is that there are no waiting moves that work for white. On Kg4, black can play the rook to f5, or play f5 followed by f4 and the rook can, at best, only be exchanged for the bishop. Also, none of the endings seemed winnable for white, and possibly winnable for black. However, 2.Bd5 has a stinger on it that we won’t really appreciate for a few moves. Continuing:
2. …..Kg6
This or give up the rook at g5, but that is a lost ending, too. Continuing:
3. Be4
This move plays itself, and is the real point of 2.Bd5. Now black has two king moves, or f5 or Rf5. Taken in order:
3. …..Kf7
4. Kg4 and the rook can’t be saved. In a subsequent comment, I will look at the endgames that arise from here from black fourth moves like Rb5 and Rh4. The same applies to
3. …..Kg7
4. Kg4.
So, we are left with the 3rd move alternatives of f5 and Rf5:
3. …..f5
4. Bf3 f4 (or Rg5 or Rh4)
5. Kg4 Rf5 (or Rb5 or Rh4)
6. Be4 h5
7. Kf3 Kf6
8. Bf5 Kf5
9. d3! and black is in zugzwang and loses his f-pawn and the game since, by taking at d5 at move 2, white has a passed d-pawn to win the game after exchanging the two remaining pieces. Back at move 3, black can do no better with Rf5:
3. …..Rf5
4. Kg4 h5
5. Kg3 and black loses his rook outright due to zugzwang.
So, white wins with 1.d4.
A couple of short lines:
1. d4+ , if 1… Kxd4 then 2. Kg4. If 1… Kxf5 then 2. Bf3.
1.d4+…Kxf5
2.Bxd5…Kg6
3.Be4+…f5
4.Bf3…f4+
5.Kg4…Rf5
6.Be4 wins
With regards to a possible format for future world champioship cycles.
All players,including world champion would have to qualify for a Candidates Tournament.This could consist of 8 players playing each other twice (14 games) or 15 players playing each other once.Either way each player has the same number of games with black and white.Qualifing for candidates could consist of winning predetermined tournaments or by rating or some combination of the two.
The top 2 finishers from the candidates tournament would then play a match of 12-16 games to determine the world champion.
One complete cycle could take two,three or even four years to complete.
No advantages to any players.Both tournament and match play formats would be included to satisfy proponents of each.
What do you think?Comments welcomed.
Sincerely, Jim S.
I guess if white can win the rook and create a zugzwang then he could win this. Play could follow:
1.d4+ Kxf5
2.Bxd5 Kg6
3.Be4+ f5
4.Bf3 f4+
5.Kg4 Rf5
6.Be4 h5+
7.Kf3 Kf6
8.BxR kxB
9.d3
And it’s won endgame for white.
Jorg Lueke,
On move 2 for black, he can play the king to e6 and draw.
I took me some time to find, what is wrong with this position.
Lets take away all a- and b-pawns.
Now, after 1.d4 Kf5, 2.Bd5? no longer works and the only win is
2.Bf3! Kg6 3.Bd1! Rf5 4.Bc2 Kh5!
5.Bd3! +- (not 5.Bf5 stalemate).
I’m sure I’m missing something obvious, but I can’t find white’s winning move after:
1. d4+ Kxf5
2. Bxd5 Ke5
I can only see
3. Kg4 Rf5
4. … Rf4
and the rook gets out.
It seems that
1 d4+ Kxf5
2 Bf3
wins as well. Here is the main line
2 …. Kg6
3 Bd1 (the waiting move)
3 … f5 (after Rf5 Bc2 pins the rook)
4 Be2 (another waiting move)
5 … f4+
5 Kg4 Rf5
6 Bd3 h5+
7 Kf3 Kf6
8 Kf2
Now whatever black does, white
takes the rook and wins the
pawn endgame due to the extra
tempo coming from the pawn
on d2.