White to move. How should white proceed?
Source: ChessToday.net
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Endgame chess tactic
About Author
White to move. How should white proceed?
Source: ChessToday.net
Rd1
Rd4??
1.Rxe4 Rxe4
2.Kf7 and black has to give up R for g pawn.
I would be tempted by. 1. Rxe4, Rxe4; 2. Kf7 followed by pushing the g pawn. The Black King can’t easily approach. I don’t see any way for Black to prevent queening without sacrificing the Rook, when the Bishop and b pawn will be enough for White to win.
Maybe there is something better, but this should be enough.
Quickly spotted the winning solution as it is a forcing move.
1.Rxe4 Rxe4
2.Kf7 controlling all the squares for the g pawn to march up the board. The bishop is screening the king from checks along the f file as well as controlling the e7 square.
Now black has to give up the rook to prevent the g pawn from queening and this leaves white up a bishop which is protecting the b2 pawn and white is completlely winning.
So what else can black do after 1.Rxe4? There really are no other alternatives as white will still follow the same plan of putting the king on f7 and shoving the g pawn forward.
Re4 then Kf7
1.Rxe4 Rxe4 and it’s a mate in 27:
2.Kf7 Rf4
3.g6 etc
Re4 then Kf7
1. Re4….
2. Kf7….
Forcing the issue.
1.Rxe5!!.Raxe5.2.Kf7!!. threatening 3.g6, 4.g7 and 5.g8=Q
Black has no defense as he cannot get rid of both white pawns. He can try to capture or exchange white’s b pawn and then capture white’s g pawn with rook to draw. However white holds on to b pawn; in case of black c3 he will play Bxc3! leaving the pawn in b file as its queening square is controlled by black square bishop.
Black needs 3 moves to get King to b4 and try exchanging bc pawns. But white will queen g pawn within that time. Thus black will have to give up his rook for the g pawn leaving white with b pawn and a bishop up winning easily.
Harry
Too hard.
1.RxB RxR
2.Kf7 then push Pawn g to the queening square.
My first thought is to ask whether or not white can just capture the bishop. It diverts the rook allowing white to play Kf7 followed by a pawn push of g6:
1. Re4 Re4
2. Kf7
And now, what can black do? White’s b-pawn is well protected while the black pawn is immobilized, the white g-pawn is now free to advance, the black king is shut out of playing any role in stopping the g-pawn. I see no defense here for black- he will eventually be forced to give up the rook for the g-pawn leaving white with a won ending.
White must immediately snapoff the bishop to prevent it from reaching d3 where it could save a draw for black. After rook takes rook, temporarily winning the exchange for black, white king shelters on f7 immune from checks and opening the road for the g pawn to queen. The only way this pawn can be stopped is by sacrificing the rook, and then the other white pawn will queen with assistance of the king and the lone remaining white bishop. If black tries to give back the exchange by capturing white’s bishop, the g awn cannot be stopped from queening. A very direct way to overwhelm the black’s potential resistance.
1. Rxe4 Rxe4 2. Kf7 1-0