White to move. Is this a win, draw, or loss for White? What would your plan for White be?
Source: ChessToday.net
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
A fascinating endgame
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h4 wins.
h4 wins.
h4
now the king is trapped because he cant move to g5 or g6.. if he takes the h4 pawn the f pawn is off to the races and promotes..you just use your king to get over to the b pawn and force him to sac his knight.. hes in a bad position..
h4 and bologon better start setting up the peices for the next game because big daddy is taking home the bacon.. lol
I believe White wins if he plays 1.h4! first. Then the Black king cannot get the white pawns, and White’s king goes and gets the black queen pawn and then forces black to trade his knight for the b-pawn…
Wow, it is a good endgame. 🙂
Did either player calculate this precisely otb?
Kf2
ph4
I like 1. h4!! Now the White K goes after the d-pawn (if …K:h4 the f-pawn queens) as Black has two immobile pieces.
many thanks to the blog author for posting this endgame
my intuition tells me white should win on zugzwang as knight cannon win tempos, but I cannot find the winning variation, at least without a board with pieces.
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h4 is the answer. This pawn move will effectively tied the black king. The black is left with its d pawn for a safe move but will not prosper long because the white king becomes the blocking and the destroyer later on. White wins.
1. h4 and trap the black king
After that would go with the king all the way to take the pawn and knight
1.h4 keeps white in lead. Black cant move his king. White moves his king and takes the d pawn and then pushes his f pawn to win the game. Black knight has to take care of white’s passed b pawn.
h4 must be the first move, followed by bringing the king to the center, then queen a pawn
Robert
h4 first to prevent Kg5.
Even though the N can manoeuvre to cover b7 and protect the central bP, the wK has more flexibility and can organise a zug so that the bN has to release that Pawn.
So the central bP dies, the wK escorts the bP to win the N and then comes over for the f-Pawn … a win for White.
1.h4 zugzwang, followed by marching White’s king diagonally up the center of the board, wins.
1. h4 seals the king in place. Black can play Nb7 or d5. If Black plays Nc6, white moves the pawn from b6 to b7, making sure the Knight is tied down.
The white king then advances and picks up Black’s d-pawn. Black cannot really do much.
Following that, the white king can force Black to give up the Knight for the b-pawn, or the f-pawn. Easier is the b-pawn.
After that, Black has no choice but to take the h-pawn with the King, at which point, the white f-pawn cannot be stopped.
White h2 to h4,… and win.
1.h4 Freezes the black king, after which the white king can move west to stop black’s d-pawn.
This endgame is (in my patzer’s eyes) at best a draw for Black, and at worst a draw for White, practically (wondering how the players were doing on time.) I suspect it’s a technical win for White, given best play by both sides, but patzer suspicions are suspect.
h4!
1 h4! from the diagram position wins for White: the Black king is paralyzed and can not move without allowing the f pawn to queen. The knight is tied to the b pawn. The White king can stop the d pawn from queening and march to d5, winning.
Note that any other move than 1 h4 loses for White.
-Justin Daniel
I think h4 is the right move here.
White to move let me see… oh I think h4 is the right move here.
I think h4 is the right move here for white.
I think h4 is the right move.Just by a glance.
h4 =)
1. h4
…and Black can only move with his d-pawn. So, White captures this pawn and then attacks Black’s knight…
h4 =) win for white…
1. h4, then the white king snatches the d pawn supporting his f one. The Knight can’t leave the guard of the b pawn without check.
h4 could save the game for white i think, maybe it leads also to a win. the f and h pawns balance the black king, the other white pawn balances the knight, and the white king is free to go and try to win the d-pawn. the black knight should not be able to cover it while still having an eye on the b pawn
h4! and the white king is alone in the chessboard free to move on to capture the d pawn and support his b-pawn to become queen. Very beautiful move. Black I think can keep the draw but he blundered and finally he lost the game.
It’s a win for white after
1.h4! d5
2.Kg2 d4
3.Kf2 d3
4.Ke1
Black loses the d-pawn and the white king leads the f-pawn to the 8th rank.
Nice endgame.
Maybe pawn to h4, then the black king doesn`t have a move and the white king comes to the center
White wins
h4 to stop bloack king from going to g5. And then white king moves up the board to stop d-pawn and support either b-pawn or f-pawn.
1 h4!! wins. Now white cannot capture the f pawn because g5 is covered. Next white’s K advances for the win.
h4 and the king march. Black king is boxed in. White will win the d-pawn and then the game.
1.h4 !
h4 is obvious, but it’s only good for a draw. The question should sound “how black could have saved the game?” The answer is place the knight at d6 and advance the pawn to d3. White cannot take it there, thus black gets a draw. My calculations prevail over my intuition as it should always be 🙂
http://kasparovchess.crestbook.com/viewtopic.php?id=4303
unfortunately, Bologan couldn’t see it in a time trouble
1. h4! Knb7 2. Kg2 Knb7 3.Kf3 d5 4.Kf2 d4 5. Ke2 and no move to keep the d-pawn