White to move. No computer please! Calculate it out! How does White win? Only one way can win. This was actually one of my fast Internet games. I had about 20 seconds left with no increment to win as White. Have fun 🙂
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
WOW
I learned something from this one.
COOL.
Hmm. I could only get a draw out of it. I can’t wait to see the answer.
Jerry, not only you have to win, you have to do it in less than 20 seconds 🙂
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
http://www.PolgarChess.com
you can’t really win this, Susan?
After check black will take the G pawn!
So how can White later stop the black rook from sacrificing against the other pawn?
It black play rightly, only a draw, Susan!
Keep the rook out of G5 seems key…
hehe. After trying Kf4 10 times in a row and failing, I started thinking “outside the box”. I thought maybe there was some under promotion thing, but that failed also.
So finally I thought, what’s the last move I would consider playing. So I played Kh4! As soon as I played it and looked at the postion I smiled and knew the plan.
That move allows you to guard the g pawn with the king and free up the f pawn. Good one.
Of course you found it on the first try with 20 seconds to go.;)
Yes, Kh4 then Kh5 is the only way. And yes, I found it in the game.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
http://www.PolgarChess.com
Susan, you did not play Q vs R ending. Right?
Susan that is just amazing.
I think you must have studied chess.
HaHa.
I spent a lot of time on this one. And it is a really good puzzle. It is simple so it is really good. Even after getting the answer I had to keep going over it both ways to understand why it worked the way it does.
This ended up being a nice lesson on Queen vs. Rook endgames ^_^
Thanks Susan!
Hi Susan,
It is midnight here, and so yes I’m tired…but it seems to me this is a draw. After Kh4, Rxg6, and after Kh5, Rg8. What next for white? The black rook simply waits to move over to the f file and take the f pawn for the draw.
?????
Isn’t G-6 pawn hanging? or am I seeing a different board?
After black’s check, white king will move to Kh2,kh3,kh4,kf2,kf3 or kf4?
then RxP or rook capture RxG6 !
After that white King can move anywhere, then …black rook move sequencely to…RG8 then…Rf8! which would be draw at least!
I think my analysis is very correct or maybe I am seeing a different board?
Please comment, Susan(or anybody)?
1.Rxg6 fxg6!
ohh silly me I got the board backwords!
Wow I was playing black!!!!
No wonder I felt it was a draw!
Damn reading those old notation(not the algebric notation) don’t seam to be a good idea afetr all!
i think move your king to the right of the pawns away from his king. if he attacks your f pawn make sure your king is beside the g pawn. then when he takes your f pawn and you move your g pawn to the seventh rank it will allow your g pawn to promote because you wont be in check. if you have your king next to the f pawn when he attacks the f pawn and you try and move the g pawn to the seventh rank he will take your f pawn and put you in check. this mean instead of promoting your g pawn you have to move it out of check. thats the essential to the whole problem. king besdies g pawn when rook attacks f pawn.
wolverine
in more specific terms.
your f pawn is on f5 g pawn on g6 king on h6. rook attacks f pawn you move g7 rook takes f pawn g promotes. now its queen versus rook . game is over.
wolverine.
Susan can I ask a question?
Kf4 with idea Ke5 followed by g6 isn’t winning?
say:
1.Kf4 Kb3
2.Ke5 Kc4
3.g6 Rg6
4.f7
and the promotion is forced since the king controls f6.
Of course you still need to win the Q v R endgame, but in principle it is won.
@ someone
You’re jumping youru f pawn from f5 to f7.
Since the solution is given, for people who want to analyse deeply :
http://www.shredderchess.com/online-chess/online-databases/endgame-database.html
Just set the position, and click the possible moves, take back, etc …
As well spotted by the anonymous the pawn was on f5, and g6 so 3.g6 was impossible… I meant 3.f6
so what about:
1.Kf4 Kb3
2.Ke5 Kc4
3.f6 Rg6
4.f7
and the promotion is forced since the king controls f6.
Of course you still need to win the Q v R endgame, but in principle it is won.
1.Kf4 Kb3
2.Ke5 Kc4
3.f6 Rg5+! 1/2
Thx anonymous! I missed that check.
“After Kh4, Rxg6”
Ah, yes, and fxg6 of course. Oops.
“After black’s check, white king will move to Kh2,kh3,kh4,kf2,kf3 or kf4? then RxP or rook capture RxG6 !”
Yes, and the f pawn takes the rook and promotes.
“I think my analysis is very correct”
I, on the other hand, think your analysis is very wrong, it’s indeed based on an egregious blunder.
Even if white play Kf4, the only way for black to draw is to back up the rook with the king.
“ohh silly me I got the board backwords!
Wow I was playing black!!!!”
But then there would be no g pawn at all. :-p
Regards,
Arne Vogel
PS: Susan, I don’t want to question your chess genius, but did you really win a Q vs R endgame in under twenty seconds? 🙂
After
1.kh4 kb3
1.kh5 kc4
The key is not freeing up of the f pawn as Jerry said. After all black can attack this pawn by Rf1, and if white trys to defend the pawn the game is drawn (at least I think so). However white can ignore the attack on the f pawn and play g7! After the capture of the f pawn black cannot prevent the g pawn from becoming a queen. The g pawn protects the first rank at f8 and the white king prevents the rook from coming behind the pawn. That Susan was able to see this fact with twenty seconds left in a real game is incredible to me.
That Susan was able to see this fact with twenty seconds left in a real game is incredible to me.
GMs and scholastic players know that two passed pawns on the 6th generally win against Mr. Rook (excluding of course shots like 3…Rg5+!)
If we study basic endings like this one, our technique should improve.
“GMs and scholastic players know that two passed pawns on the 6th generally win against Mr. Rook”
To the charge of substantial ignorance of basic endgames I must plead gulity. However, I wish to point out that if after the continuation which I suggest (1.Kh4,Kb3 2.Kh5,Kc4 3.Rf1…) white proceeds by advancing his f pawn to stand beside the g pawn on the 6’th rank the game will be drawn. Only if the white king has already advanced to the 7’th rank is this a won position.
The proper basic endame for which my ignorance should be chastised is that of King and pawn vs Rook. In that endgame as I now realize, if the pawn advances to the 7’th rank then the rook must pass immediately to the first rank or onto the file behind the pawn. If this cannot be done then giving check to the king cannot save the defender from disaster.