White to move. Can white win?
Source: ChessToday.net
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Another endgame classic
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White to move. Can white win?
Source: ChessToday.net
Not sure what to make of this.
After:
1- d6+; Kd7
2- Ndc5+; Ke8,
white has the clever:
3- d7+; Nxd7
4- Nd6+; K any
5- Ne6#
All of this may seem forced, but it is not, and black doesn’t need to cooperate as much. After:
1- d6+; Kc8,
I fail to see what better option white has than dxe7, where the pawn is destined to fall and white will be left with a meaningless advantage.
I’ll be waiting for better minds to solve this one.
N D3 to C5
1. d6+ Kd7?? 2. Ndc5+ Ke8 (otherwise dxe7 +-) 3. d7+! Nxd7 4. Nd6+ Kd/f8 5. Ne6# is a beautiful matting pattern, but what happens after 1…Kc8 ?
1. d6 Kd7
2. Nc5 Ke8
3. d7 Nd7
4. Nd6+ Kd8 (Kf8)
5. Ne6+#
1.d6…Kd7 and 2.Nc5! and d7 d8. 1… any other king move then Nc5! wins
d6+ followed by Nc5 comes to mind immediately.
I had trouble calculating so I checked the position with chessbase and found a mate or a queen in all variation.
Then I turned on the Kibitzer and suprisingly it seems there is a way for black to draw with Kc8; and after Ndc5, we have Nf5; I think the problem might be flawed somehow.
This endgame study is, according to the computer, a drawn position. After d6+, Black plays Kc8. (I thought I figured it out, but Fritz looked at it for an hour and was still 0.00!)
d6+ looks very good.
If Black replies: Kxb7, Kc6 or Kd7 then I can find a sure win for White.
But
1. d6+ Kc8 seems to be ending in a draw 🙁
The first move has to be d6, else Black can take at d5 next move and draw! So
1. d6+ Kc8
(All other moves by Black will lose)
Now dxe7 does not work becaus of Kd7 and the pawn is lost.
What else?
Any White move and black can play Nf5 (which cannot be stopped) threatening Nxd6. If d7, Nxd7. So in any case it looks a dead draw to me.
d6 Kc8! No win
1. d6+ Kd7 (1…Kxb7? 2. dxe7) 2. Ndc5+ Ke8 3. d7+ Nxd7 4. Nd6+ Kd8(Kf8) 5. Ne6#
Late to this one, but I agree with the several commenters above that claim it is a draw. 1.d6 seems utterly forced as the only means to not lose the pawn immediately, but after black plays 1. …Kc8, I don’t see how one prevents black from playing Nf5 and eventually exchanging one of the knights for the pawn- at either d6 or d7.
Maybe the white king should have been on g7 (not h7)? Then the main variant with 1. d6+ Kd7 2. Ndc5+ still works, and now 1… Kc8 is useless because of 2. dxe7 Kd7 3. Kf7, and wins easily.