White to move. Players sometimes take basic knowledge for granted. What is winning continuation?
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Basic K and P endgame
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White to move. Players sometimes take basic knowledge for granted. What is winning continuation?
1. Ke5!
Pushing the pawn first will lead to stalemate…
You have to triangulate (move the king in a triangle) to gain tempo. Kc5
No, Kc5 draws because 1…Ke6 and you can’t get your king in front of the pawn ever again.
1. Ke5
Then whichever way the black king goes, move diagonally the other way (e.g. if 1 … Kd7, then 2 Kf6). Then probably 2 … Ke8, so repeat the pattern one file higher: 3 Ke6, if 3 … Kf8 then 4 Kd7. Now just advance the pawn no matter what Black does.
Of course, then it comes down to a K+Q vs K endgame, which is another easy one to screw up via accidental stalemate…
Promote to rook and stalemate no more 🙂 Slow and easy does it.
This is an EXTRA PIECE position. White will ALWAYS win this type of position. But to win you need a queen first to do the formal checkmate. The fastest way to get a queen is to move the pawn down the throat to the e5 square.
1.e5? Kd7! is a draw.
Bill,
How can it be a draw when white gets a queen? Nothing can stop the pawn and then the queen.
The black king can stop the pawn.
2.e6 Ke8
3.Kd6 Kd8
4.e7 Ke8
5.Ke6 stalemates, K-elsewhere loses the pawn
Ke5 wins! I remember this from Capablanca’s books. Opposition is the key to win this one and mainting long distance control of queening square.
Promoting to a rook is an interesting idea. However, I think that some positions of K and R vs King can come to almost 50 moves to mate. If the player does not move efficiently there might be a possibility of going to 50 moves without mate.
I prefer a queen and then paying attention.
Not even close…. I doubt there is a position requiring more than 20 perfect moves to mate in K and R vs. K.
There are some KR vs KQ positions that take around 40 moves and winning against a computer within the 50 move rule is difficult. But KR vs K is very straightforward one you get the hang of it, and it’s worth figuring out and practicing.
Obviusly Ke5 -and only Ke5- wins.
Ke5 Kd7
Kf6 Kd8
Kf7
and now white can push to promote the pawn.
Any other option is drawish. Learn this kind of position because it’s quite usual!
Ke5 no doubt
It is amazing how many chess players do not know this very basic and elementary position.
Ke5 wins!
I have to know this after having taught chess to beginners for years – these positions came after simple end games like KD-K and KR-K.
So shocking to see people who don’t know what to do here.
Opposition with 1. Ke5! is basic…. and black’s defense after white 1. e5? should be, too.
Greetings,
Jochen
(sorry for faults, english is not my mother language)