Black to move. What is the best continuation for Black?
8/8/4pBP1/3kP3/3b4/p7/1rRK4/8 b – – 0 83
Kosteniuk – Karpov (World Blitz Championship 2009)
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1. … Rb3
Black plans to occupy the g-file (e.g. Rg3,) to prevent the white g-pawn from queening and to make threats on the White King by checking him on the 1st and 2nd ranks. In addition, the move would also allow black to play Bb2 and eventually promote his a-pawn.
Not seeing a good defense to
a2 g7 a1=Q g8=Q Be3+ (seems like the queen and rook form a mating net)
or
a2 Rxb2 Bxb2 g7 a1=Q g8=Q Qc1+
Maybe better is to start with Rxc2..
Rxc2 Kxc2 a2 g7 a1=Q g8=Q, and either I can get a mating net with the king, bishop and queen, or a skewer taking the newly formed white queen.
I have no blitz tempo in finding a solution here.
I think I will exclude Rxc2 here, then quite enforced looks:
1. … a2
2. g7 a1=Q
3. g8=Q
Now I feel I must do something spectacular here, and ponder if it could be:
3. … Bc3+!
My basic idea is to create a discovered check:
4. Kxc3?? Rb8!
and black is up with a queen.
Variations:
4. Kd3 Qd1+
5. Ke3 (Kxc3?? Qxc3#) Bb4+!
6. Kf4 Qf1+
7. Kg5 Qg1+
again black is up with a queen.
4. Kd2 Rxc3+
leads in exactly the same direction, also here Bb4 must be a key move.
a2 looks good. Then Rxb2, a1=Q will win. If g7 then Rxc2+ wins as after Kxc2 a1=Q; g8=Q is met by Qc3+ which either mates on b2 next move, (if Kb1)or, after Kd1 Black checks across the board until the new white queen is skewered or the king mated.
My own solution to this in a blitz
would probably have been the draw by 1….Be3+ because that is what I thought of first here! (GKW!)
If 2.Kxe3 Rxc2 and can stop WP promoting by Rc8.
If 2.Kc3 Bd4+ etc
But if 2.Kd3 then a2 and looks like black can Q and win.
I suspect that this was set as a puzzle because there is a win for black somewhere. But beyond me in blitz time.
0-0-0
-0-0-
1. …a2 almost without thinking about it:
1. …..a2
2. Rb2
If white plays g7, black will queen and can recapture at b2 with check, or play Qa5 with a likely mate: [2.g7 a1Q 3.Rb2 Qb2 -+]; or [2.g7 a1Q 3.g8Q Qa5 4.Kd1 Rb1 5.Rc1 Qa4 6.Ke2-+; or 5.Ke2 Qe1 6.Kf3 Qe4-+]. Continuing:
2. …..a1Q
And now white must move the rook rather than advance the pawn. Checking the black king won’t work since black will just move her king to attack the rook, so it either has to be Rc2 or a move like Rb8 to suppor the pawn at g8, but these are sure to be too slow since black can reposition for the mate:
3. Rc2 Ke4!
Probably other winning moves here like Bxe5, but Ke4 is clean and decisive:
4. g7
Will only show the most obvious line. White probably has longer defenses here, but in those he is likely to immediately drop the g-pawn which is just lost on material balance. Continuing:
4. …..Be3
White could have prevented this with 4.Bg5, but black plays Qg1 to win at g6. Continuing:
5. Ke2 Qa6!
6. Ke1
Of course 6.Kd1 allows Qf1#, and blocking with the rook simply loses after QxR+ followed by, maybe mate, but cover of g8 by the queen is sufficient, too. Continuing:
6. …..Kf3!
Threatens Qa1#, and also threatens Qe2 followed by Qd2# if white moves the rook off the second rank. If white plays Rd2, black can pin the rook with Qa5 then mate a couple of moves later. The longest defense from here should be the sacrifice at f2:
7. Rf2 Bf2
8. Kd2
So, black has escaped the 1st rank, but mate is still here with the black king so active:
8. …..Qa2
9. Kd3 Qb3
10.Kd2 Be3
11.Ke1 Qb1#
I think a better question is, can black win by taking at c2 on the first move, then mate white with a white queen at g8? I did look at it, but could come to no conclusion. Anyone put it into Rybka and see if it finds a path for black?
@ yanc
After extensive analysis:
1…Rxc2+ draws
1…a2 wins
The reason is that if white queens the pawn, it will black to move its queen first with the rooks still on the board. With some checks the rook helps create a mating net.
If white tries to mix the two ideas, exchanging the rook and advancing the pawn, black is in time to stop the pawn with either the queen and bishop battery on the long diagonal, or by using checks to put the queen behind the g pawn before it can queen.
If black exchanges rooks first, white will have time to both make and keep a queen. This results in even material and an even game.
Lorfa,
Thanks. I could never really envision a line where I didn’t have black make a non-checking move in order to coordinate the pieces better, and this allowed the new white queen to wreck havoc.