If you can reduce it to a technical win, you might at least study the rest of the ending after that point– it is a technically challenging study in itself.
It’s a difficult puzzle for me. I have found only a draw so far.
1. f6! Ra7+
2. Kb2 Ke4 (the king occupied the key square in my opinion)
3. f7 Rxf7
4. Ng5+ Kxe5
5. Nxf7+ Kf4
1. f6! Ra7+
2. Kb2 Ke4
3. Nc7 Kxe5
4. f7 Rb7+
5. Ka3 Rxc7
6. f8=Q
It’s a winning position for white.
Yancey Ward
It is a technical win. I think black puts up more actual resistance by playing 2. ….Kg4 rather than 2. …..Ke4 and by driving the white king up the a and b files by checking from a7 and b7 a couple of more times before taking at c7, but white still queens a pawn in those lines by putting both pawns on the sixth rank and black still wins one of them but the other queens- an important motif in such endings, the two connected pawns on the sixth rank can’t be stopped by the rook alone.
1. Qxf7+ Kh8
2. Rxe8 Rc8
3. Rde1 Bd7
4. Rxf8+ Rxf8
5. Qxd7
Embarrassed to admit it took me over a minute to find the right move, 1.Qf7+
1Qf7 plus wins
Puzzle:
6N1/1p6/1pp3k1/1P6/2P5/8/8/7K w – – 0 1
Afanasjev 1970
The first move is too obvious.
1. Ne7 Kf7
2. Nxc6 Ke6
3. Nd8+ Kd7
4. Nxb7 Kc7
5. Nc5 bxc5
6. Kg2 Kd6
7. Kf3 Ke5
8. Ke3 Kd6
9. Ke4 Ke6
10. Kf4 Kd6
11. Kf5 Ke7
12. Ke5 Kd7
13. Kd5 Kc8
14. Kxc5
And if 2. …….bxc6?
I thought you would ask 🙂
1. Ne7+ Kf7
2. Nxc6 bxc6
3. c5 bxc5
4. b6 c4
5. b7 Ke6
6. b8=Q
Now I will begin to solve your next puzzle.
1. Ne7+ Kf7
2. Nxc6 Ke8
3. Nb4 Ke7
4. Kg2 Kd6
5. Nd3 Ke6
6. Kf3 Ke7
7. Ke4 Kd6
8. Kd4 Kc7
9. Nb4 Kd6
10. Nd5 Kd7
11. Nxb6+ Kd8
12. Kd5 Ke7
13. c5 Kf7
14. Kd6 Kf6
15. Kc7 Ke5
16. Kxb7
And a second puzzle by the same composer:
8/4r2p/4N3/4PP2/8/5k2/8/K7 w – – 0 1
Afanasjev, 1971
If you can reduce it to a technical win, you might at least study the rest of the ending after that point– it is a technically challenging study in itself.
It’s a difficult puzzle for me. I have found only a draw so far.
1. f6! Ra7+
2. Kb2 Ke4 (the king occupied the key square in my opinion)
3. f7 Rxf7
4. Ng5+ Kxe5
5. Nxf7+ Kf4
Consider ways to advance f7 with the rook on the 7th rank. In other words, white’s 3rd move is an error.
1. f6! Ra7+
2. Kb2 Ke4
3. Nc7 Kxe5
4. f7 Rb7+
5. Ka3 Rxc7
6. f8=Q
It’s a winning position for white.
It is a technical win. I think black puts up more actual resistance by playing 2. ….Kg4 rather than 2. …..Ke4 and by driving the white king up the a and b files by checking from a7 and b7 a couple of more times before taking at c7, but white still queens a pawn in those lines by putting both pawns on the sixth rank and black still wins one of them but the other queens- an important motif in such endings, the two connected pawns on the sixth rank can’t be stopped by the rook alone.