Black to move. Can Black hold this? This was an actual game of one of my students.
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Fascinating King and Pawn endgame
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Black to move. Can Black hold this? This was an actual game of one of my students.
This is tough!
to push or not to push?
One idea of …e5 would be to set up a potential …g5, hxg5 f4, gxf4 h4 break if the White King wanders to the queenside. But with c- and g-pawns, it’s hard to imagine Black winning that race.
So let’s try passive defense 1…Kc6 2.Kd2 Kd6 3.Kc2 Kc6 4.Kd3 Kd6 5.Kd4. Hmm.
Back to work….
but this is not fatal b/c of 5…Kc6 6.c5 Kb5 and White is embarrassed.
So maybe 1…Kc6 2.Kd4 (better not to take opposition in this position)? 2…Kd6 3.c5+ Kc6 4.Kc4 ouch.
So 1…e5 looks like a move.
After 1…e5 then 2.fxe5 Kxe5 3.Ke3 Kd6 4.Kf4? Kc5 6.Kg5 Kxc4 7.Kxg6 Kb3 8.Kxf5 Kxa3 9.g4 Kb4 looks good.
So 4.Kd4–with the pawns exchanged, White can play c5 without falling into ZZ. But maybe Black’s g5 idea can save the day in some lines….
IMHO
1…Kc6
1…e5? 2.fxe5+ Kxe5 3.Ke3 Ke6 (3…Kd6 4.Kd4 Ke7 5.Ke5+-) 4.Kf4 Kf6 5.c5 Ke7 6.Kg5 Kf7 7.c6 Ke6 8.c7 Kd7 9.Kxg6 Kxc7 10.Kxh5+-
2.Kd4.Kb6
3.Kd3…
3.c5+?? Kb5 4.c6 (4.Ke5 Kxc5 5.Kxe6 Kc4 6.Kf6 Kb3 7.Kxg6 Kxa3 8.Kxh5 Kb4–+) 4…Kxc6 5.Ke5 Kc5 6.Kxe6 Kc4 7.Kf6 Kb3 8.Kxg6 Kxa3 9.Kxh5 Kb4–+
3.Ke5?? Kc5 4.Kxe6 Kxc4 5.Kf6 Kb3 6.Kxg6 Kxa3 7.Kxh5 Kb4–+
3…Kc6
4.Kc2 Kd6
5.Kd3 Kc6 no side can make any further progress, thus =
greetings
Greetings,
Very complex endgame;
A few points have to be clarified
1.Black has the pawn breakthrough with 1…e5 , 2…g5, 3…f4 and h-pawn is free
2.The problem with this is that the Queen ending that results favours white because he Queens first and also has significant material advantage
3.To this end if this breakthrough is successful Black’s King must be within reach to slow the pawns down so as to Queen first.
4.Consequently this means Blacks idea comes to fruition once the King leaves the c1-c4-f1-f4 Quadrant otherwise White’s King would be within vicinity to stop Blacks pawns
5.Under no circumstances should Black allow White occupy e5 square and still have passive King.
6.The following moves are now easy to follow
1…Kc6! Holding the pawn for a moment
2.Kd4 Kd6
3.c5+ Kd7!! ( This move is a multipurpose move Keeping and eye on the Kingside after an eventual pawn breakthrough on the Kside, also it eyes the Qside depending on what white does.)
4. Kc4 (4.Ke5 Kc6 5. Kxe6 Kxc5 and Black makes it to a3 and Queens in time)
4…Ke7!! (Prime Position for the Black King chiefly eyeing the c and g pawns)
5. Kb5(5.Kc4 Kd7!!) e5! Now that the White King has left the c1-c4 –f1-f4 Quadrant this move now works
6. fe5 g5!
7.hg f4
8. gf h4
9.c6( Had white played 3…Ke7? instead of 3…!!Kd7 his King will now be on 4…d7 now and this move will come with Check .changing the picture entirely!!!)
9…h3
10. c7 Kd7
11.g6 (11.Kb6? h2 12. Kb7 h1 Q is Check)
11….h2
12. g7 h1Q
13. c8Q+! Kxc8
14.g8Q+ With good drawing chances but black must fight hard for it.
I must add there are lots of intricate variations which I considered but decided to leave it out and just give the main flavor of the position. I’ll leave it to the readers to enjoy the abundance of Instructive variations that exists.
My Regards
King.
dear king, a nice analysis, but i’m afraid you have to reconsider it.
In my eyes
1… Kc6
2.Kd4 Kd6?? is a losing move.
in the variation given by you white wins easily after
3.c5+ Kd7
4.Kc4 Ke7
5.Kb5 e5
6.fxe5 g5
7.hxg5 f4
8.gxf4 h4
9.c6 h3
10.c7 Kd7
11.Kb6! h2
12.e6+!! Kc8
13.e7 Kd7
14.c8Q+ with mate to follow in a few moves.
greetings
There are no spare moves: oppostion is very important
1) White c4 pawn is passed. The critical squares are b6-c6-d6 (if white’s king goes there it’s won (if no counterplay!)
Could I go there? Absolutely not (Black’s king will always guard them)
2) a4 pawn is a target: The critical square for this pawn is b4 (if black let’s me go there I win the pawn): There are two main trap for black that he should not fall into:
A) NEVER play …Kc5 when white’s king not on c3 (because now Kc3 and black must leave the critical b4 square and ALWAYS play …Kc5 after Kc3.
B) When white play Kd4 NEVER play …Kd6?? because of c5+ and white will occupies the critical b4 square…
3) Black has a K-side pawn majority but I don’t see a way to exploit it…
In my opinion it’s a draw but black has some traps to avoid. This position is much harder for the defensive side.
If anyone find flaws in my reflexions it would be very helpful to signal them. Thanks.
Have a nice day
…Kc6 holds