White to move. Can White win this?
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Knight and Pawn endgame
About Author
White to move. Can White win this?
Oh Yes, Kb6 and the Black Knight is on the wrong colored square to find a good check on the White K. White will then play a6 and get a Queen. If the Black king slides over to a8 the White King slides to a6 and the Knight mates on b6.
This is very similar to a position I had once to a very famous GM in a simultaneous. Our position was drawn and of course I cracked under stress and lost. But, I learned from it!
Kb6 Ng5
a6 Ne6
a7 Nc7
Kb7 Kd7
Nb6+ Kd6
Nd5 Kxd5 [Nxd5 a8]
Kxc7 Kc6
a8
that knight move took me awhile. i should have seen it right away but then i realized that it doesnt matter either way a8 promotes.
Yes: White converts in 7 (http://chess.jaet.org/endings/) but with btm, it’s a draw.
Nunn’s ‘Secret’s of Minor Piece Endings’ say there are 257 zugs in KNP(a5)KN: this isn’t one of them.
g
to be honest, i do not see white converting in 7 moves …
1.Kb6 …only move to win this
(1.a6? Kc7 2.Kc5 Kb8 3.Kb6 Ka8 4.a7 Nd2 5.Nd6 Nc4+=)
1…Ng5
(1…Kc8 2.a6 Kb8 (2…Nd4 3.a7 Ne6 4.a8Q+) 3.a7+ Ka8 4.Ka6 Ne5 5.Nb6#
1…Ke7 2.a6 Nd4 3.a7+-
1…Kd7 2.a6 Kc8 3.a7+-
1…Nd4 2.a6 Kd7 3.a7+-)
2.a6 Ne6
3.a7 Nc7
4.Kc6…
(or 4.Kb7 Kd7 5.Nb6+ … as correctly pointed out by wolverine but now 5… Kd8 (much stronger than 5…Kd6? 6.Nd5 Na8 7.Kxa8+-) 6.Nd5 Na8! 7.Kc6! (7.Kb8?! Kd7 8.Ne7 Nc7) 7…Ke8 (7…Kc8 8.Nb6++-) 8.Nc7+ Ke7 9.Nxa8+-)
4…Kc8
(4…Na8 5.Nb6 Nc7 6.Nd5! Na8 7.Kb7+-)
5.Nb6+ Kd8
6.Nd5! Na8!
7.Kb7 Kd7
8.Nb6+!!…
(8.Kxa8?? Kc8=)
8…Kd8
9.Nxa8!+-
(9.Kxa8?? Kc7=)
greetings
Why 6 Nd5 ?
6. Kb7 and black king has nowhere to go if it does not want to lose the knight. And black night also has nowhere to go, except to let the white pawn being promoted.
of course 6.Kb7 does also win, because black can not prevent the promotion of the pawn – but the resulting endgame is Q vs. N and this is a not THAT easy to manage one (frankly spoken – I dislike it as much as Q vs. R endgames) 🙂