White to move. How should White proceed?
8/8/6p1/1k6/4K3/8/5P2/8 w – – 0 1
Dobias 1926, presented by Andreas
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
MUST know K & P endgame
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Yes, good one.
Only Kd4 wins, all other moves the black king is in time to draw.
White could take g6 in 3 moves, but in 3 moves black could also reach e4 (or e3 if f pawn is played), making it impossible to take g6 without f pawn is also taken.
Looking for some kind of zugzwang to solve this, I first (stupidly) look at the opposition ke4 Kg4. This is useless with f pawn on f4, since black has ke3. With f pawn on f2 it’s also useless because of ke5 Kg5 ke4! To imagine pawn on f3 is also nonsense.
I drop any idea similar to this, and instead focus on the easy win I had if f pawn was already on f4!
To start with f4? Kc4 fails because of the extra step white king has to go to g6 via e5. I need to gain a tempo to “repair this defect”.
Kd5? Kb4 is out of question, but the solution simply has to be:
1. Kd4!
A)
1. … Kb4
2. f4!
Playing f pawn with opposition, this is a win for white! Black stays in b file, white takes g6 in 3 moves, black reaches e4 in 3 moves, then white has f5.
B)
1. … Kc6
2. Ke5! Kc5
3. f4! with the same result.
Seeing this, it’s a well known tactic to force opponent to take opposition instead of taking it yourself, so you can move a pawn with tempo.
This combined with straightening out white king’s path to black pawn, a path initially being unpleasantly curved!
Very instructive puzzle, this one.
My instinct is to apply the principle of the opposition with 1. Kd5 Kb4, 2. Kd4 but I’m stumped after … Kb3!?
White is still 3 moves/3 squares from capturing the pawn; meanwhile Black’s King is 3 moves/3 square from reaching the e4 square where he stops the pawn from running and can proceed to capture it because the White K is too far away. If White tries advancing the Pawn at this point, Black simply gets closer to the action from behind with …Kc2.
Other Black moves on move 2 besides …Kb3 seem to lose, I’m pretty sure. Just one sample line for now:
1. Kd5 Kb4
2. Kd4 Kb5 […Kb3!? is the line that I can’t solve]
3. f3 … One step at a time is probably best to maintain the opposition
3. … Kb4
4. f4 Kb5 It doesn’t matter now if …Kb3; White is 3 moves/ 3 squares from capturing the pawn. In 3 moves/ 3 squares Black’s K can get to e4 attacking White’s pawn but now the pawn can run to the protective arms of his King.
– Craigaroo
To SydneyAussie:
You seem to know this “must know” endgame.
But why can’t you also tell us a little about WHY Kd4 wins?
To Craigaroo:
Your instinct to take opposition seems badly misplaced in this situation, where the trick is to let your opponent take opposition first so that you can regain the opposition with a pawn move!
From time to time you actually gain a tempo with that tactic! Did you never notice?
A simple and clean solution is:
1. Kd4! Kc6 (Kb4 f4! and white has the tempo he chases)
2. Ke5 Kc5 (Kd7 Kf6 was out of question)
So black had to take the opposition here, but:
3. f4!
and sim sala bim, it’s white who has the opposition and wins!