White to move and win!
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
One for the brain
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White to move and win!
h5-h6!
what is wrong with e7?
let’s have a look: 1.h6 just Kc8 and black should win this. so 1.e7 R..check along the b-file the white king captures d6 and Rb6+ then white king moves back to d3 along the d-file…black rook checks along the b-file and then Ke2 Rb2 Kf3 with the king walk to g5 but along the f-file..if Rb6 then white captures the g-pawn..e8Q is a threat so Re6 Kf7 Rmoves…e8Q Rxe8 Kxe8 a4 h6 a3 h7 a2 h8Q! and white wins 🙂
meant king walk to g6…
Here is a complete solution :
1.h6! (on 1.e7? it will never be possible to put the King in f6, like after 1.h6, and capturing the g pawn means black will capture the e pawn and queen the a pawn)
1…gh6 (on 1…Kc8 2.b6 wins)
2.e7 Rb1 3.Kd2 (3.Ke2? Rb5 4.e8Q Re5)
3…Rb2 4.Kd3 Rb3 5.Kd4 Rb4 6.Kd5 Rd5 7.Kd6 Rb6
8.Kd5 (8.Ke6 Rb1 and Re1) (8.Kd7 Rb1 9.e8Q Rd1 10.Ke7 Re1)
8…Rb5 9.Kd4 Rb4 10.Kd3 Rb3 11.Ke2 Rb2 12.Kf3 Rb3 13.Kf4 Rb4 14.Kf5 Rb5 15.Kf6 (this is why 1.h6 was required) 15…Rb6 16.Kf7 +-
Stephane
Refutation of the idea proposed by “starkl on icc” :
On 1.e7? Rb1 3.Kd2 Rb2 4.Kd3 Rb3 5.Kd4 Rb4 6.Kd5 Rd5 7.Kd6 Rb6
8.Kd5 Rb5 9.Kd4 Rb4 10.Kd3 Rb3 11.Ke2 Rb2 12.Kf3 Rb3 13.Kf4 Rb4 and now :
14.Kg5 Re4 and black is winning
14.Kf5 Rb5 15.Kg6 Re5 16.Kf7 (16.Kxg7 Rxe7) a4 17.e8Q Rxe8 18.Kxe8 a3 and black is winning
Stephane
Wow, this is ridiculously complicated for such a simple looking ending. I’m gonna post multiple times as these are long variations. First starkl’s combo:
1. e7 Rb1+
2. Kd2 Rb2+
3. Kd3 Rb3+
4. Kd4 Rb4+
5. Kd5 Rxb5+
6. Kxd6 Rb6+
7. Kd5 Rb5+
8. Kd4 Rb4+
9. Kd3 Rb3+
10. Ke2 Rb2+
11. Kf3 Rb3+
12. Kf4 Rb4+
13. Kf5 Rb5+
14. Kg6? Re5
15. Kf7 a4
16. e8=Q Rxe8
17. Kxe8 a3
18. Kf7 a2
19. Kxg7 a1=Q+
0-1
Basically, it doesn’t work because white doesn’t get to capture the black pawn on the way to promoting the e pawn but has to come back for it.
Wow, stephane beat me to most of the punch while I was typing my first reply 😀
One important variation that she omitted so I do get to show off my skillz:
1. h6! Rb1+! 2. Kc2! Rxb5 3. hxg7 Rc5+ 4. Kc2 Rb8 5. h4 Rg8 6. e7 Kc7 7. h5 Kd7 8. h6 Kxe7 9. h7 Rxg7 10. h8=Q
Still a lot of work to eliminate black’s two last pawns and then win the K+Q vs K+R endgame, but it is winnnable.
Nathan
Oops, meant 4. Kb2 Rc8
Nathan,
We agree.
Regards.
Stephane (man)
Nathan, it seems that 5…Rg8 is a mistake. Instead black should start marching his d-pawn creating a counterthreat: 5…d5!. White then has to march his h-pawn to support the g-pawn. Both white and black will promote a queen and there will be a difficult queen end game, which white should be able to win.
Bungalow Bill
I do not find a win for white. Maybe this problem is cooked.
1 h6 Kc8
2 b6 gxh6
black wins.
1 b6 Rb5
black wins again
1 h3 Rxb5
There is no win for white.
1 Kc8 Rxh2
all white pawns are stopped
1 Ke8 Rxh2
Susan, I think there is a mistake on this one. I assume whoever created the problem messed up. If there is a solution I would love to see it.
Maybe there is a pawn on a different square. Can you check this one out.
“What is wrong with the following variation?
1. e7 Rb1+
2. Kd2 Rb2+
3. Kd3 Rb3+
4. Kd4 Rb4+
5. Kd5 Rxb5+
6. Kxd6 Rb6+
7. Kd7
“
even simpler would be for white to not take the d6 pawn on move 6 but go beside it on e6. no more rook checks? but i agree with anonymous. whats wrong with the simple approach?
h6 is losing. and stephane you can’t read or do not want to!! as I said move king along f-file so f5 and then g6 as I did because g5 was a typo!!
“What is wrong with the following variation?”
At the end, black has time for Rb1. If white queens the pawn, black can play Rd1+ to force the king onto the e-file, then Re1+ to take the queen. Black can then queen the a pawn.
” I do not find a win for white. Maybe this problem is cooked.
1 h6 Kc8
2 b6 gxh6″
No. White does win.
1 h6 Kc8
2 h7 Rxh2
3 e7 Kd7
4 b6 Rxh7
5 e8=Q+ Kxe8
6 b7
Black can throw a couple checks in there, but ultimately can’t stop white from queening on the b-file.
On the other hand, 1 e7 most certainly fails. The only way White can get out of perpetual checks is to give up the e-pawn. As the last post explains, moving the king to d7 doesn’t work…
Kd7 Rb1
e8=Q Rd1+
Ke7 Re1+
Kf7 RxQ
There is one more legal move I haven’t seen anyone try yet. If black’s previous move was …a5, then white can play 1.bxa6+ (e.p.). I like how it gets rid of the pawn on the a file. However, I don’t have a chessboard in front of me, so I can’t tell for sure if there’s anything there…
It does seem cooked.
1 h6 Kc8
2 h7 Rxh2
3 e7 Kd7
4 b6 Rxh7
5 e8=Q+ Kxe8
6 b7 Kf7
7 b8=Q Rh6
K+Q vs g7+Rh6+Kf7 is a theoretical draw.
When I first said b6 did not work now we see that h7 seems to be a potential solution. so far definitely the only possibility seems to be
1 h6 Kc8
2 h7 Rxh2
3 e7 Kd7
4 b6 Rxh7
5 e8=Q+ Kxe8
6 b7 Kf7
7 b8=Q
but someone says this might not actually win. this is a queen against rook and 3 pawns split up. This position looks difficult to prove. I would give this a win for white unless we have a tablebase or some kind of showing how to draw this.
This must be the solution that the problem aimed for. It has all the earmarks of a good solution. All 3 white pawns come into play at the end. the queening and block provide just the needed tempo that white needs.
This is so difficult because black can fight for the draw with many moves. Rh5 holding the a pawn. Rh1+ giving check to hope for something to happen. Rh2 pinning the king on the first file. etc.
Overall definitely white does not lose this position. winning is almost certain at my chess level. Black would have to fight hard for a draw here.
But like Susan always says there is lot of play left in the position. LOL.
Anyway, I remove my original statement that the problem might be cooked. and I leave it to others to prove black can hold the position.
Susan I have to say that these recent puzzles are the best at teaching me chess and forcing me to work harder. I really like these puzzles with the pawns. I am appreciating how subtle a game can be.
NO easy draws. Make them play it out. LOL.
COOK COOK COOK
SHORT ORDER COOK.
I am back. I see a draw.
1 h6 Kc8
2 h7 Rxh2
3 e7 Kd7
4 b6 Rxh7
5 e8=Q+ Kxe8
6 b7 Kf7
7 b8=Q Rh5
8 Qxd6 Rf5
now the king will shuffle between Kf7 and Kf6. How does black make progress here. White has only the Queen and king I guess how can it attack anything.
9 Qd7 Kf6
Qd6 Kf7
Qd7 Kf6
Qd4 Kf7
we will quickly repeat positions.
Looks like a cooked draw.
This is fun. I am enjoying this.
@ the other anonymous,
b7- or g7-pawn protecting a rook on the sixth rank draws easily against the queen if the king protects the pawn: if white checks, move the king. If white doesn´t check, move the rook between f6 and h6. There is no Zugzwang and no way for the king to move past the sixth rank. The a- and d-pawns are unneeded.
If Black responding to 1. h6 with Kc8 is a draw, why not follow Mark’s suggestion and begin with taking the a-pawn en passant? After 1… Kxa6, white plays 2. h6, and since the Black King can no longer catch the e-pawn, the game follows Stephane’s analysis. Or am I missing something?
— A Completely Different Anonymous From All The Other Anonymous Posters In This Thread
Reply to “even simpler would be for white to not take the d6 pawn on move 6 but go beside it on e6. “
No, then 6… Re5+ 7. Kxd6 Rxe7 8. Kxe7 but then black queens and wins.
e7 Rb1
Kc2 Rxb5
e8 Rc5
Kb3 Rb5
Ka4
i would play something like this line. id move my king towards the rook not away from it. now the black rook cant put me in check and my queen covers my h5 pawn.
wolverine
h6 Kc8
h7 Rxh2
e7 Rh1+
Kd2 Rh2+
Kb3 Kd7
b6 Rh3
Ka4 Rxh7
e8 Kxe8
b7 Kf7
b8 promote
now its a queen vs rook and some pawns. the queen should be able to take the pawns and eventually beat the rook.
h7 Pxh7
e7 Rb1
Kd2 Rb2+
Kd3 Rb3+
Kd4 Rb4+
Kd5 Rb5+
Kd6 Rb6+
Kd5 Rb5+
Kd4 Rb4+
Kd2 Rb3+
Ke2 Rb2+
Ke3 a4
e8 promote
heres you offer the h7 if black takes you move your king up to take away the problematic black d pawn then move you king back down into a position where the black rook cant touch your e pawn.
theres other variations than these two but they all involve the intial h6 move to then use all your pawns to throw the black king and rook into taking two of the pawns while you promote the third pawn. are they going to change this blogger im tired of entering fifty letter passwords more than once to post my solutions!
wolverine
Anonymous said…
h6 Kc8
h7 Rxh2
e7 Rh1+
Kd2 Rh2+
Kb3 Kd7
b6 Rh3
Ka4 Rxh7
e8 Kxe8
b7 Kf7
b8 promote
now its a queen vs rook and some pawns. the queen should be able to take the pawns and eventually beat the rook.
h6 Pxh6
e7 Rb1
Kd2 Rb2+
Kd3 Rb3+
Kd4 Rb4+
Kd5 Rb5+
Kd6 Rb6+
Kd5 Rb5+
Kd4 Rb4+
Kd2 Rb3+
Ke2 Rb2+
Ke3 a4
e8 promote
heres you offer the h7 if black takes you move your king up to take away the problematic black d pawn then move you king back down into a position where the black rook cant touch your e pawn.
theres other variations than these two but they all involve the intial h6 move to then use all your pawns to throw the black king and rook into taking two of the pawns while you promote the third pawn. are they going to change this blogger im tired of entering fifty letter passwords more than once to post my solutions!
wolverine
the h6 move is done so that the king can have free reign on the f file. other wise the rook could check the white king into the black g pawn and not allow the white e pawn to promote. you can try the moves without the h6 move but it will eventually lead your king to f6 which wont be allowed because of the black g7 pawn. this is why this move is essential.
wolverine
My “solution” fails. The pawn queens but then the rook checks, forcing the king to the e file, then it captures the queen.
I had a go at it and it seems to me that both e7 and h6 draw (h6 draws later) here are my thoughts:
1. e7 (1. h6 Rb2+ (1… gxh6 2. e7 Rb2+ 3. Kd3 Rb3+ 4. Kd4 Rxb4+ 5. Kd5 Rb5+ 6. Kxd6 Rb6+ 7. Kd5 Rb5+ 8. Kd4 Rb4+ 9. Ke3 Rb1 10. Kf2 Rb2+ 11. Kf3 Rb3+ 12. Kf4 Rb4+ 13. Kf5 Rb5+ 14. Kf6 Rb6+ 15. Kf7 a3 16. e8=Q) 2. Kc1 Rxb4 3. hxg7 Rc4+ 4. Kb2 Rc8 5. h4 d5 (5… Rg8 6. e7 Kc7 7. h5 Kd7 8. h6 Kxe7 9. h7 Rxg7 10. h8=Q) 6. h5 d4 7. h6 d3 8. h7 d2 9. g8=Q Rxg8 10. hxg8=Q d1=Q) 1… Rb2+ 2. Kd3 Rb3+ 3. Kd4 Rxb4+ 4. Kd5 Rb5+ 5. Kxd6 Rb6+ 6. Kd7 (6. Kd5 Rb5+ 7. Ke6 Rb3 8. Kf7 Re3)6… Rb4 7. e8=Q Rd4+ 8. Ke7 Re4+ *
Did I miss anything? (is this readable 😀 ?)
D.K.
Heh I found out that h6 is actually a loosing move!
h6 a3!
So the best move in this position is e7!
D.K.
Let’s see if i can reply to all of these before my laptop battery dies 🙂
David said…
Heh I found out that h6 is actually a loosing move!
h6 a3!
Magic double pawn moves are NOT allowed, the pawn is initially on a5, good try though.
Nathan
@ Bungalow Bill
Good point about d5, forgot to list that variation.
5 … d5 6. e7 d4 7. h5 d3 8. h6 d2 9. e8Q d1Q (…Rxe8 10. Kc2 Rd8 11. Kd1 1-0) 10. Qxc8+ Kxc8+ g8Q+ and white has a decisive advantage because of his farther advanced pawn.
Nathan
Ok, I gave the position to Fritz, there is no win goddamit!!
for some strange reasons i had an analysis of this puzzle right on my hard disk …
1.h6!! not THAT hard to find – of course i’m jokin’… but the only move to win this.
1.e7 leads to draw or even a loss … let’s have a look:
1.e7 Rb1+ 2.Kd2 Rb2+ 3.Kd3 Rb3+ 4.Kd4 ( the white king is not allowed to enter the e-file 4.Ke4 Rb1 5.Kd5 Re1-+) 4…Rb4+ 5.Kd5 Rxb5+ 6.Kxd6 Rb6+ 7.Kd5 Rb5+ 8.Kd4 Rb4+ 9.Kd3 Rb3+ 10.Kd2 Rb2+ 11.Kd1 Rb1+ 12.Ke2 Rb2+ 13.Kf3 Rb3+ 14.Kf4 Rb4+ 15.Kf5 Rb5+ 16.Kf4 ( 16.Ke6? Rb3 17.Kf7 Re3 and black’s a-pawn will win this!) 16…Rb4+ 17.Kf5 Rb5+ with a draw
1…gxh6 not the only move to lose this for black, but maybe the most intentional one – i call this a “zipper” and it is opened right now… but let’s have a look on other black possibilities first:
1…Rxb5 a bad try 2.hxg7 Rd5+ ( 2…Rg5 3.e7+-; 2…Rb1+ 3.Kd2+-) 3.Ke2 Re5+ 4.Kd3 Rd5+ 5.Ke4 Re5+ 6.Kf4 Rxe6 7.g8Q+-
1…Kc8 the most tricky try 2.h7! ( less precise, but also sufficient is 2.e7 Kd7 3.h7 Rxh2 4.b6 Rh1+ 5.Kc2 Rh2+ 6.Kb3 a4+ 7.Ka3! (not that easy to find this…) ( 7.Kxa4? Ra2+ 8.Kb5 Ra8 9.b7 Rb8-+) 7…Rh3+ 8.Kxa4 Rh4+ 9.Ka5 Rxh7 10.e8Q+ Kxe8 11.b7+-; 2…Rxh2 3.e7 Rh1+ ( 3…Kd7 4.b6 Rxh7 5.e8Q+ Kxe8 6.b7+-) 4.Kc2 Rh2+ 5.Kb3 a4+ ( 5…Kd7 6.b6 Rh3+ 7.Ka4 Rxh7 8.e8Q+ Kxe8 9.b7) 6.Ka3! (again – not that easy it look’s like…) 6…Kd7 7.b6 Rh3+ 8.Kxa4 Rxh7 9.e8Q+ Kxe8 10.b7+-
1…Rb1+ the most picturesque try 2.Kc2 i) or 2.Kd2 Kc8 3.h7! Rb2+ 4.Kc3 Rxh2 5.e7 Kd7 6.b6 Rh3+ 7.Kb2 Rh2+ 8.Ka3 Rh3+ 9.Ka4 Kxe7 10.b7 Rh1 11.Kxa5 ( 11.b8Q?? Ra1+ 12.Kb5 Rb1+ 13.Kxa5 Rxb8-+) 11…Ra1+ 12.Kb4 Rb1+ 13.Kc4+-; ii) but not 2.Ke2 gxh6 3.e7 Rxb5-+; 2…Rxb5 3.hxg7 Rg5 ( or 3…Rc5+ 4.Kb2 Rc8 5.h4 Rg8 6.e7 Kc6 7.h5 Kd7 8.h6 Kxe7 9.h7+- the two united pawns on the seventh rank story … e.g. 9…Kf7 10.h8Q Rxg7 11.Qh5+) 4.e7 Rc5+ 5.Kb2 Rc8 6.h4 Rg8 7.h5 Kc7 8.h6 Kd7 9.h7+- what a picture!
1…g5 the patzer’s move 2.e7 Rb1+ 3.Ke2 Rb2+ 4.Kf3 Rb3+ 5.Kg4 Re3 6.h7+-
and here it goes, ladies and gentlemen – the chess zipper:
2.e7 Rb1+ 3.Kd2 Rb2+ 4.Kd3 Rb3+ 5.Kd4 Rb4+ 6.Kd5 Rxb5+ 7.Kxd6 Rb6+ 8.Kd5 Rb5+ 9.Kd4 Rb4+ 10.Kd3 Rb3+ 11.Kd2 Rb2+ 12.Kd1 Rb1+ 13.Ke2 Rb2+ 14.Kf3 Rb3+ 15.Kf4 Rb4+ 16.Kf5 Rb5+ 17.Kf6 Rb6+ 18.Kf7
the zipper is closed – and with a little help of Caissa, white will win this rook + 2 pawns versus Queen + 1 pawn ending, resulting after
18…a4 19.e8Q+-