Black to move. Assess the position. Is Black better, worse or equal?
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Queen and Bishop endgame
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Black to move. Assess the position. Is Black better, worse or equal?
After some thought I’d say Black looks better. Here’s my plan:
1…f5 protecting the bishop and preparing to get out of the pin.
2.f3 fails to 2…Qe3+ 3.Kh1 Qf2; 2.Qxc5 fails to 2…d3 with the idea of either promoting the pawn or 3.cxd3 Bxd3, winning; after most other moves 2…Qc1 looks pretty good with the idea of Bxc2 and marching the d-pawn.
DSK: My thinking is different, Black is in danger, Wht if the reply for the black’s f5 was Qxc5? White has Pawn advantage, Black Queen cannot get near White’s king easily. If the exchange of Queens happens, then the dager also increases much, ’cause the steps required for White King to reach the white pawns in C file is only 3 moves. Again, The Black king or Bishop cant do anything, remember white bishop is gaurding C5.
White is threatening 2. Qxd5 with 2. … Qxd5 3. Bd3 and a winning king and pawn ending.
The obvious way for Black to stop this is 1. … f5. After this 2. Qxc5 is a blunder because of 2. … d3 3. xd3 Bxd3.
Maybe White could try 2. g4, but if the immediate tactics don’t work then Black will simply play Qd1 followed by Qf3 or d3.
Another plan for White is to try and break the pin with h3 or h4 followed by f3.
Hi. After 1. …f5, White can play 2. h4, with the plan h5 and perpetual check Qg6/Qe8.
Things may go 2. … Qc1, 3. h5 Bxc2, 4.Qe6 f4 5.Qe2 and it unclear if Black has enough advantage for a win.
Me evaluation is =+, but no more than that.
in my opinion this endgame is VERY VERY complicated (btw: i dislike queen endings and try to avoid them like the devil does avoid the holy water … ^^).
1…f5 is unfortunately forced, because – as jon pointed out (i’m sure he meant e4 and not d5!) – the main threat is 1… qxe4 2.qxe4 bd3 3.qxd3 cxd3 … and the black king is ONE tempo behind the passer pawn on the a-file…
my feeling says: black is better here – but i have no concrete proof yet – still calculating…
yours Vohaul
The black is better. His queen cannot move for the moment, but 1…f5 solves that problem. After that, black can handle white’s weeknesses, the pinned bishop on f1 and/or the pawns a2, c2 and c4. Still, the win is not so easy.
I think black is better, though I disagree with Mobius that the win will be hard. My thoughts are as follows:
First, black’s king is relatively safe. If white could play a check on the a2-h7 diagonal, then there might be problems. However, black has that diagonal completely under control. Alternative plans to open the dark squares around black’s king (e.g., g4, followed by gxf5, followed by f6) are too slow, given that black can generate threats around white’s king based on the pinned bishop, and the weaknesses which will be created by playing g4.
Second, due to the placement of the white pawns, black’s bishop has substantially more mobility than white’s even ignoring the pins (which are, incidentially, easier to break for black than for white).
Third, due to the weakness of white’s bishop, the black queen can be posted more aggressively, because white must avoid trading queens into a worse same color bishop ending.
Consequently, while white does have an extra pawn, I believe black’s superior pieces, especially the bishop, will make the ending a routine win for black.
and where are your lines – @william morris?
no, no, no – this is a concrete position and it needs a concrete solution and no platitudes …
feel free to win with black …
it is VERY hard …
btw – a math teacher of mine used to say:
“To believe means – not to know!”
^^
Black is completely paralysed by the centralized White Queen!
Me, my chess piece set and finally my little silicon helper, whom I contacted with despair, were unable to find a clear win for black in the given position. Black has better practical chances, but white can hold a draw anyway. Thus – to me the position is equal. Here are my lines:
1…f5
[1…f6? 2.Qxe4+ Qxe4 3.Bd3 Qxd3 4.cxd3 Kg6 (4…Kg8 5.a4 Kf7 6.a5 Ke6 7.a6 Kd7 8.a7 Kc8) 5.a4 Kf7 6.a5 Ke6 7.a6 Kd7 8.a7 Kc8; 1…d3? 2.Qxe4+ Qxe4 3.Bxd3 Qg6 4.Bxg6+ Kxg6 5.a4 Kf5 6.a5 Ke6 7.a6 Kd7 8.a7]
2.h4! is indeed much better than 2.h3, the move i’ve analyzed first
[2.h3?! Qc1
a) 2…Qd1 3.f3 Bxc2 4.Kf2 Qd2+ 5.Kg1 Qc1 6.Kf2 Be4!! 7.Qxc5 (7.fxe4 Qe3#) 7…Qe3+ 8.Kg3 f4+ 9.Kh2 (9.Kg4? Qe1 10.Kxf4 Bb1 11.a4 (11.Qxd4 g5+ 12.Kg4 Qh4#) 11…g5+–+) 9…d3 10.Qh5 (10.Qxe3 fxe3 11.Kg3 Bf5 12.f4 Kg6 13.Kf3 e2 14.Bxe2 Be4+ (14…dxe2 15.Kxe2 h5 16.Ke3 h4 17.Kd4) 15.Ke3 dxe2 16.Kxe2 Bxg2 17.h4–+ the bishop controls both promotion squares of the white passer pawns. ) 10…Bg6 (10…d2 11.fxe4 Qg3+ 12.Kg1) 11.Bxd3 Qxd3 12.Qc5 Bf7 13.a4 Qxc4 14.Qe7 Bg6 15.a5–+;
b) 2…Qb1 3.f3 Bxc2 4.Kf2 Qb2 5.a4 (5.Qxc5 Bd3+ 6.Kg3 f4+ (6…Bxf1 7.Qxf5+ Kg8 8.Qd5+ Kf8 9.Qc5+ Ke8 10.Qc8+ and so on… draw by perpetual) 7.Kh2) 5…f4 6.Qxf4 Bg6+ 7.Kg3 Qa1 8.Kf2 Qa2+ 9.Ke1 Qb1+ 10.Kf2 Qc2+ 11.Ke1 d3 12.h4 Qb1+ 13.Kf2 Qd1 14.h5 Bxh5 15.a5 Bg6 16.Qe3 d2–+;
3.f3 Bxc2 4.Kf2 Be4 5.Qxc5 (5.Be2 Qe3+ 6.Kg3 d3 7.Bd1 f4+ 8.Qxf4 Qe1+ 9.Kh2 Bg6 10.Ba4 d2 11.Qd6 Qc1 12.f4 Qxc4 13.Bd1 Qxa2 14.Qxc5 Qb1 15.f5 Bxf5 16.Bb3 Qd3) 5…Qe3+ 6.Kg3 f4+! 7.Kh2 d3 8.Qxe3 (8.Qd6 d2 9.fxe4 Qg3+ 10.Kg1 Qe1 11.Qxf4 (11.Qd5 d1Q) 11…d1Q 12.Qf5+ Kg8–+) 8…fxe3 9.Kg3 e2 10.Bxe2 dxe2 11.Kf2 Bd3 12.c5 Kg6 13.c6 Kf5 14.c7 Ba6 15.c8Q+ Bxc8 16.Kxe2–+
2.f3? Qe3+ 3.Kh1 Qf2 4.h3 Qxf1+ 5.Kh2 Bxc2–+
2.Qxc5? d3 3.cxd3 Bxd3 4.h3 Qxf1+ 5.Kh2 Qe2–+]
2…Qc1 3.h5!
[3.f3?! Bxc2 4.Kf2 Qd2+ (4…Be4 5.Qxc5 (5.h5 Qe3+ 6.Kg3 f4+ 7.Kh2) 5…Qe3+ 6.Kg3 f4+ 7.Kh2 d3 8.Qd6 d2 9.fxe4 Qg3+ 10.Kg1 Qe1 11.Qxf4 d1Q 12.Qf5+ Kg8 13.Qe6+ Kf8 14.Qf5+ Ke7–+) 5.Kg3 Qc1! 6.Kf2 f4 7.h5 Qd2+ 8.Qe2 (8.Kg1 Qe3+–+) 8…Qxe2+ 9.Kxe2 Ba4=/+]
3…Bxc2 4.Qe6
[4.Qe8 Qg5 5.a4 d3 6.a5 d2 7.Be2 d1Q+ 8.Bxd1 Bxd1 9.a6 Bxh5 10.Qc6 Qc1+ 11.Kh2 Qf4+ 12.Kg1 Qd4 13.Qb7 Qd1+ 14.Kh2 Qd6+ 15.Kg1 Be8 16.a7 Bc6 17.a8Q Bxb7 18.Qxb7-/+]
4…Qg5 the only move to fight for an advantage
[4…f4?! 5.Qe2 Qb1 6.f3 Qxa2 7.Qd2 Kg8 8.Qxf4=]
5.Be2
[maybe 5.g3 is even stronger 5…Qxh5 6.Bg2 Qg6 (6…d3?? 7.Bd5) 7.Qc8 Qd6 8.Bd5 Qe7 9.a4 h5 (9…Be4 10.Kf1 Bd3+ 11.Kg2 Be4+ 12.Kf1=) 10.a5 Qe1+ 11.Kg2 Be4+ 12.f3 Qd2+ 13.Kh3 Bxd5 14.Qxf5+ =]
5…Qf6!
6.Qd7
[of course not 6.Qxf6 gxf6 7.Bf3 d3]
6…Qe5 7.Bf3!
[7.Bf1? Qe1]
7…d3
[7…Qe1+ 8.Kh2 Qxf2 9.Qd8 f4 10.Bd5 Qg3+=]
8.g4!
[8.a4? Qe1+ 9.Kh2 d2 10.a5 d1Q 11.Bxd1 Qxd1 12.Qxd1 Bxd1 13.a6 Ba4 14.a7 Bc6–+]
8…fxg4
9.Bxg4 Qe1+
10.Kg2 d2
11.Bf5+ Bxf5
12.Qxf5+ with draw
A lot of effort has gone into this one – 1. – f5 2.h4 seems OK, but black is better served by 2. – Qb1 IMO.
3.h5 Bxc2 4.Qe6 f4 (threatening Bd3)5.Qe2 Bf5 and d3 is coming, if necessary assisted by subsequent Qc2. White can try differently,
3.f3 Bxc2 (threatening Bd3) 4.Qe2 d3 5.Qd2/f2 Qd1/c1 and the d-pawn queens (often by Qxf1+ Qxf1 and d1Q leaving black a piece up).
best i think in above line is
4.Kf2 Qxa2 where 5.Be2 Bd3 leaves white in a lost pawn-endgame and 5.Qe2 runs into d3; 6.Qd2 Qxc4 and the connected passers decide in blacks favour.
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@ps – it is not that easy… 🙂
I didn’t want to bother you with ALL of my strange lines but I’ve also analyzed 2.Qb1…
1…f5
2.h4 Qb1?!
3.f3! Bxc2
and now of course not 3.Qe2? but
4.Kf2!
e.g.
4…Qxa2 (4…Qc1 transposes to a line described in detail earlier)
5.Qxc5 Bb1+
6.Kg1 with a draw
e.g.
6…Qa1
7.Kf2 f4
8.Qb5! Bc2
9.Qe5 and so on
greetings
oh – before i forget to mention it – after
1…f5, 2.h4 Qb1?! 3.f3! Bxc2 4.Kf2! Qxa2 5.Qxc5 Bd3+
6.Kg3!
… the bishop on f1 is untouchable because of
6… Bxf1
7.Qxf5+ with a draw
Vohaul,
Thanks for the detailed analysis. After much fiddling with my own chess pieces (but no computer), I decided there were many fascinating lines, but could not find a clear win for either side.
I presumed a draw with best play.
Susan, thanks for a great position to study.