8/1q3p1k/6p1/8/7P/1p1QP1P1/5P2/5K2 w – – 0 7
White to move. How would you assess this position? How should White proceed?
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Queen and Pawn endgame
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Doesn’t appear to be any good moves, but I’d move Kd1 in hope of luring Black’s Queen…. No wait. I have no idea! (Beg for a draw?)
The first move has to be Ke2!! (Kd1 is impossible, btw), or else white is toast: the threat is …b2 Qb1 Qh1+, winning the queen; or if say, Kg1, …b2 Qb1 Qb6! followed by …Qa6 and Qa8, and the pawn queens. Ke2 is the only move that stops both threats:
1 Ke2! b2
2 Qb1 Qb6
3 Kd2 Qa6
4 Kc2 and the king arrives in time to win the b-pawn and stop it from queening. Black has perpetual checks, so the extra pawns won’t help white to win, but at least white is assured a draw here.
Oops, pardon my early morning chysslexia: make that Qb3 and Qa3, not Qb6 and Qa6 in the line above.
Thanks for the (Ke2) correction, tv!
I think White is DEAD LOST. My move would be blocking the Black pawn from becoming a Queen by placing the White Queen in front of the pawn. Then I would hope Black makes some mistakes, and then I can advance the White King towards the Black pawn and capture it, because I would be attacking it twice and Black would be defending it only once.
“I think White is DEAD LOST.”
With any other move than Ke2! yeah, but Ke2 guarantees white the draw.
“My move would be blocking the Black pawn from becoming a Queen by placing the White Queen in front of the pawn.”
If you do that first, black wins the white queen with a check in the corner, as after the king moves out of check, black plays QxQ.
“Then I would hope Black makes some mistakes,”
Well, I hope Susan wouldn’t waste her time and ours with a problem where the position is lost and the only thing to do is passively hope that black makes a mistake!
“and then I can advance the White King towards the Black pawn and capture it, because I would be attacking it twice and Black would be defending it only once.”
Yes! That’s the spirit, but you have to get the move order precise, and only 1 Ke2 allows you to advance the white king toward the black pawn and capture it, which black can’t stop.
“and only 1 Ke2 allows you to advance the white king toward the black pawn and capture it, which black can’t stop”
Of course black can stop it.
1. Ke2, b2 2. Qd1, Qb3 and the white king can never advance that pawn.
That should guarantee black the draw.
The question is if black can work with zugzwang here, but I do not think so.
Perhaps he can win by approaching his king? In this case white should try to free a pawn to ensure draw.
I am not quite sure if this is really a drawn position but 1. Ke2, b2 2. Qb1 are the only drawing chances white has.
I feel to tired now to work it out.
Greetings
Jochen