White to move. Is this a draw or win for White?
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Simple calculation
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White to move. Is this a draw or win for White?
I think White wins by using the spare pawn tempo at the appropriate time. For example:
1. Ke4 Ke7
2. Kd5 Kd7
3. f4
or
1. Ke4 Kg7
2. Kd5 Kh6
3. Ke6 Kg5
4. f4+
No need to even calculate variations. White must win because of the extra tempo from the second pawn. Even if Black gets the opposition, he loses it again.
Your heading is misleading. Anyone who would not immeidately know this is winning needs to reveiw endgames. No calculation is necessary. The white pawn is on the fifth, you have a tempo to outflank blacks king therefore white has to win.
As to the last comment, many novice players who read this blog may not “immediately know” this is a winning position and it’s a good exercise for them to work it out and to know why white wins in this position. I like the fact that this puzzle is included so players of all skill levels can participate and not feel left out.
As to the last comment, many novice players who read this blog may not “immediately know” this is a winning position and it’s a good exercise for them to work it out and to know why white wins in this position.
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But knowing the reason why is much more important than calculating variations. If you know why White wins, finding the variations is easy.
For those of us who might not know the practical reasons why this is winning, here are the important parts of this position:
1. Think of this as K + P vs K + P where white has a spare tempo that he can lose. This is why it’s very important to improve your king’s position as much as possible before moving pawns. Imagine if white’s king were on f3 and his second pawn on f4. Then if it’s white to move, it’s only a draw.
2. If white manages to win the black pawn, then because the white king will be on the 6th rank, white wins no matter where black’s king stands. If you aren’t already familiar with this, go set up a board and put a white king on f6, white pawn on f5 and black king on f8 and practice finding the way that white wins even if he moves first.
3. wK on e6, wp on f5, bK on g5, bp on f6 is a very standard and classic example of zugzwang. Whoever moves, loses. Since white can “waste a move” by playing f4+, he will force the black king to move first.
In 1986, GM Joel Benjamin was playing against Viktor Korchnoi and was having trouble figuring out the endgame. In spite of becoming a GM, Benjamin had never learned about triangulations. Korchnoi was surprised and said, “but this is chess ABC!”
So in spite of reaching the GM level, Benjamin had not learned a basic endgame idea.
This story is mentioned in Jan Timman’s, “A Jump in the North Sea”. It’s mentioned also here.
Anyway, as most of these puzzles show, the endgame is often very tricky.