- Special endgame improvement

A draw would not be the first thought in my head on this one, but on reflection, I can see the weakness in white’s position. I really can’t seen any other first move here than Kg5 to keep the white king at bay and threaten to win the g-pawn immediately.

1. …..Kg5

White can’t afford to lose g4 (with the bishops still on the board, that is) since black’s king will easily control the black squares f6-d8, but protecting with 2.Bf5 concedes the draw instantly after the exchange at f5. So, the only chance to win has to be 2.Bf3:

2. Bf3 Bd7

What to avoid here is probably any king move for black, so Bb7 or Ba6 should be ok, too, but I see no reason to not keep g4 under attack in order to tie down the white bishop to it’s defense. So, the question now is does white have any plan that might work? Initially, I thought that 3.Kf2 (heading for the d-pawn) would allow the exchange at g4 and black would obtain a draw, but I overlooked something really simple- after black captures the bishop at g4, the d-pawn runs away to d8 and can’t be caught. So, if white tries 3.Kf2, black is going to need to try something other than the capture:

3. Kf2 Kf4

I think Kf6 is also good here. The idea behind both moves is to threaten Ke5 as needed, and to keep the white king out of f4/e4. Moves that seem to lose are Kg6/Kh6/Kh4, the aforementioned Bxg4, and other bishop moves are surely losing too since the white king gains a march on the black king and cuts him off. Let’s look at some of the ideas behind the losing moves since they are instructive:

3. …..Kg6??
4. Ke3! Kf6
5. Kf4 Bb5
6. g5! Ke7
7. Ke5 Bd3 (to cover g6)
8. d6 Kd7
9. Bg4 Kc6 (Kd8 10.Kf6 and 11.g6)
10.Ke6 and this is clearly lost. In this line, it was completely fatal to ever allow the white king into f4 (and this probably means Kg5 was the only drawing move for black on his first move). Also, let’s look at the line from black’s move at 3 where the bishop moves:

3. …..Bc8??
4. Ke3 Bd7
5. Ke4 Kf6 (else 6.Ke5 wins)
6. Kf4 and this is going to lose much like the previous line.

Now, before returning to 3. …Kf4 for black, I want to look in more detail at 3. …Kf6 which I think holds the draw, too, for black:

3. …..Kf6
4. Ke3 Ke5! (threatens Bg4=)
5. g5

Otherwise, 5.Kd3 for example, black just captures at g4 since the white bishop can’t protect both pawns by itself. Continuing:

5. …..Bf5 (Be8 good, too?)
6. Kd2 Kf4

This seems the most direct drawing line for black here, but there are probably other drawing moves here since black has a huge advantage in space around the white pawns. Continuing:

7. Kc3

Here, 7.d6 is draw after black plays the king back to e5 and wins the d-pawn: [7.d6 Ke5 8.d7 Bd7 9.Bh5 Kf5 10.g6 Kf6 with Kg7 to follow holding the draw]. Continuing:

7. …..Kg5
8. Kd4 Kf6
9. Kc5 Ke7 and black’s king will just take d8 and sit there, and there is nothing in the world white can do about it.

So, finally, let’s just play a few moves in the 3. …Kf4 line to show it is no different than 3. …Kf6:

3. …..Kf4
4. Ke2 Ke5 (threatens Bg4, again)

And, clearly, this line is just a variation of the previous line in which black easily draws.

9 Comments

Anonymous Reply

May 21, 2011 at 5:44 pm

Grindmaster Lenya laments that she grounded out on her 1st try:

1. … Ke5
2. Bf3 Bb7
3. g5 Bxd5
4. Bxd5 Kxd5
5. Kg4 Ke6
6. Kh5 Kf7
7. Kh6 Kg8
8. Kg6 wins for White

I’ll have to try heading in a different direction with the Black king.

A) 🙂 = GRin

B) 🙁 = GRimace

Vote for A) or B): your choice for L’s current non-de-plumb (sic)
Anonymous Reply

May 21, 2011 at 6:10 pm

After 1. … Kg5 2. Bf3 (forced) Bd7 Lenya does not see any
way for White to make further progress. Draw.
Yancey Ward Reply

May 21, 2011 at 8:16 pm

A draw would not be the first thought in my head on this one, but on reflection, I can see the weakness in white’s position. I really can’t seen any other first move here than Kg5 to keep the white king at bay and threaten to win the g-pawn immediately.

1. …..Kg5

White can’t afford to lose g4 (with the bishops still on the board, that is) since black’s king will easily control the black squares f6-d8, but protecting with 2.Bf5 concedes the draw instantly after the exchange at f5. So, the only chance to win has to be 2.Bf3:

2. Bf3 Bd7

What to avoid here is probably any king move for black, so Bb7 or Ba6 should be ok, too, but I see no reason to not keep g4 under attack in order to tie down the white bishop to it’s defense. So, the question now is does white have any plan that might work? Initially, I thought that 3.Kf2 (heading for the d-pawn) would allow the exchange at g4 and black would obtain a draw, but I overlooked something really simple- after black captures the bishop at g4, the d-pawn runs away to d8 and can’t be caught. So, if white tries 3.Kf2, black is going to need to try something other than the capture:

3. Kf2 Kf4

I think Kf6 is also good here. The idea behind both moves is to threaten Ke5 as needed, and to keep the white king out of f4/e4. Moves that seem to lose are Kg6/Kh6/Kh4, the aforementioned Bxg4, and other bishop moves are surely losing too since the white king gains a march on the black king and cuts him off. Let’s look at some of the ideas behind the losing moves since they are instructive:

3. …..Kg6??
4. Ke3! Kf6
5. Kf4 Bb5
6. g5! Ke7
7. Ke5 Bd3 (to cover g6)
8. d6 Kd7
9. Bg4 Kc6 (Kd8 10.Kf6 and 11.g6)
10.Ke6 and this is clearly lost. In this line, it was completely fatal to ever allow the white king into f4 (and this probably means Kg5 was the only drawing move for black on his first move). Also, let’s look at the line from black’s move at 3 where the bishop moves:

3. …..Bc8??
4. Ke3 Bd7
5. Ke4 Kf6 (else 6.Ke5 wins)
6. Kf4 and this is going to lose much like the previous line.

Now, before returning to 3. …Kf4 for black, I want to look in more detail at 3. …Kf6 which I think holds the draw, too, for black:

3. …..Kf6
4. Ke3 Ke5! (threatens Bg4=)
5. g5

Otherwise, 5.Kd3 for example, black just captures at g4 since the white bishop can’t protect both pawns by itself. Continuing:

5. …..Bf5 (Be8 good, too?)
6. Kd2 Kf4

This seems the most direct drawing line for black here, but there are probably other drawing moves here since black has a huge advantage in space around the white pawns. Continuing:

7. Kc3

Here, 7.d6 is draw after black plays the king back to e5 and wins the d-pawn: [7.d6 Ke5 8.d7 Bd7 9.Bh5 Kf5 10.g6 Kf6 with Kg7 to follow holding the draw]. Continuing:

7. …..Kg5
8. Kd4 Kf6
9. Kc5 Ke7 and black’s king will just take d8 and sit there, and there is nothing in the world white can do about it.

So, finally, let’s just play a few moves in the 3. …Kf4 line to show it is no different than 3. …Kf6:

3. …..Kf4
4. Ke2 Ke5 (threatens Bg4, again)

And, clearly, this line is just a variation of the previous line in which black easily draws.
Anonymous Reply

May 21, 2011 at 8:30 pm

This is way too difficult.
Anonymous Reply

May 21, 2011 at 9:16 pm

1… Kg5!
It takes the opposition and threat Bxg4
2. Bf3
What else do?
2…Bd7
3. d6 Be6
4. Be2 Bd7
5. Kf2 Kf4 drav

Or

1… Kg5!
2. Bf3 Bd7
3. Be2 Bc8
4. d6 Bd7
5. Bf3 Bc8
6. Bc6 Bxg4 drav

another example

1… Kg5!
2. Bf3 Bd7
3. Be2 Bc8
4. d6 Bd7
5. Kf3 Bxg4+
6. Ke4 Bd7 drav

Best regards
Stef
Matt Osborne Reply

May 21, 2011 at 11:09 pm

Well, I’ve spent way too long looking at this today. The best I can come up with is:

1. … Kg5
2. Bf3 …

As long as the black bishop remains on the same diagonal as the g-file pawn, white cannot win. The white bishop must remain on the same diagonal as the g-file pawn to prevent losing it. The d-file pawn can only go as far as d6. At that point, the game is a draw.
Cal Reply

May 22, 2011 at 1:38 am

1. – Ke5
Roy Roger Reply

May 22, 2011 at 2:01 am

1. .. Kg5 2. Bf3 Bb7 3. d6 Bc8 4. Bd1 Bd7 5. Kf2 Kf4 6. Ke1 Ke5 6. g5 f5 draw
Anonymous Reply

May 22, 2011 at 3:16 pm

According to TB, Black will be Mated in 24 after Ke5. So the only drawing move for black is Kg5

Special endgame improvement

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