White to move. Can White save this game? No computer analysis please 🙂 See if you can figure it out.
5k2/5p1K/8/5PP1/8/3p2Bp/8/8 w – – 0 2
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Tricky stuff
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???? i dont get what is tricky 1. g6 apparently saves the game, might even win. is something missing?
mmh, maybe it’s black to move and draw, or even win
Greetings
It looks like it has something to do with 1. g6 d2 (1…fxg6 2. fxg6 d2 3.g7+ Ke7 4.g8Q etc.) 2.g7+ Ke7 4.g8Q d1Q 5.Qg5+. Note that if it were again Black’s move after 4…d1Q he could play 5…Qh5#, making the check on g5 necessary.
1.g6? fxg6
2.fxg6 Ke7!
… gets Black a draw.
Perchance white should start with 1. Bh4:
1. Bh4 h2
2. g6 h1Q
3. g7+ Ke8
4. g8Q+ Kd7
5. Qd8+ Kc6
6. Qa8+ with skewer
if black were to queen the d-pawn the skewer would still happen, and if he should move both onto the 2nd rank, white would get the 1 rank into control with the queen.
1. Bh4 h2
2. g6 fxg6
3. fxg6+ h1Q
4. g7+ Ke8 (Kf7 5.g8Q#)
5. g8Q+ Kd7
6. Qd8+ Ke6
7. Qe7+ Kf5
8. Qf6+ Kg4
9. Qg5+ Kf3
10. Qd5+ winning the queen seems to be black’s best defense to me, anyhow a win for white.
Hopefully I managed without mistake here, not using a board or anything.
In regard to the last post, good job. However, if white is winning with the skewer on the long diagonal only b/c the K has to go to c6 and not e6 after Qd8+, then it stands to reason that black should throw in a fxg6 fxg6 getting rid of the f5 pawn so the e6 square is available. Just my two cents…
to be honest, i missed 1.bh4!! …
greetings, Vohaul
Nice analysis, anon 11:17. You’ve convinced me that after:
1.Bh4 h2
2.g6
… both 1…h1=Q and 1…fxg6 lose. But what about:
2…f6
3.g7+ Ke7
4.g8=Q h1=Q
…? White has eleventy bazillion checks and an extra piece, but does he have a win? Would he have been better off with 4.Kg6 (threatening 4.Bxf6+)?
Yes, 4. Kg6 should be better, for then white will be able to take both of blacks pawns white retaining his f pawn. White’s task will be to escape checks with the help of his queen, bishop and pawn, which should be possible: I look at a position white Qd2-Pf5-Kg6-Bg5 and black Kc7/8-Qg1/2 with black to move, and white will be able to stop the checks. It should be possible to push the pawn after that.
1. Bd6+ Ke8
2. g6 d2
3. g7 d1Q
4. g8Q+ there should be a win in here
1. Bd6+ Ke8
2. g6 fg
3. fg d2
4. g7 d1Q
5. g8Q+ similar to above
1. Bd6+ Ke8
2. g6 h2
3. Bxh2 d2
4. g7 d1Q
5. g8Q+ again
What is the defense to 1. Bd6+ ?
Why not simply 1.g6, then Black has no time for the reply 1..f6 and all other continuations lead us to the already mentioned winning lines after 1.Bh4; so:
1.g6! h2 (1..fg 2.fg h2 3.Bh4 wins for white as already shown) 2.g7 Ke7 3.Bh4 Kd7 (Kd6 4. g8Q h1Q 5. Qa8 wins) 4. g8Q h1Q 5. Qd8 Kc6 6.Qa8 and again the skewer wins
1.g6! h2 (1..fg 2.fg h2 3.Bh4 wins for white as already shown)
2…Ke7 holds the fort. 1.g6? does notwin.
1. Bd6+ Ke8
2. g6 fg
3. fg d2
4. g7 d1Q
5. g8Q+ similar to above
Sorry, anon 1:59 — no win for White that I can see after 5…Kd7.
Intuition tells me that the right move is Bd6+, so white can avoid the defense Ke7. I think the trick is to reach the eight rank with check.