White to move. How should White proceed? This is a VERY unique puzzle. NO computer please! Calculate ALL variations out 🙂 Have fun! (There is NO en passant! Black just played b6-b5)
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Want to put your brain to work?
well, it’s easy if white can take pxp ep
It looks like a Stalemate if Black promotes the b-pawn in a Queen or a Rook, easy draw if he promotes in a Knight, but not sure about the result if the pawn will be promoted in a Bishop…
A possible variation is:
1.Ke7 b4
2.d6 (with 3.d7+ threat) cd6
3.Kd6 b3
4.Kc6 (with 5.a7 threat) Kb8
5.Kb6 b2
6.a7+ Ka8
7.Ka6 and from here the fun starts…
I will let the next guys to finish the puzzle 🙂
Good luck!
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wolverine2121 your 4th move is illegal…
The King can’t jump 2 squares (from e7 to c7) so you have to try again 🙁
A possible variation is:
1.Ke7 b4
2.d6 (with 3.d7+ threat) cd6
3.Kd6 b3
4.Kc6 (with 5.a7 threat) Kb8
5.Kb6 b2
6.a7+ Ka8
7.Ka6 and from here the fun starts…
I will let the next guys to finish the puzzle 🙂
Good luck!
Well the fun starts it will be good for white to handle when black underpromotes the pawn to bishop. White king will have tough time holding the pawns on queen side and after taking one of the a-pawn, the black king can march towards king pawn and win the game, as (one of the line)
7. .. b1=B!
8.Kb6 Be4
9.a6 Bg2
10.Ka5 Kxa7 followed with Kb8, Kc7, Kd6 etc.
The plan is to bring the king over to queenside to threaten to promote the pawns.
1. Ke7 b4
2. d6 cd (forced; else d7 and d8=Q#)
3. Kxd6 b3 (Kb1 transposes into the b3 line)
4. Kc6 Kb8 (otherwise a6 pawn queens with checkmate)
5. Kb6 b2
6. a7+ a8
7. Ka6 b1=N (R or Q is stalemate; B is wrong color to promote h-pawn)
8. Kb5 and race to cover the corner (6 moves) before N can capture on h2 (3 moves), move out of the way of the pawn (1 move), and promote (2 moves). Since white moves first here, he can accomplish the task first. The king cannot then be forced out of the corner. Draw.
I don’t think the tempting alternative of drawing the black king away from the c pawn works, e.g.:
1. Ke7 b4
2. a7 Kb7
3. Kd7 b3
4. a8=Q+ Kxa8
5. Kxc7 b2
6. d6 b1=Q
7. d7 Qb8+ and white loses.
I can’t find a variation that looks any better for white….
Oops! Bishop is NOT the wrong color. The task is now to keep the black king away from g2. White can just shuffle between f2, g1, h1, and f1. Black cannot win the g2 square without stalemate.
7. Ka6 b1=N (R or Q is stalemate; B is wrong color to promote h-pawn)
Dan Dalthorp – you are wrong!
b1 square has the same colour with h1-square!
So that white-square Bishop can help the h-pawn to promote on h1!
So it looks like White is lost after 7…b1B! but after a closer look (without computer help!) we can see that the White king can stay on g1 and h1 (or f2) keeping the draw, or otherwise being stalemated!
So draw!
Ke7 b4
a7 Kb7
Kd7 b3
a8 Kxa8
Kxc7 b2
d6 b1
d7 Qc2+
Kb6 Qd2
Kc7
yea i think its a draw.
As you already told the first stage is wonderful with white’s king on a6 FORCING black to promote (no other moves)AND forcing to UNDERPROMOTE to bishop or knight.
Bishop or knight?
With BISHOP no progress can be made as black’s king must protect a8 and white’s would go back and forth on a6 and b6.
(“The square of the bishop…” doen’t matter: the h2-h3 pawns are stuck)
With KNIGHT (I found it harder): Black knight will try to eat h2 and promote pawn: White’s king MUST come to K-side.
White’s king (to move) needs 6 moves to g2; black’s knight needs 3 to “eat” the pawn, 1 to “go away” (then the king will go on f-file, pawn go to h2 and Kg2 just in time…draw (Note: The king has so many “routes” that the knight can’t disrupt the king going to g2.
What are the flaw in my thinking?
Sorry I didn’t look for ALL variations but just for ideas from the promoting move.
Have a nice day
Sorry, I just see that I’m repeating what many of you have just said.
Greetings,
After the main lines pointed above;
1. Stalemate on a6 if ‘b’ pawn Queens or Rooks
2. Stalemate on g1 If ‘b’ pawn Promotes to Bishop and Black king marches to e2
3. Stalemate on h1 after Black promotes to Knight and forced to play h3-h2; The Black Knight would either be on g4 or f3 (Protecting the black pawn now on h2) while g3 and h3 are immune from the Black King.
Conclusion: A pretty Draw regardless of what the ‘b’ pawn promotes to.
My Regards
King.
I failed to add; in point 2 above Stalemate on g1 if Black’s King is on e2 and Bishop on a8-h1 diagonal or stalemate on h1 if Black King is on f2.
And as for point 3 I failed to add that the Knight wins the h2 pawn and the White King makes it in time to force h3-h2, but I guess you all knew what I meant, just important to clarify though just in case.
My Regards
King.
Fascinating.
Thank you Black, although obviously your last move should be recorded with a minimum of three question marks!
T
2k2K2/2p5/P7/Pp1P4/8/7p/7P/8 w – – 0 1
Super puzzle Susan.
I am convinced that it is a draw in all variations. Bishop promotion is a draw also in my opinion.
I did not try a bishop of opposite color but my guess is that would make a difference. The bishop just has nothing it can attack.
1.Ke7 b4
2.d6 (with 3.d7+ threat) cd6
3.Kd6 b3
4.Kc6 (with 5.a7 threat) Kb8
5.Kb6 b2
6.a7+ Ka8
7.Ka6 b1N
8. Kb6 Nd2
9. Kc5 Nf1
10. Kd4 Nxh2
11. Ke4
(black knight cannot reach f4 or g5 in time, and white threatens with Kf3-g3)
11…. Nf1 (or Ng4)
12. Kf3 Kxa7
13. Kf2 h2
14. Kg2 Ka6
15. Kh1 Ka5
now as soon as black king approaches to protect h2 pawn it’s a stalemate; otherwise, the black knight has to remain on f1 and black cannot advance;
if black plays 7…. b1B, white knig remains on g1-f2
___________________
wolverine:
Ke7 b4
a7 Kb7
Kd7 b3
a8 Kxa8
Kxc7 b2
d6 b1
d7 QB8+ (not Qc2)
Kc6 Qd8 (-+)
jean-luc:
“With BISHOP no progress can be made as black’s king must protect a8 and white’s would go back and forth on a6 and b6”
Kb6 Bd3
and you have to leave b6 square; the pawn are therefore captured
I just stumbled on this great blog site.
The puzzles are very interesting. What is prescribed method to solve?Am I supposed to think out all variations? Can I write them out as I compute each variation?
Try to analyze all lines. Black can promote into a Queen, Bishop, Rook or Knight 🙂 Have fun analyzing!
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
http://www.PolgarChess.com
black can promote to knight or bishop – any other promotion is a stalemate position. if black promotes to a knight, we’ll have:
7…b1N 8.Kb6 Nd2 9.Kc5 Nf1 10.Kd4 Nxh2 11.Ke3 Ng4+ 12.Kf3 h2 13.Kg2 Kxa7 14.a6 Kxa6 with a theoretical draw e.g. 15.Kh1 Kb5 16.Kg2 Kc4 17.Kh1 Kd3 18.Kg2 Ke2 19.Kh1=
it’s more tricky to subpromote to a bishop (of course the bishop is of the right color… but on the other side … white has an extra pawn, standing on an opposite colored square…) my lines are starting with 7…b1=B because i could not find any mistake in the first 6 moves given by other bloggers thus far! so:
7… b1=B (the only real winning try!)
8.Kb6 Be4
(8…Bg6 9.Kc6 Kxa7 10.a6 Kxa6 11.Kd5 Kb5 12.Kd4 Bf5 13.Ke3 Kc4 14.Kf2 Bb1 15.Kg3 Bf5 16.Kf2 Kd3 17.Kf3 (17.Kg3?? Ke3) 17…Kd4 18.Kf4 Be6 19.Kf3= Bd5+ 20.Kf2 Bg2 21.Kg1 Ke3)
9.Kc5
(9.a6 Bf3! zugzwang)
9…Kxa7
10.Kd4 Bb7
11.Ke3 Ka6
12.Kf4 Bc8
13.Kg3 Kxa5
14.Kf2 with a draw, because white’s king will not allow blacks king to attack the h2 – pawn – but it is still very tricky – you’ll have to use normal opposition, diagonal opposition as well as “knight’s opposition” (a terminus recently invented by me… hehe)
e.g. 14…Kb4
15.Kf1 Kc4
16.Kf2 Kd4
17.Kf3 Be6
18.Kf4 Bd5
19.Kg3 Be6
20.Kf2 Ke4
21.Kf1!
(21.Kg3?? Ke3 22.Kh4–+)
21…Kf3
22.Kg1 Bb3
23.Kf1 Bc4+
24.Kg1 Be6
25.Kf1 and so on
of course I used a real board, a piece of paper and a pencil (oh – good old times!) to analyze this … so – there might be lot’s of mistakes – but:
the position given is a DRAW – in my eyes … I could not find a winning method neither for white, nor for black.
but the question remains: would you accept a draw offer from black in this position? (… remember – 25,000 bucks, a GM norm, a tournament win … but if you lose this – you’ll have the honour of a citation in GM Susan Polgar’s chess blog and a wooden, but of course gold manteled medal, which will forever remind you of your fighting spirit and real chess ambitions ^^
or would you play it out – otb – loud and proud … i’m sure – most of the answerers of the “draw in chess blogging theme” would take the citation and the medal)
greetings
PS: no doubt about – i’m not that proud – i’ll shout loud – yes – i don’t wanna fight – it out!
greetings
vohaul, how black is going to win, if the white king marches straight to g1 (omitting all that “opposition dance”)
I think knowing that black just blundered the last move. Their is a lot of opportunity for him to throw away the game on other bad moves example
… b6-b5??
a3-a2 b5-b4??
a4-a3? b4-b3??
Kf8-E7? b3-b2??
a7-a8Q
@anonym 3:33 – there is NO winning method for black – the “opposition dance” starts after the arrival of the black king or depends on some bishop moves – e.g. white’s king must not enter g3 in some cases or is forced to enter h1 instead of e1 and so on…