White to Play
Published in Chess Puzzles
Welcome to the second week of chess summer school. We’re looking at how to save yourself in tough spots. Here, you’re a king position down, so to speak. One wrong move and your dead. In fact, Irving Chernev’s classic, Practical Chess Endings, shows a finely played win for White in this position. The only problem is that it’s a draw! See if you can find what he didn’t.
Solution:
Let’s talk the position. The idea for White is to force Black to isolate his a-pawn, then take it at the right moment, push his own a-pawn, and when Black goes to cover a8, take on c7 and win. That, with some fine points well worth looking at, is Chernev’s winning plan: 1.c5 bxc5 [ not 1...dxc5 2.d6 cxd6 3.Kxd6 Kc8 4.Kc6] 2.Kb5 Kd7 3.a4 [White needs to win a tempo because if 3.Kxa5 c6 4.dxc6+ Kxc6] 3...Kc8 [You have to count, as you do in all pawn races: 3...c6+ 4.dxc6+ Kc7 5.b3 Kc8 6.Kxa5 d5 7.Kb6 c4 8.bxc4 dxc4 9.a5 c3 10.a6 c2 11.a7 c1Q 12.a8Q#] 4.Kxa5 Kb7 5.Kb5 Ka7 6.Kc6 Kb8 7.a5 Kc8 8.a6 Kb8 9.a7+ Kxa7 10.Kxc7 and wins. HOWEVER, Black has a saving move in this apparently lost position: 1.c5 bxc5 [1...dxc5 2.d6 cxd6 3.Kxd6 Kc8 4.Kc6] 2.Kb5 Kc8!! 3.Kxa5 [3.a4?? Kb7 4.Kxa5 c6 5.dxc6+ Kxc6 6.Ka6 d5 and Black wins!; 3.Kc6 a4 4.Kb5 Kd7 5.Kxa4 c6 6.dxc6+ Kxc6 7.Kb3 d5] 3...c6 4.dxc6 d5 5.Kb5 d4 6.Kc4 Kc7 7.a4 Kxc6 8.b3 Kb6 King and pawn endings are tough. One little move may make a difference. Play all the lines over several times to make sure you grasp why Kc8 only works on one move.
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