Games

/

Entertainment

White to Play

Pete Tamburro on

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.

 


Send questions and comments to PTamburro@aol.com.

 

 

Comics

Daddy's Home Andy Capp Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee Arctic Circle Caption It Baby Blues