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White to Play

Pete Tamburro on Jan 24, 2025

King and pawn endings require planning. Here, White has a win, but the first two moves decide whether White wins, draws—or even loses!

1.g4 hxg4+ 2.Kg3 2.Kxg4 Kd3 3.f5 (This is why Kg3 was better--there's no check. White can just push f5 because if now 3.h5 gxh5+and Black wins!) 3...gxf5+ 4.Kxf5 c5 5.h5 c4 6.h6 c3 7.h7 c2 8.h8=Q c1=Q 9.Kf6 Qf4+ 10.Ke7 Ke4 and it’s a draw. 2...Kd3 3.h5 gxh5 4.f5 c5 5.e6 fxe6 6.fxe6 c4 7.e7 c3 8.e8=Q c2 9.Qe1 and wins.

Send questions and comments to PTamburro@aol.com.

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