Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - February 9, 2013

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to move and draw (Kubbel)
White need to keep the Q under wraps, but the Q has at least two escape routes currently; to Qg8 and via h6.  How to proceed ?  If  1.Ra4 Ke7 2.Ra7+ Kd6, and now what ?  What say you ? (don't use your engine).

7 comments:

Nikachu said...

Had you said nothing I would never had seen the answer. I originally looked at Ra7 Kd6 and stopped analyzing.

Ra8 is so stupid

Anonymous said...

1.Ra4 Ke7 2.Ra7+ Kd6 3.Ra8=

Nikachu said...

For some reason I thought about the position again and if anyone thinks that it's all over after Ra8 they are wrong. There is a critical line with 1.Ra4 h4 and black is very seriously threatening to promote this pawn.

Nikachu said...

For some reason I thought about the position again and if anyone thinks that it's all over after Ra8 they are wrong. There is a critical line with 1.Ra4 h4 and black is very seriously threatening to promote this pawn.

Chess Manitoba said...

Nikachu - really ?

2. Ra8+ Ke7
3. Rxh8 h3
4. Ra8(Rb8) h2
5. Ra1 (Rb1)

Nikachu said...

2. Ra8+ Ke7
3. Rxh8 h3
4. Ra8 h2
5. Ra1 Be3 (threatening Bg1 to block off the rook!
6. Rh1 Bg1 (Rook is trapped!)
7. Ke5 (and now white has opposition! Poor black only needed one spare move to make what I thought was progress. Turns out if it were white to move now it is still a draw. White plays the positions as if the bishop and rook don't exist and therefore it is a drawn pawn endgame. As black wins the pawn and pushes white's king down to g3 eventually white can play Rxh2 safely.) Kd7
8. Kd5 Ke7

1/2-1/2

Anyways I thought it was worth analyzing :P

Chess Manitoba said...

Ok - Nice idea ! - I had missed Be3.