5r2/8/4RbP1/5P1K/8/8/8/5k2 w - - 0 1

Endgame of the Week (435)

It's White's move. How can he best take advantage of Black's poor position?

5r1k/6R1/8/8/8/8/1B6/K7 w - - 0 1

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Solutions Update

Problem 1 - Black To Play

5rk1/p5pp/1p2p3/3pPp2/2bP4/q1r2Q2/P5PP/1KNR2R1 b - - 0 1

Pretty straightforward:

1...Rxc1+
2.Rxc1 Qxa2#

Problem 2 - White To Play

5r1k/1p1b2pp/7N/4P3/pPQ1P3/6P1/P6P/2R3K1 w - - 0 3

1. Nf7+!

Black has two responses to this. He might think, "Oh no, I don't want to lose my queen, so I'd better take the rook." So...

1...Rxf7

But then

2.Qc8+ Bxc8
3.Rxc8+ Rf8
4.Rxf8#

Or, Black may think, "No, the queen is lost, so I'd better move my king and hope for the best."

1...Kg8

And then this happens:

2.Nxh6+ Kh8
3.Qg8+ Rxg8
4.Nf7#

After this, White says, "How do you like them apples? Smothered mate FTW, baby!" to which Black replies "Eat me."

Problem 3 - White To Play

r2B2k1/pp3rpp/nbp2p2/5N2/8/3R4/PPP3PP/2K1R3 w - - 0 1

1.Re8+ Rf8

Forced.

2.Nh6+ gxh6

Not 2... Kh8 3.Rxf8#

3.Rg3+ Kf7

And if 3...Kh8 then again, 4.Rxf8#

4.Re7#

Problem 4 - White To Play

5r2/8/4RbP1/5P1K/8/8/8/5k2 w - - 0 1

The key here is to simplify the position. But you need to be careful how you do it.

1. Rxf6 Rxf6

Now, don't do what I did when I first saw this problem, which is to make an immediate rush to queen. Because it fails: 2. g7 Rxf5+ 3. Kg6 Rf2 4. Kh7 Rg2 and Black will secure the draw next move by trading his rook for the pawn.

The smart move is:

2.Kg5!

And the endgame is now 2 connected passed pawns vs. a rook, which White will win. Play might proceed:

2... Rc6
3.g7 Rc3

So this is me playing against my chess app. It's going to try to harass me with annoying checks, which I need to escape from to gain time for the pawn to queen. But first, I need to support the advanced pawn.

4.f6 Rg3+
5.Kh6 Ke2

And now here come the checks.

6.f7 Rh3+
7.Kg6 Rg3+
8.Kf6 Rf3+
9.Ke7 Re3+
10.Kf8

Ha! And now he can't check me, so I can advance.

10...Re4
11.g8=Q Kd3?

What a crap move for a machine to make. For some reason, it can't see that I'll just immobilize both of its pieces with a pin, and then trade my queen for its rook, leaving him with nothing and me with a queenable pawn.

12.Qg6 Kd4
13.Qxe4+ Kxe4 and White wins.

Endgame of the Week

5r1k/6R1/8/8/8/8/1B6/K7 w - - 0 1

Black is paralyzed by a deadly pin. But if White immediately plays 1.Rf7+ with the intention of taking the rook, Black thwarts this with 1...Kg8. So White must bide his time.

Black's problem is that his king is frozen, so he has to move his rook. Therefore, when it is his turn to move, he needs to move it to a square where it can't be attacked with a discovered check.

White must take into account that even though Black's king is frozen, he has a couple of annoying checks in his pocket. He could play either 1...Ra8+ or 1...Rf1+, depending on White's "biding my time" move. But notice that if Black plays the former, then White will play 2.Ra7+, winning the rook. The latter check, 1...Rf1+ would be super annoying, so White needs to prevent this move from being made. He can do this with

1. Ka2!

And now, it's zugzwang. There is no safe square for Black's rook. For example:

1...Re8
2.Re7+

or

1... Ra8+
2.Ra7+

or

1...Rf2
2.Rg2+

or

1...Rg8
2.Rd7+ Rg7
3.Bxg7+

You get the idea.

See you next week!

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Note: that cryptic line of letters and numbers you see underneath each board diagram is a representation of the position in what is known as "Forsyth-Edwards Notation", or F.E.N. It's actually readable by humans. Most computer applications nowadays can read FEN, so those of you who may want to study the position, you can copy the line of FEN and paste into your chess app and it should automatically recreate the position on its display board. Or, Windows users can just "triple click" on it and the entire line will be highlighted so you can copy and past it into your chess app.

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So that about wraps it up for this week. Chess thread tips, suggestions, bribes, rumors, threats, and insults may be sent to my yahoo address: OregonMuse little-a-in-a-circle yahoo dott com.

posted by OregonMuse at 05:10 PM

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