As some might know, I used to be a chess player, but essentially quit some 20+ years ago. Nowadays I’m slow & weak and only play on the internet every now and then. My FIDE of 2129 is probably not even hugely underrated anymore, that’s how bad I have gotten. (I got that rating years after my retirement.)
I decided to throw some puzzles on my discord, cuz why not, and some endgame studies as well. (For if you want to join my discord, please do and use this link. There are three section, an easy, hard and a study section, so there’s something for everyone.) The difference with normal puzzles on a website is that I ramble about them, so I believe it’s actually pretty solid stuff if you want to have your puzzles explained.
This post will be about endgame studies — and actually I have not done that many throughout my life. A few here and there at some points, but not structurally or anything like you are ‘supposed’ to do from some point on.
(V. Halberstadt, 1930, Ceskoslovensky Sah, IV, white to play and win.)
It’s a case of opposition, something I did not immediately realize. Wrong would be: 1. Kb3? Kxf3 (now black has the opposition) 2. Kc2 Ke2! and black will draw (2. Kc3? Nd5+ draw). Once you realize the main theme is opposition, the solution is not too hard actually: 1. Kb2! Kxf3 2. Kc1! Ke2 (2. … Ke3? 3. Nc4+ +-) 3. Kc2! Kf3 (only ‘normal’ move) 4. Kd3 and white wins easily.
The problem here is that 1. Ka2! also wins, but in completely different (and very computerized) style: 1. … Kxf3 2. Kb3! Kf2! 3. Nc4! Nc8 4. Kb4 d5! and now the only move according to tablebases: 5. Na3!! . The move itself carries a certain logic with it, sure, but….you know right. It seems very unlikely that this solution was the intention of the original composer.
I had the feeling that this might have been fixable. Normally that would take a day and then going over it with (a) friend(s) or student(s), without being ridiculed, ignored, or smart-talked away as is the usual modus operandus. In the modern era we “luckily” have extremely strong engines that can’t utter words of eternal wisdom and only spit out variations. Using one of them it actually only took me around 30 minutes to confirm that there was a fix. This is the fix:
An extra black pawn on b7. Now 1. Kb2! is strictly the only move, and 1. Ka2? draws (in quite a few different ways). The nicest line I could find is: 1. Ka2? Kxf3 2. Kb3 Kf2! 3. Nf5! (After 3. Kb4 (the way to win in the original) it’s not hard to figure out that black has an easy draw) 3. … Nc8 4. Kc3 Kf3 5. Kd5 Kf4 6. Nd6 Ne7+ 7. Kc5 b6+! 8. Kxb6 Nd5+ 9. Kb7 Nxc7 and draw.)
Well, I’ve never fixed an endgame study, and very likely will never do so again, so I thought It’d be a good idea to immortalize it here on this silly blog. I hope you enjoyed it.
Now let’s see who’s going to steal this one and share it with his/her “teacher” proclaiming they reached God Status!