Author: Brian Katz
Date: 13:13:25 12/30/03
Black to move and win ?? Yes !! [D]8/5p2/1kp5/p1p5/P1PpKPPp/1P5P/8/8 b The above position was derived from a real skittles game I had. I was Black and the King was on g7 and the f-pawn was on f6 as shown below: [D]8/6k1/2p2p2/p1p5/P1PpKPPp/1P5P/8/8 b White had just blundered with King from d3 to e4 1.Ke4??...From that position the win for Black is quite easy. White made it very easy for Black with: 1.Ke4 f5+!!2.gf Kf6 3.Kf3 Kxf5 4.Kf2 Kxf4 and Black wins easily. The King cannot take the f5 pawn because the Black d pawn will promote. If the White King retreats to f3, ...fxg4+ wins, because ...Kc7 and Black gets to the queening square in time, and Black's d pawn always threatens to advance. And lastly, if white's h-pawn takes on g4 then Black will have a passed h4 pawn and a passed d3 pawn, and the White King cannot stop both. I was so fascinated with that position, that I wanted to see just how far away the Black King could be and still secure the win. The position is very deceiving. It appears at first that the Black King is out of the game and should lose or at least draw. But winning for Black ?? I showed this position to quite a few masters, and all did not realize that Black is winning. I even showed this position to Grandmaster Lev Alburt at the US Amateur Team East, 2 years ago, and he did not realize it either. Nor did GM Arthur Bisguier. The same motifs apply to the first position above. See how your programs evaluate this position. Some find it easily and some take much longer. The winning line results in both sides Queening. That is the analysis of Fritz8. Actually, Fritz 8 has White Queening first, but Black Queen' immediately after that with extra pawns that win. Enjoy Brian Happy New Year !!
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