Oh well. You live, you learn, I guess. Though I dont' feel like I have learned something from this particular puzzle.

Ok, weird that they throw in a draw in the middle of the week.

68....Rxe5! throws in the draw for Black. I admit that I missed Rxf7 at first glance, but the crazy rook pattern still applies then:

69.Kxe5 f6+ -> stalemate.

69.Rxf7 Rd5+ (Re6+?? 70.fxe6) 70.Ke6 Rd6+ and White won't escape. Fleeing to the 8th rank won't work either as RxR would still be stalemate, followed by Kf8 Re8+ somewhere, with Kxe8 stalemate forced. Aside the tactic, Black maybe even has a technical draw here.

69.R anywhere else seems a futile try, with equal material.

One might be tempted to rush the stalemate position with 68...f6?, but black can find shelter his king from the the crazy-rook by moving to f7.

But black can do the crazy-rook bit FIRST with 68...Rxe5!, which destroys white's advantage without fear of recapture, because recapture (69. Kxe5) permits black to force the stalemate trick with 69...f6+!

In my experience, being down on material does not mean, of course, one should automatically aim for a draw; even during endgames. A lot depends on the position. The chance I'll ever get into today's position is pretty slim, so again: what did I learn here?>

Well, there are two good responses to your concern. First, I have seen several games with a similar theme: the king is already stalemated, so the one remaining mobile piece goes on a perpetual check crusade without worrying about being captured. It doesn't have to be this exact position -- you now know the theme and can apply it to other positions.

Secondly, this is something I've learned from Dan Heisman's articles (http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heism... is one of his articles, you can change the 68 in the URL to other numbers to get other articles): you learn tactics to work on your defense against them, not pulling them off (offense). You see, most of us probably think that by working on tactics and puzzles like this, we are helping ourselves if we get into such positions. This is partly true -- you can draw as black if you get into a similar position as this, or you can pull off winning tactics similar to other puzzles.

click for larger view

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what can black move ? go for f6,

68. f6 69.exf6 ...Re8 70.Kd7...Rh8

look at board

O dipped out there, much too subtle for me.

brain score L 0.10 R 0.10

Material: Down a P. The Black Kh6 is restricted, suggesting stalemate possibilities with a crazy rook, which wants to immolate itself to create stalemate.

Candidates (68...): f6, Rxe6

The main line is

68...Rxe6 69.Kxe6 f3+ 70.K moves stalemate

Alternatives for move 69. include

69.Rxf7, and Black now has a crazy rook.

The Black R checks from the 1-st rank. If the White K tries to flee through f6 (or f8), the R checks from e6 (or e8), forcing its capture and stalemate.

Black must now construct a drawing plan for the R+2Ps vs. R+2Ps endgame. If the Rs were off the board, there are two cases (1) Pf7 stays put or (2) Pf7 advances. In Case (1), Black loses because of his weak K position. White wins by playing his Kd6 to e7 or e8. He waits until the Black Kh6 is at g8, and then he makes the winning move f6. In Case (2), Kd6 has e6 and e7 to attack the Pf6, whereas Kh6 can only defend from g7, and so must abandon Pf6. Black must therefore keep the Rs on the board.

After Black has won Pe5 with his stalemate threat, he has enough time to withdraw his Re5 to b5 for checks along the rank. He then plays his K to g7, to build a fortress. His R checks if the White K approaches e6 or e8 to reinforce the R's attack on the Pf7. If White moves f6+, Black moves Kg6, and White can make no progress against the R checks along the rank.

Note that Black cannot draw with

68...f6 69.Ra5, relieving the stalemate threat and protecting Pe5.

Marmot-PFL,