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Later Kibitzing> |
| Jun-28-09 | | euripides: If 62...Kh1 White uses the presence of the f pawn to win by 63.Kf2 f4 64.Ra7 (or most other files) and mate next move. Without the f pawn, it would presumably be drawn. |
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| Jun-28-09 | | goodevans: <An Englishman: ... Too easy for a Sunday> I think you may be alone in this opinion. :) |
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| Jun-28-09 | | euripides: ...The f pawn, however, helps Black in the R vs N ending. The time gained as White captures this pawn almost allows Black to improve his set up, e.g. I think a knight on f1 with the king on g1 holds against a rook unless White has the move with the king on f3, as Black can keep the king away by moving the knight between f1 and h2. However, White can prevent this with 67...Ng3 68.Rg5 Nf1 69.Kf2 winning. |
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| Jun-28-09 | | remolino: 53... Rxa7, what a patzer. An incredible mistake. A move that cannot be good under any logic, since the capture can be postponed as indicated by MAJ, while gaining time on the kingside. |
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| Jun-28-09 | | znprdx: 58.Re7+ ( which we were obliged to find - since it is a puzzle)
Kf2 59.Kd3 h3 ( maybe ..f4 better?) 60.Rh7 Kg2 61.Ke2 h2 62.Rg7+ Kh3 (maybe ...Kh1 potential stalemate theme (I recently had to succumb to such a fate)63. Kf2 h1=N+ cute (forced) 64.Kf3 Kh2 65.Rg2+! the hard move to find at 15 ply: the key idea.... I seriously doubt that this move was envisioned initially - this is a typical follow- your-nose-move-by-move sequence....after all if Black advances the 'f' pawn - a whole host of other variations ensue.....in Blitz this could have gone either way...the knight promotion was a cute resource- I'd have preferred that it led to a draw as a result...white winning , given the rating deference wasn't so impressive.... |
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| Jun-28-09 | | jsheedy: I'm not going to attempt this one. I'll just guess 58. Rxh4, f4, 59. Rh1, and somehow white stops the f pawn with help from the king. Black may try to hinder Rf1 by moving the king to the second rank, and that's when white's king attacks the pawn. White also traps the king on the second rank by moving back to h3 with the rook. |
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| Jun-28-09 | | JohnBoy: <MAJ> - thanks for engine-confirming my suspicions (see early posting) regarding 53...Kg2. |
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| Jun-28-09 | | JohnBoy: I imagine that black was thinking 53...h4 then 54.Rc3+ and white queens. Get rid of that threat and the pawns run. But even if white does opt for the Q vs. R+2P ending, this is hardly a waltz to victory. What do engines give on 53...h4? Can black hold it? |
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| Jun-28-09 | | agb2002: The obvious 58.Rxh4 seems to yield just a draw: 58... f4 59.Kd5 f3 60.Re4+ Kd2 (60... Kf2 61.Kd4 Kg2 (61... Kg3 62.Ke3 f2 63.Rf4; 61... Kg1 62.Ke3 f2 63.Rg4+ Kf1 64.Rf4) 62.Ke3 f2 63.Rg4+ Kf1 64.Rf4) 61.Rf4 Ke2 62.Ke4 f2. The white king cannot go to the other side of the pawn as in Reti's study (white to play)
click for larger viewInstead of taking the h pawn, White can consider attacking the f pawn to reach a position like this 
click for larger viewwith Black to move. Then the only promotion that resists a few more moves is 1... h1=N+ 2.Kf3 Nf2 3.Rd7 Nh3 (3... Kf1 4.Rd2) 4.Rd1+ Kh2 5.Rd2+ Kh1 (5... Kg1 6.Kg3) 6.Kg3 Ng1 7.Rh2#. Since Kd5 and Ke5 doesn't prevent the f pawn from advancing, it would preferable to force the black king to allow some room for his white colleague with 58.Re7+ Kf3 59.Kd3 A) 59... f4 60.Rh7 Kg3 61.Ke1 h3 62.Kf1 + -.
B) 59... h3 60.Rh7 Kg2 61.Ke2 h2 62.Rg7+
B.1) 62... Kh1 63.Kf2 f4 64.Ra7 f3 65.Ra1#.
B.2) 62... Kh3 63.Kf2 h1=N+ 64.Kf3 Kh2 65.Rg2+ Kh3 66.Rg1 + -. |
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| Jun-28-09 | | David2009: As usual <Dzechiel>'s annotations are very much to the point. This was a marvellously played ending by Farago who for seven moves in a row (from move 54) found the only winning line. <An Englishman: ... The key is that White has to bring his King over as soon as possible ...> Yes - once the puzzle position is reached. But the earler move Kb5-c4 had to be timed very precisely and prepared by the Rook. For example, 55 Kc4? or 56 Kc4? each allowed h4-h3!=. 
click for larger view
53... Rxa7 was a losing blunder and an overreaction to White's threat of Rc3+ transposing to a Q v RPP ending. Simply 53... Kg2 keeps the draw in hand, e.g. 54 Rc2+ Kg1 55 Kg6 h4 56 Rc3 Rxa7=. |
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| Jun-28-09 | | David2009: <znprdx: 58.Re7+ ( which we were obliged to find - since it is a puzzle) ...>. Yes. What a pity the puzzle did not start at move 54:
click for larger view54 Rxa7 is easy but how about the rest of the win? Black's moves in the rest of the game are best defense. |
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| Jun-28-09 | | karnak64: Great puzzle - thanks, cg.com. Didn't consider the underpromotion. |
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| Jun-28-09 | | johnlspouge: Sunday (Insane):
I Farago vs G Jacoby, 2002 (58.?) White to play and win.
Material: R vs. 2P. To avoid sacrificing his R for Pf5, the White K must blockade or capture Pf5 on a stop square on the file. Thus, the obvious 58…Rxh4 only draws, because it misplaces the R on the short side of the f-file, so White cannot force the Black K to retreat, a requisite for White to bring Kc4 to the f-file. White must stop Pf5 with his K while placing his R on the 2-nd rank to create mate threats preventing the advance of Ph4. He therefore uses Rh7 force the retreat of Ke3. Candidates (58.): Re7+
58.Re7+
(1) 58…Kd2 59.Rf7
White wins both Ps
(2) 58…Kf2 [or Kf3 or Kf4] 59.Kd3 (threatening 60.Rh7) Now, Pf5 cannot draw without Ph4 to distract Re7, because the White Kd3 has time to attain a stop square from the d-file by force. After capturing Ph4, White moves his R behind Pf5. Then, Black cannot stop White from playing his K to the e-file to capture Pf5 as it advances. If Black neither advances nor protects Ph4, the play might continue: (2.1) 60…f4 61.Rh3 f3 62.Rxh4 (threatening 63.Rf4 64.K to the e-file) 62…Kg3 63.Rh8 (threatening 64.Rf8)
Black cannot prevent White from moving his K to the e-file and capturing Pf3. (2.2) 60…h3
Black is worse if he moves his K, because White just strengthens his position (as below) without any need for hurry. 60.Rh7 Kg2 [or Kg3]
Variation 2.1 shows that Black loses if he surrenders Ph3 without a fight. 61.Ke2
61…f4 [h7 62.Rg7+ Kh3 [or Kh4] 63.Kf2 h8=Q 64.Rh7+ wins both Ps] 62.Rg7+
(2.1.1) 62…Kh4 63.Kf2 wins both Ps
(2.1.2) 62…Kh2 63.Kf3 Kh1 64.Ra7 (threatening 65.Ra1#) The winning maneuver follows.
64…Kg1 [Kh2 65.Kxf4 then 66.Kg3 as below]
65.Ra2 Kh1 [h2 Ra1#]
65.Kxf4 Kg1 65.Kg3 (threatening 66.Ra1# or 66.Kxh3)
White mates or captures Ph3.
(2.1.3) 62…Kh1 63.Ra7 (threatening 65.Ra1#)
63.Kg1 Kxf4 (threatening 64.Kg3 65.Ra1#)
Because of 65…Kh1 66.Kg3 then 67.Ra1#, White mates or captures Ph3. I missed the under-promotion defense. It is a good try, but obviously inadequate. |
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Jun-28-09
 | | playground player: Great big flashing neon sign: "Do NOT take the h-pawn!!!" And then it takes but little time to find Re7+, forcing the Black King to give space to the White while becoming an obstacle to his own f-pawn. |
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Jun-28-09
 | | Jimfromprovidence: <JohnBoy> <What do engines give on 53...h4? Can black hold it?> Assuming 53...<h4> 54 Rc3+ Rxc3 55 a8Q, here is the position.
click for larger viewThe table base says draw.
http://www.k4it.de/index.php?topic=...
It is also a draw for 53...<f5> 54 Rc3+ Rxc3 55 a8Q. 
click for larger viewInterestingly, for 53...<Kf3> 54 Rc3+ Rxc3 55 a8Q, the position is a forced mate in 53. Finally, for 53...<Kh3> 54 Rc3+ Rxc3 55 a8Q, the position is a forced mate in 68. |
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| Jun-28-09 | | Marmot PFL: 58 Re7+ to force the king back followed by 59 Kd3 etc seems the only strong plan and forces the black king over to the h file. Must admit I did not consider the Knight underpromotion with check but that does not disturb me much as most of my games seem to demand adapting to unforeseen events and the corner is not a healthy place for a knight. |
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| Jun-28-09 | | JohnBoy: <Jfp> - Thx! I will have a look at the database. The advance of either pawn one square is just enough to secure the draw! |
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| Jun-28-09 | | WhiteRook48: 58 Re7+ is my second guess |
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| Jun-28-09 | | JG27Pyth: Well, that was certainly my worst effort, ever... I couldn't figure out what the problem was owing to the fact I had the black pawns going the wrong way. Ugh. My personal chess-engine has been completely stalled lately. |
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| Jun-28-09 | | Once: <JG27Pyth: I had the black pawns going the wrong way.> Me too, at least for the first few moments. Something about the position of the pieces made it look as if black was going up the board for once. |
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| Jun-28-09 | | MostlyAverageJoe: <Once: My vanilla Fritz 11 has now been chewing on the position after 53. a7 for some 20 minutes. And he can see nothing more than =0.00 for any one of Ra1, Kf2, Kg2 and Kh2.> Uh, I see I was unclear. Kg2 does not win for black, it draws. I meant that it had merit compared to the losing Rxa7. Don't get your Fritz overworked - 0.00 is the exact score it should show... |
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| Jun-28-09 | | Fezzik: My first response to MAJ's idea of 53...h4 is 54.Rc3+, getting the Queen to promote. But on second viewing, this may not be enough to win against a rook and two pawns. Still, if I was playing Black against Farago, I would prefer the two advanced pawns against a rook. It's a tough choice, and if Black had lost to 53...h4 54.Rc3+, people would wonder about why Black didn't play 53...Ra7. It's a tough choice, and shows how well both players saw the endgame. |
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| Jun-28-09 | | MostlyAverageJoe: <Fezzik: My first response to MAJ's idea of 53...h4 is 54.Rc3+ ...> Ahem, the idea was <Just play 53...Kg2 and follow with h4>. The Rc3+ threat was why I wrote <get the king out of the alignment with the rook and push your pawns> BTW, the credit for 53...Kg2 really belongs to <JohnBoy> who was first to post it, and I am apologetic for not noticing that... |
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| Jun-28-09 | | Shajmaty: After 54...h4, White wins in 28... and both Farago and Jacobi found the best 56th, 57th, 58th, 59th, 60th (White) moves on the board! Amazing. |
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| Jun-28-09 | | Fezzik: Sorry <MAJ>,
I was responding to a note on the first page and didn't notice your recommendation of Kg2 first. |
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Kibitzing
sac: 20.Qxa6