      |
***
[A.J. Goldsby I]
***
Position Check: White - King on b8, Rook on c7;
Black - King on b4, Pawns - a6, and c6.
End-game Composition by GM Pal Benko, 1980.
White to move and win.
This problem first appeared in the magazine, 'Chess Life.'
ref. the book,
"Winning Chess Endings," by
GM Yasser Seirawan.
(Chap. # Four (4), pg. # 71;
Diagram # 78.)
A very interesting problem, but
one that is worth studying,
because it shows
many of the
ideas that are common in this
type of end-game.
(This was a fun problem to give
to computers during the 1980's
and the early 1990's. They always failed to
solve it correctly!
It is also a good
problem for a Master to tie his
brain into knots!)
1. Rb7+!,
A nice check.
(Taking the pawn looks natural, but is a mistake.)
No matter where Black's King goes, it interferes with one of his pawns.
[ White should NOT play: 1.Rxc6?
a5; 2.Rb6+
Kc4;
3.Ra6
Kb4; 4.Kc7
a4;
5.Rb6+
Kc3; 6.Kc6
a3;
7.Ra6
Kb2; "=" when it is an obvious draw. ].
1...Kc3;
The Black King goes forward.
Black must avoid two pitfalls here:
# 1.) Trapping his King on the
edge of the board; &
# 2.) Blocking his most important
pawn.
[ Black should not play: 1...Ka5??; 2.Kc7
c5;
3.Kc6
c4; 4.Kc5
c3;
5.Rb1
c2; 6.Ra1#.
The move 1...Kc4!?; may transpose back to the main line of the solution here. ].
2. Kc7!, (Maybe even - '!!')
It is very important to try to
activate the King!
Piece
activity is of PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE!!!!
(Especially in this position.)
[ It looks like White can fork
('split') the Pawns with his
Rook and win one,
but a long
analysis should convince you
this is an error.
2.Rb6
a5!; 3.Rxc6+
Kb3;
4.Kb7
a4;
|
|
{Analysis Diagram.}
This shows that the RP is the correct pawn to push!
It can also clearly be seen -
using the counting method -
that the White King is
simply
too far away.
5.Kb6
a3; 6.Rh6
a2;
7.Rh1
Kb2; 8.Rh2+
Kb3;
9.Rh3+
Kb2;
10.Rh2+
Kb3;
11.Rh3+ Kb2;
12.Rh2+
Kb1;
13.Rh1+
Kb2; 14.Rh2+, ("=")
etc.
The game is drawn. ].
2...a5;
Black advances the QRP.
[ If Black plays:
2...c5; 3.Kc6!,
Piece activity is of the utmost importance here.
(If White wastes too much time
- especially with grubby pawn
snatches - he
will not be able
to win the game: 3.Rb6?!
a5; 4.Ra6
c4;
5.Rxa5
Kd2;
6.Rd5+ Kc2;
7.Kb6
c3; 8.Ka5
Kb2;
9.Rb5+
Ka2; 10.Ka4
c2;
11.Rc5 Kb1; "=" )
3...c4; 4.Kc5!
a5;
5.Rh7!, The best.
( White can also
win with:
5.Ra7!?
Kb3; 6.Kd4
a4;
7.Rb7+
Kc2; 8.Kxc4
a3;
9.Rh7
a2;
10.Rh2+ Kb1;
11.Kb3
a1N+; 12.Kc3!,
"+/-" albeit much more slowly. )
5...a4; 6.Rh3+
Kb2;
7.Kxc4
Kc1; Black cannot save his RP.
(For example:
7...a3; 8.Rh2+
Kb1;
9.Kb3
a2?; 10.Rh1#.)
8.Rh2!
Kd1; 9.Kb4,
"+/-" with a simple win for White. ].
3. Ra7!,
"White gains a tempo by
pulling back the Black King."
- GM Y. Seirawan.
[ White should not play:
3.Kxc6?
a4; 4.Ra7
Kb3;
5.Kd5
a3; 6.Kd4
Kb2;
7.Kd3
a2; 8.Rb7+
Kc1;
9.Rc7+
Kb2; 10.Rb7+
Kc1;
11.Rc7+
Kb2; "="
in many of these lines, this
theme will be repeated over
and over again. White
will
not be able to spare a single
tempo to grab the Black QBP. ].
3...Kb4;
An experienced end-game
player would realize several
things here:
# 1.) Time (speed!) is of the
essence. Black can NOT afford
to waste a lot
of time. He must try
to shove in ONE pawn as quickly
as possible. There is
NOT enough
time to push in BOTH pawns!!!
# 2.) In a case like here, where
you have two pawns, the further
advanced
one is the key in the
attempt to draw.
# 3.) The pawn that is the farthest
away from his opponent's King is
the
one the most difficult for the
stronger side to deal with.
# 4.) The RP gives Black some
stalemating possibilities.
This is why the experienced player
would realize automatically the RP
is the
better of the two pawns here
and the one Black should concentrate
all of his
energies on.
[ Black cannot save both pawns.
it is bad to even try, i.e., 3...c5!?;
4.Kc6!,
(Apparently, White can also
win with:
4.Rxa5
c4; 5.Kc6
Kb2;
6.Rb5+
Ka3;
7.Rc5
Kb3;
8.Kd5
c3; 9.Kd4
c2;
10.Kd3, "+/-")
4...c4; 5.Kc5!
Kb3;
6.Kd4
c3; 7.Kd3
a4; 8.Rb7+
Ka2; 9.Kxc3,
"+/-" and White wins easily. ].
4. Kd6!!,
Seirawan writes:
"Typical Benko, and right on the mark."
White does not grab either pawn, but instead brings his King into the fray.
[ After the continuation:
4.Kxc6?!
a4; 5.Kd5
a3;
6.Kd4
Kb3; 7.Kd3
Kb2!;
8.Kd2
a2; 9.Rb7+
Ka1;
10.Kc2, "="
|
|
{Analysis Diagram.}
it's a draw. (STALEMATE!) This variation shows why it is
important NOT
to capture
the BP. ].
4...a4;
Black continues to push his
more valuable pawn.
5. Ke5!,
White brings his King powerfully
into play.
(And avoids any nasty checks by Black.)
[ As we have already seen, White
only draws by capturing the BP:
5.Kxc6?
a3; 6.Rb7+
Kc3;
7.Kc5
a2; "=" ].
Now Black continues to push
his most important pawn.
5...a3; 6.
Kd4
Kb3; 7.
Kd3
Kb2; 8.
Kd2!
a2;
9. Rb7+
Ka3;
Forced.
(If Black traps his King in the
corner, he will be mated.)
[ 9...Ka1?; 10.Kc2
c5;
11.Rd7
c4; 12.Rd1#.
This variation shows
why it
was so important to
leave the Black QBP on the
board. If White had
captured it,
Black would have been
stalemated when White played
Kc2! ].
10. Kc2!
a1N+;
This is forced.
Now a position has arisen that
I have given to many of my
students ... nearly
all of which
have FAILED to find the win!!
I even gave this position to a
Master at the Pensacola Chess
Club - who was
rated over 2300
at that time - and he too failed
to solve this position correctly.
(At least on his first try.)
[ After:
10...a1Q?; 11.Ra7+
Kb4;
12.Rxa1, ("+/-")
White will,
of course,
win the game easily. ].
11.
Kc3, (Almost - '!')
The natural and correct square
for the White King.
[ The line:
11.Kd3?
Nb3; 12.Rc7
c5; gives Black some distinct
drawing chances. ].
11...Ka2; 12.
Rb2+!,
This check is clearly the
most precise.
[ Once again, after:
12.Rc7
Kb1; 13.Rxc6
Nc2;
White has some
(slim) hopes
of drawing. ].
12...Ka3; 13.
Rb6
Ka2;
This is forced.
14. Rxc6
Kb1; 15.
Rh6
Ka2; 16.
Rb6!, ("+/-")
Black can resign, White
will checkmate him or
win the Black Knight.
A truly enjoyable composition.
AND ... it teaches MANY valuable lessons for the END-GAME!!!
Copyright
(c) A.J. Goldsby I;
(c) 1999, (c) 2000, (c) 2001. © A.J. Goldsby, 2002.
1 - 0
I believe this end-game composition is one of Benko's very best efforts!
As beautiful an end-game composition/problem as you are likely to ever see.
Additionally, it has so few pieces, but is VERY complex. True chess
art!!
This
is the complete version of this game as it exists on my hard drive in my endgame
database,
I have NOT shortened it for publication! If you would like a copy of this
endgame
- in the ChessBase format -
to study on your own computer, please drop
me a line.
If
you enjoyed this position, and would like to study ANOTHER
Rook-and-Pawn endgame, ("The LUCENA Position");
click HERE.
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HERE
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***
(Page posted on my web-site, January 25th, 2002.)
Copyright, (c) A.J. Goldsby I
© A.J. Goldsby, 1994 - 2004. Copyright © A.J. Goldsby, 2005. All rights reserved.
