Easy or Hard?

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4th April 2009, 05:31pm
#1
by yeres30
Waipahu, Hawaii United States
Member Since: Aug 2007
Member Points: 618

The position below is from an actual game.

What do you think. Can White win that game?. Or can Black draw?

4th April 2009, 06:46pm
#2
by DrawMaster
United States
Member Since: Dec 2008
Member Points: 595

I'd certainly guess that White is to be preferred, but a for a sure win, I couldn't know. The simple threat would appear to be the queening of the pawn if Black ever leaves the b-file. That would seem to confer a lot of flexibility on White that Black simply doesn't have, but hey - you're the one with the high rating.Laughing

4th April 2009, 06:54pm
#3
by dc1985
Alabama United States
Member Since: Apr 2008
Member Points: 734

This looks like a draw, but with solid play, I suppose White can win.

4th April 2009, 07:03pm
#4
by lastwarrior2010
Seattle, Washington United States
Member Since: Dec 2008
Member Points: 845

Shredder 3 thinks white can win

4th April 2009, 08:07pm
#5
by klc57690
Missouri United States
Member Since: Jan 2009
Member Points: 119

Interesting position... Problem seems to be the black rook pulling double duty. It is preventing white from queening and the white king from going up the board!

4th April 2009, 08:53pm
#6
by Spiffe
Orlando, FL United States
Member Since: Sep 2008
Member Points: 955

This has to be a White win.  Black's king is tied down to g7/h7, so he's going nowhere -- if he steps on f7, Rh8 wins (Rxb7 Rh7+, important endgame tactic to know); if to f6, Rf8+ wins.

White's kingside pawns are under no threat from the Black rook; it doesn't have time to capture them.  So White's king isn't restricted at all.

Now, this position *would* be a draw without all the kingside pawns.  The plan for Black in that case would be to just keep the rook on the b-file until White's king gets up towards the pawn, then check check check and there's nowhere for him to hide.

In this case, though, White doesn't have to try to promote the b-pawn.  He walks his king over to the queenside to break past the rook, then over to the kingside to gobble up Black's f- & g-pawns.  Up at least two pawns now, that has to be a win.  See below for illustration of sample play:

 

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