I took the liberty to post this very simple endgame puzzle, exactly for its simplicity. Now I don't like the idea of posting it as a puzzle, as the analysis of different ideas (rather than a single answer) is the point of it. So here it goes:
I would play this as almost a sac of the first pawn. White wins and no draw. Starting with Ka6.
Ok, after 1. Ka6 d6 what do you play?
This is a draw! The black king always goes on opposition to the white king (check rules of opposition). Black will lose its pawn but even if white keeps both of its pawns, it's impossible to win because black will manage to hold the opposition.
Azul, it's not a draw (but when I first saw this, I had to stare at the board for about 35 minutes to find the solution).
If you're familiar with the concept of related squares, it might help.
Azul, you have the right idea with 1.Ka6 - force Black to move his e-pawn. After 1.Ka6 Kd6 2.Ka5 (Replay diagram to see how White wins)
Matalino, you've got the right idea,
but after 1. Ka6 d6 2. Ka5 black puts up a little more resistance with 2. ... Ka8 or 2. ... Kc8. How would you reply to these moves?
2. ... Kb7 loses more quickly.
Indeed this is a very nice puzzle because it is not as simple as it looks. Nevertheless, after 1...Ka8 or 1...Kc8, triangulation solves the problem by making it Black to move.
Triangulation works because Black at no time in the process can afford to play ...Kb7 as Kb6 wins. What that means is that Black would be limited to shuffling the K between b8 and a8 or b8 and c8 while White loses a tempo by moving the King in a triangle. See diagram how triangulation works.
Note 6.Ka6 d5 (instead of 6..Ka8) 6.Kb5 d4 7.Kc4 d3 8.Kxd3 Kb7 9.Kc4 Kxb6 10.Kb4 still wins as Black's K is shoved out of the opposition by zugzwang.
That's correct. Good job!
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