Well, hello members of the puzzle contest! I think I must clearly state that only members of the puzzle contest can post their answer. There were some major misunderstandings last puzzle! Now, here is the answer to Puzzle #1: 

Black's move 1...b2?? allows White to draw. Now 2 Rxb2 wins a pawn, and if 2...Rh2+ 3 Kf3 Rxb2 then the position os stalemate. Try to find a winning line for Black! Now the first two questions have been answered, was 1...b2 a good move and why or why not. But what is Black's best move?

The moves in bold are the main line, and the moves in normal type are alternatives. 1...Kg4!. Now White most check from behind or rush over to the Queenside with his king. Rushing over with the king(2 Kd2)fails to 2...b2 3 Kc2(3 Rxb2 Rh2+ 4 Kc1 Rxb2 5 Kxb2 f3 and the f-pawn will queen)3...f3 4 Rf8(4 Kxb2 f2 5 Rf8 Rf3 and the f-pawn will queen)4...Rh2+ 5 Kb1 f2. Threatening 6...Rh1+ 7 Kxb2 f1=Q 8 Rxf1 Rxf1. Now a terrible mistake would be 6 Kxb2?? f1=Q+ winning the rook, so White must play 6 Ka2 b1=Q+ 7 Kxb1 Rh1+ 8 Kc2 f1=Q 9 Rxf1 Rxf1 with a won game for Black. The only other move is 2 Rg8+ Kh4 3 Rh8+ Kg3 4 Rg8+ Kh2. White has run out of checks and Black is threatening 5...b2, so White must play 5 Ra8 or 5 Kd2. 5 Ra8 fails to 5...Kg1 6 Kd2 b2 7 Kc2 f3 8 Rf8 f2 and the f-pawn marches triumphantly to f1. So 5 Kd2 Kh1 6 Ra8 b2 7 Kc2 f3 8 Rf8 Rh2+ 9 Kb1 f2 and 10...Kg1 and 11...f1=Q will follow. 0-1.

Scores:

oinquarki-2 points

videogamefan-9 points

anmol21-0 points

pawn2467134-1 point

EM1NEM-0 points

Standings:

videogamefan-9 points 

oinquarki-2 points

pawn2467134-1 point

EM1NEM and anmol21-0 points

Surprisingly, videogamefan was the only one who got the right answer.

Now for the puzzle:

Drawish appearance, however let's try. The first move is sealed: 1. Kd5. Black feel very confident of themselves, 1... Kc8. In fact it would be 100% draw had the two rook pawns vanished. Hmmm, what is the difference in this situation?! Ooops, sorry, this is not true.

Oh yeah here is the way, 2. Kc4. (Now 2... Kc7 would lose after 3. Kc5.) 2... Kd8  3. Kd4! Black King cannot approach c7 since White can always move Kc5 immediately! 3... Kc8  4. Kd5 Kd8  5. Kd6  and White wins.

Any different for the case 2... Kb8 ?  Are the a pawns in this puzzle redundant?

The fact that White's pawn reaches the 6th secure him/her a win. If there were a 9th row, Black could also use triangulation (3. ...Kd9) to dispel white's threat.

Thanks Matalino for the hint about Triangulation!

Nice puzzle. :D won't post solution though.

In my opinion. 1. Kd5 Kc8 2. Kd6 Kd8. Hmm looks like a draw.

OH??! Would Kb4 work?

Definitely a win for white.

Have you ever heard of the technique called TRIANGULATION? It is where the K moves along 3 squares that form a triangle.  

The purpose of "Triangulation" is to lose tempo.  

In other words if in a position it were your opponent's move you'd win. But it is your move.

So you go lose a tempo by first moving your K backwards to one square, sidestep to another square then go back to the original square. 

Try that on the puzzle. and you will find that It is a win for White. But be careful. Do not be hasty in promoting the pawn to a Queen because the result would be a draw by Stalemate.

An example of this in an almost identical setting as the puzzle is in Endgame Study.  Look for "A Simple Puzzle? What do you think?"

Here's my answer in white text: 1. Kd5 Kc8 2. Kd4 Kd8 3. Kc4 Kc8 4. Kd5 Kc7 5. Kc5 Kc8 6. Kb6 Kb8 7. Kxa6 Kc7 8. Kb5 Kc8 9. Kb6 Kb8 10. c7+ Kc8 11. a6 Kd7 12. Kb7 K moves 13. c8=Q

Perhaps triangulation is the trick, Matalino. I'm not saying, though, because I won't give out any hints. 

Ok This is what I think

1 kd5 kc8 2 kd4 kd8 3 kc4 kc8 4 kd5 kc7 5 kc5 kc8 6 kb6 kd8 7 kb7 ke7 (at this point black is doomed he is just running away here is one possible mate ) 8 c7 kf6 9 kc6 ke5 10 c8=q kf4 11 kd5 kf3 12 qc1 kf2 13 ke4 kg2 14 ke3 kg3 15 qg1+ kh4 16 kf4 kh5 17 qg5# 

Really good puzzle!

Click here to go to the third puzzle!