Pawn Endings: Complex Pawn Races

Pawn Endings: Complex Pawn Races

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In pawn endings, both sides may have their passed pawns rushing to queen. The most critical of such situations are those where both players queen at (almost) the same time. When deciding whether to head into such endings, it is important to consider if the following outcomes occur:

  • A pawn queens with check, gaining a tempo
  • A pawn queens and covers the queening square of its counterpart
  • A queen ending ensues
  • Mate ensues
  • One queen is lost to a skewer from the other
  • A queen vs pawn(s) ending arises
  • Queens are traded and we have another pawn ending 

Here are some simple positions where we see these ideas in play:

The solutions to the previous puzzles were rather straightforward. The more complex positions are those where one would have to craftily draw the enemy king onto a bad square (or highlight that it is already on one).
After looking through the solution, players can often dismiss the explanation of the puzzle simply 
as "Kd4 is the correct move as it interferes with the black king's journey to capture white's f-pawn."
However, I believe that players aspiring to improve their game should take time to understand why the solution works, and more importantly, how it is found.
Explanation:

From this line we learn a few things about the position:
  1. White has the luxury of time
  2. The idea of the black king catching up to the white pawn is the only way for black to draw the game
  3. The threat of white playing Kc3 or Kc2 is necessary to force black to play Ka3 (to support his pawn), where f8=Q comes with check

These points, along with the fact that Kc4 makes no sense as it loses 2 tempi (one to move the king and the other to get out of check after ...b5+), makes the solution Kd4 rather obvious.

In addition to bad squares, another idea to look out for is how to gain maximum tempi by pushing your pawns with check as much as possible, and maintaining flexibility with your king position.

Once again, let's break this study down and how we can find the solution.

White has 2 logical ways to try and win the game, but both have their weaknesses.

The first plan:

  • Kg6/Kf6/Ke6-Kf7-g6-g7-g8=Q-Qg6#
  • This plan needs 3 tempi to prepare (which is the amount of time black needs to queen either pawn), two king moves to get to f7, and g6. The rest of the moves in this plan comes with check.
  • One of the ways black can combat this is Kg8 to stop Kf7.
  • The second is to eventually play b1=Q which stops Qg6#

The second plan:

  • Kg6-h6-h7-Kh6-g6-g7#
  • This plan also needs 3 tempi (once again, this is the amount of time black needs to queen either pawn) to prepare (with the assumption that black meets Kg6 with Kg8), taking 5 moves to prepare but black spends another two moves playing Kg8 then Kh8
  • Its weakness is c1=Q which comes with check to the white king at h6

There is also a third plan of pushing the pawn all the way to g7, followed by Kg6, then h6-h7 mate. However, it is not likely that this is a good plan as it takes more time than the other two. Furthermore, b1=Q comes with check to the white king at g6. For the following diagram, do ignore the fact that black is not playing accurate moves (simply pushing the b-pawn saves the day), the point is to highlight how much time it takes to set the plan in action.

Now it is time to pull all this information together and draw a conclusion: