Daily Puzzle Analysis 3/2/2025

Here is my analysis for today's daily puzzle!

Key Tactics: Underpromotion, Pawn Race, Deflection, Skewer, Attraction

At the start of the puzzle:

Black's Advantages

- A passed pawn on h3 ready to promote in two moves. It cannot be stopped by White's bishop or king either. Black's king is also escorting it.

- Black's knight can stop White's pawn with Ng7-e6-c7.

White's Advantages

- Black's knight is hanging.

- White's passed pawn on a5 is three squares away from promoting. White's dark-squared bishop can also help escort it by potentially preventing Black's knight from defending it.

Analysis

The only candidate moves in this position are 1. Kxg7, winning the knight, and 1. a6, pushing the pawn one step closer to promotion. However, after 1. Kxg7, Black simply wins the pawn race with 1... h2, and Black will promote two moves before White and win the game. So, the only reasonable first move is 1. a6.

Now, Black is faster to promote (2 squares vs 3 squares). However, after 1. a6 h2 2. a7 h1=Q, White can skewer Black's king and newly-promoted queen with 3. a8=Q+ K(anywhere) 4. Qxh1, winning the pawn race. This is a crucial tactic to the puzzle's success and is why White wins the pawn race.

Now, Black defends with 1... Ne6. This move prepares Nc7 to defend the promotion square on a8. If we allow this, White's pawn will be stopped with no hope of promoting, while Black's pawn will easily promote. However, there doesn't seem to be a good way of stopping it. 2. Bg3 simply throws the bishop to Black's king, and 2. Bd8 simply throws the bishop to Black's knight. ... Or does it?

The answer to this is no! After 2. Bd8, if Black captures the bishop with 2... Nxd8, White can simply promote with 3. a7 and a8=Q on the next move, this time promoting before Black! And, because this move also defends the critical c7-square, White's pawn cannot be stopped. So, White wins, and the puzzle is solved! ... Or is it?

The answer to this is no, again! The puzzle continues with 2... h2 3. a7, and the pawn race continues. However, Black has a nasty trick up his sleeve: 3... Nc7! This move at first seems like a throwaway move, but it actually attracts White's bishop to c7 where it controls the f4 and g3 squares around Black's king. This definitely seems insignificant, but it actually sets up a very nasty stalemate trap!

If White continues on with 4. Bxc7 h8=Q 5. a8=Q Black has the resource 5... Kg4! and when White plays 6. Qxh1, White will be abruptly greeted with this message: "Game Drawn by Stalemate." This is because White's pieces are perfectly set up that Black's king has nowhere to go!

Now, this is a very nasty trick, turning an otherwise winning game into a draw! Meanwhile, if White doesn't capture Black's queen, the resulting queen and bishop vs. queen endgame, although very tricky, is a drawn endgame. And, in this puzzle, White wants to win, not to draw! However, how should White do this with Black's nasty stalemate trick seemingly ruining White's plans?

The answer: Pawns don't have to promote to queens. 5. a8=B!! One of the very few cases where promoting to a bishop is objectively better than promoting to a queen. This wins because after 5... Kg4 6. Bxh1, Black's king is no longer stalemated due to the h4 and h3 escape squares! And, the puzzle is solved here, since White's advantage of two bishops is enough to win!

The two bishops checkmate is quite tough, but there are many resources online that can teach you how to do so, such as https://www.chess.com/terms/checkmate-two-bishops-chess.

Amazing endgame study by Rinck!

I hope this helps, and have a nice Sunday!