Best UnderPromotion Endgame Compilation

This game from Hikaru Nakamura:

Promotion to bishop only winning move, and hikaru spotted it in a blitz game!

@EndgameEnthusiast2357: no underpromotion but Blathy perfection.

Here is a perfect version of Blathy's kings ladder. I think it's better than the original because:

• The 8 black pieces fill up the first rank.
• It uses a revised 1st rank setup to enable an extra trick with the c-pawn

Of course it is possible that somebody figured this out before but (if so) I don't know about it!

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In the second diagram I show another version without the redundant black knight but with beautiful intro moves requiring some puzzling:

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Nah, they do have to be underpromotions though! But I did see that one in Suren's chess channel it was cool.

BTW this challenge is still open, try to get the 2nd knight into this puzzle without altering the forced mate (best I can do requires 9 pawns which is illegal).

This is a famous study known as the Saavedra position. Black ultimately loses after the under promotion the rook (which is done to prevent stalemate/getting forked)

It’s one of my favorite endgame positions of all time. Can you find the best moves?

Yeah I think I posted that one earlier. White promotes to a rook to avoid stalemate, and then simultaneously attacks the black rook while threatening checkmate. Such a simple yet beautiful endgame study.

Yeah I just posted the full study here so people can know the name and the concept behind it. It truly is an exceptional position with mind-blowing play.

Since you want to go into the details it is worth noting that the white king can enter the c-file one move earlier at 4. Kc3. After 4. .. Rd1 5. Kc2 the solution returns to the main line. This dual is considered a minor flaw in an endgame study but would kill a directmate composition!

Btw, There is no point in annotating black moves with question marks (? or ??). Black loses anyway so none of his defenses are considered mistakes or blunders; they are just variations for white to refute. Then again 5. ... Rd4! deserves an exclamation mark as it forces white to find one, extraordinary, response. The use of these annotation symbols is quite precise in compositions and different from what game players or engine ratings would do. But who cares about those?

Btw2, Liburkin's famous study from the nineteenthirties is - IMO - the best presentation of the Saavedra theme in an endgame study. If it wasn't posted here yet, I will post it later!

a8B is losing?

Huh?

Cool, but I prefer underpromotion studies where the only way to draw or win is to underpromote. Thanks for keeping this thread going though, I was afraid it was dying out!

OK, sorry, I'll delete it.

I'm not sure if this one was already posted, but yet another bishop promotion!

Is this the study you're referring to?

Endgame Study - M. Liburkin, 1931, 2nd prize - Chess Forums - Chess.com

I also apologize for any annotation mistakes, as this is my first time annotating a position.

Yes, that's the one! Here's the link: https://www.chess.com/forum/view/endgames/endgame-study-m-liburkin-1931-2nd-prize#comment-59733230

Thanks. Whenever I tried to post the link, it got converted to plain text.

Cool knight underpromotion endgame.

The first study I posted on chess.com.

This is a good example of why it might be important to study the 3 knights vs 1 knight endgame!

You messed up the solution. The white win is in a variation where it should be the main line! Also not clear that the stalemates are necessary to save black after different promotions. Perpetual check appears a viable alternative.