Endgame study for Pion15

Ah, i see. So, actually there are no winning moves, how hard you even try. Interesting, might be a little to hard for me, have never tried something like this before, nice to train some sight. Might take me a while to respond, i have the birthday of my son this weekend.

Work on it when you can. You can tell your son happy birthday from California.

He will be nine years old from Sunday and proudly glow when he hears someone from the other side of the world congratulates him. Thanks : )

In my break I took a quick look and would say this is a legitimate draw after 1. Kg4 followed by 2. Kf3

That's correct, but doesn't answer the question I asked about this position. Is Kg4 the only move to draw? If so, the answer to my question is at least 1. Could it be larger? After 1. Kg4, does Black have only one move to avoid losing? If so, the answer is at least 2. Could it be larger? After White plays Kg4 and Black plays the only move to draw, how many moves does White have to preserve the draw? If it's just one, the answer is at least 3.

The question being answered is, how many half-moves will be played until one of the players has a choice of more than a slngle move to avoid losing.

What makes this a hard question is that after each move, you have a new "move and draw" problem to analyze, and besides finding a drawing move, you have to find out how many drawing moves there are.

I do think Kg4 is the only way for white to maintain at least a draw, after 1. Kg4 i think black has more options to at least maintain a draw. 1. ... e2 is his best move. 

1. ... d2 is a difficult draw after 2. Kf3 Kd3 3. Ra1 e2 4. Ra3+ Kc2 5. Ra2+ Kd3

So actually just one half-move!

Also 1. ... Kc2 and 1. ... Kd2 seems to be draw. 

See if you can draw for Black.

1. Kg4 e2  2. Kf3

2. ... Kd2 3. Kf2 Kc2 4. Ke1 Kc3 ...

But now i am expecting other moves for white....?

3. Kf2 Kc2  4. Ke3

That's a winner for white. (and i thought it was the best move)

Looked a little closer and also Kd2 and Kc2 are no good options for Black. So only 1. ... d2 draws

That's the second half move. I will look for more, but there are a few days of chess coming up. I will participate in the amateur tournament in 'Wijk aan Zee' in Holland. Great tournament. There is also the GM tournament, and for a month the whole village turns into a chess paradise! very great. Will take me another week or so before i will reply. Maybe i have some time tomorrow... Best regards!

1. Kg4 d2

2. Kf3 Kd3

3. Ra1 e2

4. Ra3+ Kc2

5. Ra2+ Kd3

6. Ra3+ Kc2

7. Ra2+ Kd3

8. Ra3+ Kc2

9. Ra3+ Kc2=

Draw with repetition of moves. So this means actually 18 half-moves.

I bet you have another move to drop in somewhere?

Well, you found all the "only" moves, but didn't stop when they ended, so your count is a little off. After 5. Ra2+, Black has a choice of four moves to draw. So the answer for this position is 9 half-moves, 5 for White and 4 for Black.

This was a warm-up for performing the real task, which is to construct a position in which 12 or more half-moves occur before either side has a choice of more than a single move to avoid losing. As I mentioned, I found a position that starts with 11 consecutive "only" half-moves, but I don't know one with 12.

You might work on this a long time without success, so I'll give you something easier to also work on, another endgame study.

White to play and win.

Ah yes, there are more ways to draw. Get me out a little to easy from that point. Nice way to draw is 5. Kb3

I will look at your study's the moment i have some time. Maybe nice to check up is on the tournament i just wrote. The GM's start on saturday: www.tatasteelchess.com

Good luck in the tournament. Will you be facing some really strong players?

How is the tournament going?  I looked in the amateur section for a Pion, but didn't find you.

Pion is actually the Dutch name for Pawn. ... There is the Masters group which concludes Magnus Carlsen, Anish Giri, Fabiano Caruana and others.... The Challengers with GM's sub-top .... And various categories for amateurs... I played the weekday threeround event. There is group 1 till 9 and in each group the players are divided in groups of four. My rating is not high but the highest of my group. I won the first two matches very easily and the last one I made a draw making me the number one of my group. So I won a chess book, which i can use really well and I promote to the next group for next year. .... Very nice you looked at the site. I played group 8c (1389) now you can find me. .... I tried your puzzle as well, nice but difficult, no answer so far.....

Hello B.B., is all okay? Did you find me now? .... With your puzzle i'm reaching a draw with every move i try. Do you have a hint for me?

I think I did. If you are Johan Tode, I found you.

Here are a couple of hints for the latest study. Don't let the black king get off the a-file too soon. Don't let the black king get behind your pawn.

Yes, pleased to meet you. ... I think I will just give it a try, I think I was on the right track all ready but missed an important move. 1. Kc7