I had the following position in a game with white, and black just played Kg8. I thought black had the opposition, and I drew the game. But it turned out I was winning with f6 followed by f7. Now I see the line, but it feels very strange to me that opposition does not work in this case. I checked Silman's endgame book, but I couldn't find any position like this (maybe I missed it somewhere in the book). Hence, I want to ask: Under what circumstances in a king and pawn endgame does the stronger side win regardless of whether the opponent has the opposition or not? Thanks!
Opposition does not work?
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It counts as opposition when your kings are opposed to each other and the other king is forced to move. When you move the pawn, you make it black’s turn, which counts as opposition.
Tianyiwang2001 wrote:
Hence, I want to ask: Under what circumstances in a king and pawn endgame does the stronger side win regardless of whether the opponent has the opposition or not? Thanks!
The opposition is only relevant as a tool for fighting of the control of any possible key squares in the position. Since the white king already occupies one of the key squares for a non-wing pawn on the fifth rank, opposition is meaningless.
I have not read the Silman book, but I would imagine he speaks about key squares or critical squares somewhere in there. It's a more fundamental concept than opposition and you should study them first.
The opposition is irrelevant when the king has reached the sixth (for Black: third) rank. And this is knowledge for total beginners.
There is an important position to know. The following position:
Is a win for White no matter who is to move. The reason is because the Black King cannot move backwards.
With White to move, 1.Kf6 (or 1.Kd6 also works) Kf8 2.e6 Ke8 3.e7 and now the king must move. If the king could move backwards now, with the pawn in front of the king, it would be a draw, but it can't, and so Black must play 3...Kd7 when 4.Kf7 wins.
With Black to move, it is even easier. If 1...Kd8, then 2.Kf7 and if 1...Kf8, then 2.Kd7.
Now, let's move it back a rank:
Now it is different. If it is Black to move, this is an easy win for White. 1...Kd7 (or 1...Kf7 2.Kd6 amounts to the same thing) 2.Kf6! and now 2...Ke8 3.Ke6 Kf8 4.e5 Ke8 leads back to the first position with White to move, which wins.
But if it is White to move, it is only a draw! 1.Kf5 Kf7! and now we see that White cannot make progress with king moves, so 2.e5 Ke7 3.e6 and now, Black draws if he can move straight back because the pawn is in front of the King, so 3...Ke8!!, where 4.Kf6 Kf8 5.e7+ Ke8 6.Ke6 is stalemate and diagonal opposition with 4.Kg6 makes no progress as 4...Ke7 hits the pawn and after 5.Kf5, just 5...Ke8 again!
Now, if White could make a move from the starting position to make it Black's move, White would win. To do that, he would need room to move the pawn. So the following:
Would win for White no matter who is to move. 1.e4 leads to our second position with Black to move, so White wins.
In this case, more important than opposition is understanding the winning zone.
In K+P vs K, if the pawn is on the 5th rank AND IT IS NOT A ROOK PAWN, the winning zone is the square in front and the squares to the left and right of that. So if White has a pawn on e5, the "Winning Zone" is d6, e6, and f6, meaning if the White King can get to any of those 3 squares without moving the pawn, White wins. If not, it's a draw.
When the pawn is on the 4th rank or further back AND NOT A ROOK PAWN, the Winning zone is TWO squares in front of the pawn and the square to the left and right od that. So if the White pawn is on e3, White wins if he can get the king to d5, e5, or f5. At that point, if the Black King has opposition, White wastes a move by advancing the pawn, gaining the opposition with the King still in front of the pawn, so White wins.
So in K+P vs K, the important thing to understand is the winning zone, which is derived from opposition, rather than opposition alone.
Black does not have the opposition in this scenario. White can take opposition by f6. After f7 the king is forced a way from the queening square and you can take opposition by Kg7 and you have control of the queening square. I have Silman's endgame book and this type of position does appear(I don't believe it shows it directly but it is in one of the lines). The opposition is only the means to an end, not the end itself.
pfren wrote:
The opposition is irrelevant when the king has reached the sixth (for Black: third) rank. And this is knowledge for total beginners.
Yes, and this information was covered in at least one of Silman’s books.
Basically, opposition only maters in a small subset of pawn endgames, and it's irrelevant in most of pawn endgames. Still, people treat opposition as it's the Holy Grail.
magipi wrote:
Basically, opposition only maters in a small subset of pawn endgames, and it's irrelevant in most of pawn endgames. Still, people treat opposition as it's the Holy Grail.
Opposition is important, but I do agree with you that opposition is not the be-all and end-all. Although in this position White technically can regain opposition by f6, but the reason it is a won game is because after f7 the King is forced to the side. This allows White to take control of the queening square.
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