Why kh7?

Hi - simplest explanation for why the next move for black is kh7 please

In simple terms, black should be lost here. b4 pawn is falling no matter what black plays. When that happens, both sides will have 5 pawns and white has a queen and a bishop for 2 rooks. On top of that, b3 will be a passed pawn which can be another asset for white here.

So now here comes the question: What should black play here? There is no good move for black to muddy the waters too much. Black can try Rc1 to attack the bishop and coordinate his rooks. White can even put the bishop on d4, not bothering to take the pawn immediately because black can't defend it . Bishop on d4 is blocking black's pawns, and here it is nice and defended for now. White can take the pawn with the queen after that. Or white can take the pawn immediately with the bishop, but his pieces would be a little less coordinated, but it is still winning.

In any case, the only plan for black is to be annoying as much as he can, so I would guess Kh7 is just one of the equally good/bad moves black can play. For instance playing g5 for black doesn't really accomplish anything, it is not like he will have a passed pawn or something, it probably just weakens the king. And black shouldn't weaken it too much, rooks are not coordinated, so if black is not careful and expose its king too much, some fork would be a definite game over.

So in any case, black can just hide its king on h7 or coordinate rooks with Rc1 for instance.

thank you nklristic - so in this lost position kh7 is just about a bit of extra "king safety"...

When you say about co-ordinating the rooks seems similar to what you hear about "connecting the rooks" to complete the opening - makes sense.

You refer to a fork move - is that specific to with check on the king or just generally?

P.S. Useful to read your evaluation of the position too - something I'm slowly improving at... slowly!

You're welcome.

Well it is like connecting the rooks, in a sense that queen can't hurt them like when they are not defending each other. And well, they are controlling that file, for all that is worth (but it is certainly not enough, as that file is probably not that important, if white plays Bd4, weak e3 pawn is defended so targeting even that weakness is not likely). For instance Kf7 here would be a blunder. Qd7+ and the rook would be gone. Of course, Kf7 doesn't make any sense but just to show how undefended rooks could be a liability.

But Kh7, it is just a move that will not hurt you further in an already really bad position. And as a process of elimination, black doesn't have a good pawn move here, certainly not a move that will accomplish something concrete. For me the only concrete move is Rc1, it at least force the issue with the white bishop and it defends both rooks. Kh7 is just a move that seems to shelter the king a little better, but in all fairness, black is waiting here, he has nothing special to do. The only hope is some mistake from white, but white has a clear plan to push the b3 pawn in some way.

For instance, white can even win if he gives up a queen and a bishop for 2 rooks, if that pawn is too close to promotion for black king to stop it, it is game over. And it is certainly not that realistic that black has enough to stop it.

So, what I am saying, over analyzing Kh7 here is not that useful, black simply doesn't have a good active plan, it is all up to white.

There are lost positions where the losing side can try to muddy the waters by trying to promote his own pawn, but here it is unrealistic. There is that pawn majority, but it is far from something concrete. For instance d4 would just drop a pawn. On top of what I've said, e6 is a weak pawn, so white might be able to target that in some way as well.

Sorry about me rambling. Generally when trying to analyze it is fine to turn the engine on, but you should try to understand a position yourself as well. So count the material, see all the weaknesses, pawn structure, how easy is to attack the weaknesses, king safety, piece activity, passed pawns etc. Then try to figure out what each side can do in a position.

I did put this position in the analysis board, but before that I looked and said to myself: Ok, black is most likely done for, he is losing a pawn, white is material up and has a passed pawn, black has nothing. Then I let the engine decide and it is like that, of course you can see even more concretely afterwards, but this is not really a complicated position.

Now of course, we can all mess it up, but I am saying if both plays ok it is as it is.