yeah, if the white pawn was gone, white could check on e3, which would lead to a stalemate, or a loss for black.
If white checks d1, the king cannot take the pawn - would result in a check on d3 - another stalemate
So, white might have some tricks up it's sleaves, but if black is careful, this will be a win.
huh? Black wins no matter what.
Pull a queen out of his a.., I mean sleeve...
Wrong. After the Re8 check, King simply takes the pawn. Game over.
I end up having to eat my words. Stalemate indeed.
Unless there is a way for white to improve, then it is a win for black as follows.
1: Re8+ Kf5
2: f7 Kf6
3: Re7 Qd3
4: Kg8 Qg3+
5: Kf8 Qb8+
6: Re8 Qc7
ozzie, nice finish. I think After 1.Re8+ Kf5 White's best defense might be 2.Re7!?. The idea is if Qxf6+?? or Kxf6?? it's a draw on the spot. It's a simple trick, but one that often works below the 1500 level and these players were ~1225.
Queen vs Rook can be a real pain--even at the master level. In this position it helps that the White king and rook are already at the edge of the board. I definitely feel your opponent should have continued playing.
ozzie, nice finish. I think After 1.Re8+ Kf5 White's best defense might be 2.Re7!?. The idea is if Qxf6+?? or Kxf6?? it's a draw on the spot. It's a simple trick, but one that often works below the 1500 level and these players were ~1225.
Queen vs Rook can be a real pain--even at the master level. In this position it helps that the White king and rook are already at the edge of the board. I definitely feel your opponent should have continued playing.
Re7, interesting move. How about this line?
1: Re8+ Kf5
2: Re7 Qh5 (prevents f7 due to Qh8#)
3: Kg7 Qg5+
ozzie, yes, 3...Qg5+ more or less guarantees picking off the pawn.
1.Re8+ Kf5
2.Re7 Qh5
3.Kg7 Qg5+
4.Kf8 (4.Kh8?! Qxf6+ +-) Kxf6 (4...Qxf6?? 5.Rf7 =)
5.Rf7+ Ke6
6.Rf1!?
And Black still has some work to do because on f1 the rook is not forkable.
Thank you for posting this extremely interesting endgame! What a pity this occurred in a blitz game, it would have been nice to play it out under tounament conditions.
I believe I have found a black win after 1.Re8+ Kf5!, please check out the variations and point to any errors you find!
Hey,
I recently did a blitz game (unfortunately I had to do something quickly, so I don't have the full game), but it was pretty cool. In the end, I was able to get a queen out of a passed pawn and here was the position when the opponent timed out. This is a win for black right?
Edit: The diagram now has the correct coordinates.