Queen ending: enough to win?

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Avatar of blitzcopter

I got lucky (as White, in a recent OTB game) since my opponent blundered with Qb7 allowing an immediate perpetual.

However we disagreed on the most likely outcome otherwise. I think my opponent thought Black should win this 70% of the time, while I felt White should draw with good play. Of course I have lost many queen endings that I thought were easily drawn so maybe there are more tricks here than I realize.

But obviously Black needs the queen to support the (eventual) passed pawn or else play the weakening ...g6 to give the king some room, or ...Kf8-e7 which runs into Qh7. So it seems like it will be difficult for Black to win. What do you think?

Avatar of Diakonia

I would say its a draw, more than likely by perpetual check.  

Avatar of pfren

Almost certainly lost for white- no active counterplay (e.g. a passed pawn). Black's plan is switching the king to the queenside, where he has an extra pawn, and meeting this plan is very difficult.

Avatar of blitzcopter

Just kidding, upon "further" inspection, ...f6-Kf7 exists. I guess that's enough to get the king to the queenside.

Avatar of etc2000chess

I guess I agree with pfren.

Avatar of pfren

Well, I'm not very keen playing ...f6. Why should I create a liability at e6?

If necessary, ...g6 looks like the most sane pawn move on the kingside. The game will be decided on the other flank- in some cases there is a plan where Black's king goes straight down the board to gobble white's b-pawn. Of course this can be met with a lot of checks, but still it's something to consider.

Here is a correspondence game I played. Of course matters are simpler in that one, as white has two extra pawns, and Black's king is more exposed to checks, but still the same idea: The queen guards the pawnchain bases, and his majesty goes out for lunch!