Key is allow the black king to take the g7 pawn - once that possibility exists, the stalemate threat is over.
Chasing a Stalemate
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"The stalemate threat is now over - Kxp(g7) is now available."
Not exactly daxelson, Black tries one last attempt 58. e5 to tempt white to take the pawn with the bishop. 59. Bxe5 is a stalemate.
And ya, 59. Qh8 instead of 59. f5 also does the job.
hsbgowd wrote:
"The stalemate threat is now over - Kxp(g7) is now available."
Not exactly daxelson, Black tries one last attempt 58. e5 to tempt white to take the pawn with the bishop. 59. Bxe5 is a stalemate.
And ya, 59. Qh8 instead of 59. f5 also does the job.
Which is why I showed Qh8+ at that point. Why would white make 10 consecutive moves avoiding a stalemate, and then make a stupid play that results in one?
daxelson wrote:
hsbgowd wrote:
"The stalemate threat is now over - Kxp(g7) is now available."
Not exactly daxelson, Black tries one last attempt 58. e5 to tempt white to take the pawn with the bishop. 59. Bxe5 is a stalemate.
And ya, 59. Qh8 instead of 59. f5 also does the job.
Which is why I showed Qh8+ at that point. Why would white make 10 consecutive moves avoiding a stalemate, and then make a stupid play that results in one?
Because of lack of focus. I myself made that mistake! and i am pretty sure some of many who have tried the puzzle would also do the same mistake.
hsbgowd wrote:
daxelson wrote:
hsbgowd wrote:
"The stalemate threat is now over - Kxp(g7) is now available."
Not exactly daxelson, Black tries one last attempt 58. e5 to tempt white to take the pawn with the bishop. 59. Bxe5 is a stalemate.
And ya, 59. Qh8 instead of 59. f5 also does the job.
Which is why I showed Qh8+ at that point. Why would white make 10 consecutive moves avoiding a stalemate, and then make a stupid play that results in one?
Because of lack of focus. I myself made that mistake! and i am pretty sure some of many who have tried the puzzle would also do the same mistake.
So what? Did I need to point out all of the other ways that white could still have stalemated the game? "And be sure to avoid pushing the black king to h1, then putting the white queen on g3 - that might also be a stalemate if all of the black pawns are gone . . ."
My point was that the original stalemate threat existed until white played 58. Bxb8 - once white made that move, the original threat was no longer there. Sure, black could re-create a stalemate situation, but so what?
daxelson wrote:
So what? Did I need to point out all of the other ways that white could still have stalemated the game? "And be sure to avoid pushing the black king to h1, then putting the white queen on g3 - that might also be a stalemate if all of the black pawns are gone . . ."
My point was that the original stalemate threat existed until white played 58. Bxb8 - once white made that move, the original threat was no longer there. Sure, black could re-create a stalemate situation, but so what?
Woah! Relax. I didnt mean for you to take it personally. I agree, the original stalemate threat is over.
This morning, I played a game against a weaker comp engine and ended up with this position.
I played 48.Raxb7 hoping for 48..Qc8-a8+ 49.Kb2 Qxb7 50.Qh8+ Kf7 51. Qxd8 followed by 52. g8=Q, but this clever comp came up with the nice idea to try for a stalemate.
Can you avoid the stalemate traps and find a win for white?