The Endgame's

Originally posted by Exuma
White is in a holding pattern and must be careful not to step on the long dark square diagonal with the king.

Black might like it if king was on b3 and could trade N for B.

But it looks a bit drawish now...

Nice job. It is drawish here, But Black still has to take care of whites pawns. With some a little repositioning of his knight he can force a draw. I missed some knight moves in the game and could have lost, so this game went a little further then it should have, leading to 1 last position from this endgame...

Endgame #4

Black to play

Black queened his pawn just before white's king got there and had to be taken with whites bishop, allowing black to win a pawn. While White went after Blacks pawns, Black was busy setting up a draw. Black to play and draw.

Originally posted by hammster21
Endgame #4

[fen]8/8/8/5K2/1Pk2p2/P1B5/n7/8 b - - 0 1[/fen]
Black to play

Black queened his pawn just before white's king got there and had to be taken with whites bishop, allowing black to win a pawn. While White went after Blacks pawns, Black was busy setting up a draw. Black to play and draw.

NxB.

Originally posted by Exuma
NxB.

Game 3484349 - Game drawn

Yep, it was a little to easy but its good to know. After the exchanges blacks king is in the square of the last white pawn and game drawn. I realized that the game this was supposed to be taken from was a little different but it was close enough. Good job.

Black to play and draw...



Taken from this game - I flubbed the opening and just tried to be a real pain for as long as possible :-)
Game 3649654

Originally posted by Exuma
[fen]8/8/1P1R4/2P1kN2/2p3KP/1r6/5b2/8 b - - 1 64[/fen]

Black to play and draw...



Taken from this game - I flubbed the opening and just tried to be a real pain for as long as possible :-)
Game 3649654

Well lets see. White has three pieces under attack, his rook, knight and pawn. I wonder if Black can take advantage of that...

Originally posted by Restless Soul

[fen]8/2k5/p4p2/1p3P2/PP3P2/1P6/8/2K5 w - - 0 1[/fen]

This is tricky isn't it?

Originally posted by Restless Soul

screw copy and paste

just go here

http://www.angelfire.com/games4/lifemasteraj/endgames/pwn_eg-01_ts.html

Originally posted by Restless Soul
This is tricky isn't it?

Still not satisfied? Even your next post doesn't bring any new ideas for either side, in my opinion.

Originally posted by Mephisto2
Still not satisfied? Even your next post doesn't bring any new ideas for either side, in my opinion.

you didn't show how to force black to the center where its king on d6 and whites king on e4...you just assumed black would walk up there by himself...

Originally posted by Restless Soul
you didn't show how to force black to the center where its king on d6 and whites king on e4...you just assumed black would walk up there by himself...

Well, you better explain what I missed then in my two posts. You questioned one move by black towards the centre and I responded with two alternatives and a conclusion about all other moves. Show me what I missed, or what is so much better in that beautiful analysis you referred to.

Originally posted by Restless Soul
[fen]8/2k5/p4p2/1p3P2/PP3P2/1P6/8/2K5 w - - 0 1[/fen]

This endgame is about opposition. The pawns can't queen themselves the kings need to pick off some pawns. There are 2 open files but taking the outside file would take to long. Both sides need to take control of the opposition, but seeing as the pawns block some of the kings squares and where they can go, I don't know if either side can penetrate.

Originally posted by hammster21
This endgame is about opposition. The pawns can't queen themselves the kings need to pick off some pawns. There are 2 open files but taking the outside file would take to long. Both sides need to take control of the opposition, but seeing as the pawns block some of the kings squares and where they can go, I don't know if either side can penetrate.

This is a classical case of corresponding squares rather than the opposition (though the latter does of course play a part). The theory and practice of corresponding squares seems to have more to do with mathematics than chess, which is perhaps why it took me nearly an hour and a half to solve. (Well, I think I've solved it, but I haven't checked it with an engine yet - that would be rather spoiling the fun!)
As Mephisto2 pointed out in an earlier thread, the critical point is when the white king is on e4 and the black king on d6.
Black to move clearly loses, e.g. 1...Ke7 2.Kd5 Kd7 3.a5 or 1...Kc6 2.Kf3 and 3.Kg4. However, white to move doesn't seem able to win, e.g. 1.a5 Ke7! or 1.Kf3 Ke7 2.Kg4 Kf7 3.Kh5 Kg7 4.a5 Kh7 5.Kg4 Kg7 6.Kf3 Kf7 and the blck king gets back in time.
So the key to the solution is that black must always be able to meet Ke4 with Ke6. We can also see clearly that black must be able to meet Kd4 with Kc6 and Kf3 with Ke7 (to prevent white penetrating on the kingside). It's then not too difficult to work out that black must be able to meet Ke3 with Kd7 and Kd3 with Kc7. Now we see clearly the principle of corresponding squares. Working backwards from these squares, it is in fact possible to work out all the corresponding squares for the c to f files. They are (white king v black king):
c1/d7; c2/d8; c3/d7
d1/c7; d2/c8; d3/c7; d4/c6
e1/d7; e2/d8; e3/d7; e4/d6
f1/e7; f2/e8; f3/e7
If white moves on to the g or h files, the black king should toggle between f7 and f8.
Therefore, returning to the original position we see that white to play wins with 1.Kd1! (but not 1.Kc2? Kd8!= or 1.Kd2? Kc8!=) 1...Kd7 (or 1...Kd6 2.Ke2! or 1...Kd8 2.Ke2! or 1...Kc8 2.Kd2!) 2.Ke1! Kd8 (or 2...Ke8 3.Kf2! or 2...Ke7 3.Kf1! Ke8 4.Kf2 Ke7 5.Kf3) 3.Ke2! Kd7 (or 3...Kc7 4.Kd3) 4.Ke3. Now 4...Kd6 5.Ke4, 4...Ke7 5.Kd4, 4...Kc7 5.Kf3, and 4...Kc7 5.Kd4 are all winning.
Conversely, black to move would draw with 1...Kd7! (but not 1...Kd8? 2. Kc2! or 1...Kc8? 2.Kd2!). Amazing how complex endgames with kings and a few pawns can be; would be a nightmare trying to work it all out OTB!