White clearly needs to keep both his men alive, or else he will have insufficient material to mate, even if he nabs both the bishop and the pawn.
White bishop prevents black pawn from moving forward, but the black bishop prevents the king from taking the pawn. Black bishop also makes a knight capture a draw...
Looking at this again, Kf7 should put Black in zugzwang. His king is immobile, and whichever piece he moves gets captured. I am thinking Black will opt to lose his pawn as it will fall if the bishop guarding it falls. White is then left with KBN v KB.
Originally posted by geepamoogleI was almost swayed by 1 Kf7 but Black can sacrifice the pawn with 1... d3! giving his king a bolt hole on b7 after the bishop captures. In the process of trying to herd the Black king back to the edge of the board the knight will have to land on a dark square and all Black has to do is swap bishop for knight and it's a draw.
I like this idea better than the one I saw. Not sure how BN v B works out, but endgames that close tend to be drawn.
Originally posted by wolfgang59My first idea too, but Black can just play 4. ... Qb1 and no mate and disaster for White. 1. Bd3 is the right way to go (zugzwang).
In my naivety I thought
1. Kf7, d3
2. Ke6, d2
3. Kd7, d1=Q
4. Kc8, ?
5. Bb7 mate
Are you sure the pawn starts there?
Knight and Bishop vs. Bishop is a draw.
Originally posted by Green PaladinYes, this is the one and only solution that works. You would never believe how long it took me. The Idea is zugzwang, (forcing black to move, when all his moves are bad.)
1 Bd3 Kb7
2 Nd8+ Kb6
3 Nf7 Kc5
4 Nxh8 Kb4
5 Nf7 Kc3
6 Ne5
Eventually Black's d-pawn falls leaving a won B+N+K v K endgame.
I think I found it after thinking about the first puzzle where the black piece got trapped.
1. Rc4 Rg5+ 2. Ke6 and now if Rxh5 then 3. h4 and black rook is trapped (and if black moves king then mate).
edit: one more thing has to be looked at. if black doesnt take the bishop and plays 2. .. Rc5 which attacks rook and prepares a stalemate then 3. Be2 and both white pieces are saved which should be a won endgame right?