Endgame Lab - King and Pawn Endings
Instructive Endgame
Here is a very instructive endgame from the U.S. Chess League Wildcard Round. Thanks to NM Arun Sharma for the analysis. The entire article can be seen at the U.S. Chess League site.
Black to move: Can you hold the draw?
Highlight below for solution:
[
Mikhailuk - Kuljasevic [A29], U.S. Chess League, 2006: 65...Kd7? Black made a big mistake with 65... Kd7? as will later be shown, 65... Ke7 was much better.[ 65...Ke7! 66.Kd5 Kd7 opposition 67.a5 bxa5 68.Kxc5 Ke7! 69.b6 ( 69.Kb6 a4=; 69.Kd4 Kd6 70.c5+ Kc7 71.Kc4 b6 72.c6 Kd6=) 69...a4 70.Kb4 Kd6 71.Kxa4 Kc5 72.Kb3 Kxb6=] 66.Kd5 Ke7 67.a5 bxa5 68.Kxc5 After 68. Kxc5 as shown by the game itself, it appears that Black may be lost since the moving of his King to the d-file allows 69. Kb6 followed by Kxb7 and the advancing of the c-pawn where, due to the location of the Black King, White Queens right after Black and because of his extra b-pawn and better King placement, the ending is then winning for White. However, despite his error on move 65, Black still had a real chance to save the game with the incredible move....
68...Kd7? [ 68...Ke8!! 69.b6 ( 69.Kb6 a4 70.c5 a3 71.c6 bxc6 72.bxc6 a2 73.c7 a1Q 74.c8Q+ Ke7=) 69...Kd7 70.Kb5 a4 71.Kxa4 Kc6 72.Kb4 Kxb6 73.c5+ Kc6 74.Kc4 Kd7 75.Kd5 Ke7 76.c6 b6 77.c7 Kd7 78.c8R Kxc8 79.Ke6 b5 80.Kxf6 b4 81.Kg7 b3 82.f6 b2 83.f7 b1Q 84.f8Q+ Kd7 85.Qf7+ Kd6 86.Qxh5= is a theoretical draw.] 69.Kb6 a4 70.Kxb7 Kd6 71.b6 a3 72.Kc8 a2 73.b7 a1Q 74.b8Q+ Kc5 75.Qb5+ Kd4 76.Qd5+ Kc3 77.c5 Qa6+ 78.Kd7 Qa7+ 79.Ke6 Qg7 80.Qd7 Qg8+ 81.Kxf6 Qf8+ 82.Kg6 Qxc5 83.f6 Qg1+ 84.Kxh5 Qg3 85.f7 Qf3+ 86.Kg5 Qg3+ 87.Qg4 Qe5+ 88.Qf5 Qg7+ 89.Kh5 1-0
]
Here is a very instructive endgame from the U.S. Chess League Wildcard Round. Thanks to NM Arun Sharma for the analysis. The entire article can be seen at the U.S. Chess League site.
Black to move: Can you hold the draw?
Highlight below for solution:
[
Mikhailuk - Kuljasevic [A29], U.S. Chess League, 2006: 65...Kd7? Black made a big mistake with 65... Kd7? as will later be shown, 65... Ke7 was much better.[ 65...Ke7! 66.Kd5 Kd7 opposition 67.a5 bxa5 68.Kxc5 Ke7! 69.b6 ( 69.Kb6 a4=; 69.Kd4 Kd6 70.c5+ Kc7 71.Kc4 b6 72.c6 Kd6=) 69...a4 70.Kb4 Kd6 71.Kxa4 Kc5 72.Kb3 Kxb6=] 66.Kd5 Ke7 67.a5 bxa5 68.Kxc5 After 68. Kxc5 as shown by the game itself, it appears that Black may be lost since the moving of his King to the d-file allows 69. Kb6 followed by Kxb7 and the advancing of the c-pawn where, due to the location of the Black King, White Queens right after Black and because of his extra b-pawn and better King placement, the ending is then winning for White. However, despite his error on move 65, Black still had a real chance to save the game with the incredible move....
68...Kd7? [ 68...Ke8!! 69.b6 ( 69.Kb6 a4 70.c5 a3 71.c6 bxc6 72.bxc6 a2 73.c7 a1Q 74.c8Q+ Ke7=) 69...Kd7 70.Kb5 a4 71.Kxa4 Kc6 72.Kb4 Kxb6 73.c5+ Kc6 74.Kc4 Kd7 75.Kd5 Ke7 76.c6 b6 77.c7 Kd7 78.c8R Kxc8 79.Ke6 b5 80.Kxf6 b4 81.Kg7 b3 82.f6 b2 83.f7 b1Q 84.f8Q+ Kd7 85.Qf7+ Kd6 86.Qxh5= is a theoretical draw.] 69.Kb6 a4 70.Kxb7 Kd6 71.b6 a3 72.Kc8 a2 73.b7 a1Q 74.b8Q+ Kc5 75.Qb5+ Kd4 76.Qd5+ Kc3 77.c5 Qa6+ 78.Kd7 Qa7+ 79.Ke6 Qg7 80.Qd7 Qg8+ 81.Kxf6 Qf8+ 82.Kg6 Qxc5 83.f6 Qg1+ 84.Kxh5 Qg3 85.f7 Qf3+ 86.Kg5 Qg3+ 87.Qg4 Qe5+ 88.Qf5 Qg7+ 89.Kh5 1-0
]
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