Page 8 of 8
| no Sound - Flip board | ||
|
to move
|
|
|
|
Endgame 7 (author Leo Spinger)
|
||
| 1 | a3c5 | The two square blocks allow a remarkable manoeuvre that's easy to remember ..., but first, let's consider a race between the white man on d2 and the black man on c6. It doesn't look promising to begin with, because white is a tempo down, but reality is even worse. We'll take the symmetric 1. d2c3 for example, but d23 and d2e3 boil down to the same: 1.d2c3-c65!, 2.c3d4 (what else?)-a6c4!, 3.a4c6x-c4a2x, 4.c64x-a21 (a2b1 for those with an acute sense of irony)+ | |
| a5c3x | |||
| 2 | c5a7x | Now 2...c5b4?, 3.a7b8king+ and 2...c6d5, 3.a78king-d5e4, 4.a86-b65 (4...b6c5, 5.a6c8+), 5.b46x-c3b2, 6.a61-e4f3, 7.b67-g3g2, 8. b78king+ | |
| c3b2 | |||
| 3 | a78 | On 3...b2a1, 4.b4a5+ and on 3...b21, 4.a85+ while 3...b2c1 meets with 4.d2c3-c1a4x, 5.a83x+ and 3...c6b5 meets with 4.a82-b53x, 5.ac2x-b3a2, 6.c2b1! and white converts to a 2x1 king's ending. | |
| c6d5 | |||
| 4 | a81 | d5e4 | |
| 5 | b4a5 | e4f3 | The crucial position - now 6.d2c3?-f3g2, 7.ah1-b65! (7...b2a1??-h12!+ and 7...b6c5?-8.hb1!-b2a1king, 9.b15+) 8.ac5x-b2a1king, 9.c5b6-a17! (threatening a7b8), 10.c3b4-a7b8, 11.b45-b8a7, 12.b5c6-a76, 13.ha1-a68, 14.ah1-a86 ends in a draw by 3-fold! White's only win is the gambit 6.d2e3!! which brings the black man to d3, depriving it from access to the corner! |
| 6 | d2e3 | fd3x | |
| 7 | a56 | White is single minded here: he goes for b8 for an attack on the man on b2. Black has two options: providing cover on b3 or sacrificing on the a-file (a sacrifice on the first rank never takes effect: 7...b6c5, 8.a6b7-d32, 9.b78king+). Blocking on b3 offers more resistance: 7...b65, 8.a6b7-b54, 9.b78king-b43, 10.b8h2!-d3c2 (10...b3c2?, 11.ac1+), 11.h21 (11.ac1???-b3a2+)-b3a2, 12.a15x-b2a1, 13.a5e1+. That leaves the sacrifice on the a-file. | |
| b65 | |||
| 8 | a6b7 | b5a4 | |
| 9 | a16x | Preventing promotion in the corner. | |
| b2c1 | king | ||
| 10 | b78 | Black gets one fleeting moment allowing progress ... | |
| d3e2 | |||
| 11 | a61 | 11…e2d1K fails on 12.b81, and 11...c1f4 (to prevent white's access to h2) fails on 12.ae1+ | |
| ch1 | |||
| 12 | b81 | Black cannot promote and needs access to e3. | |
| h13 | |||
| 13 | bh1 | he3 | |
| 14 | a12 | e3d2 | |
| 15 | h12 | Tableau! |