This endgame composition
is very difficult and will even stump your
chess computer (so feel free to turn your machines
on to see if the silicon
monster can get the job done).
WHITE TO MOVE AND
WIN
This fascinating composition
first appeared in the magazine, M.Sakkelet
in 1972. It received 1st Prize.
1.Nb5!! A real key
move which, being unexpected, deserves two exclamation marks. It is
indeed surprising for it allows the Black King to escape from the mating
net and, in addition, it takes the Knight further from the threatening
pawn, apparently allowing it to promote. Is this key move necessary?
Wouldn’t 1.Ne2 lead to the same result? No, 1.Ne2 fails to 1...h2
2.Nac3 b5 3.Nd4 b4+! 4.Kxb4 Kb2, and Black escapes since his King is
out of the trap. 1...Kb1 The
best try. The tempting 1...h2 loses beautifully after 2.Nac3 h1=Q 3.Nd4
Qc1+ 4.Kb3 Qb2+ 5.Kc4 b5+ 6.Kd3 Qxf2 7.Nb3+ Kb2 8.Nd1+. It’s
now clear that the Black Queen was led into a trap. Due to all the
possible forks, she would have been lost whether she captured the f-pawn
or not. 2.Nac3+ Kc2 White
wins after 2...Kc1 2.g4!. 3.Nd4+! Kd3! The
obvious 3...Kxc3 runs into 4.Ne2+! (A very important move! Another
obvious move is 4.Nf3? which fails to 4...b5!, when Black can draw)
4...Kc4 (4...Kd2 fails to 5.Ng1 h2 6.Nf3+, while 4...Kd3 5.Nf4+ is
also easy for White) 5.g4 h2 6.Ng3 Kc3 7.Ka4 Kc4 8.g5 b5+ 9.Ka5, and
White wins since he will Queen with check. 4.Nd1!! This
is the only way to win. White fails to achieve the victory after 4.f4
Kxc3 5.Ne2+ Kd3, and Black wins because White no longer can play Nf4+.
If White had tried 4.f3 instead of 4.f4, then 4...Kxc3 5.Ne2+ Kd2 wins
since 6.Ng1 h2 7.Nf3+ isn’t possible. White can try 4.Nf3, but
he still fails to win the game: 4...Kxc3 5.Ka4 Kc4 6.g4 b5+ 7.Ka5 b6+!
8.Ka6 b4 9.g5 Kd5 10.g6 Ke6 11.Ng5+ Kf6 12.Nxh3 b3 13.Nf4 b2 14.Nd5+
Kxg6 15.Nc3 Kf5, with a draw. 4...h2
5.f4 Kxd4 And not 5...h1=N 6.f5, winning
for White. 6.Nf2 Kc3 6...Ke3
7.Ng4+ wins for White. 7.f5 b5 8.f6
b4+ 9.Ka2 Kc2 10.f7 b3+ 11.Ka3 b2 12.f8=Q b1=Q 13.Qf5+, 1–0.
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