---
title: "You think you can outsmart me — well, I'll outoutsmart you!"
description: A storied gem in the chess problem pantheon
image: https://image.lichess1.org/display?fmt=webp&h=550&op=thumbnail&path=ehXVp3KfJCQg.webp&w=880&sig=db309df235be78edffa738bb933e4846e0031195
---

## Introduction

This problem, one of the most famous endgame studies of all time, was not the result of deliberate composition but rather an accidental product of a misremembered game of chess. Its twisted history was first laid bare in a 1940 article in a Dutch chess problem magazine. For the full story, see [Tim Krabbé's account](https://timkr.home.xs4all.nl/chess/saavedra.htm). 

## The Problem

#### G. E. Barbier and F. Saavedra, 1895

![lichess-fen.jpg](https://image.lichess1.org/display?op=noop&path=T7wCUYSpqHRv.jpg&sig=a9a943f821b92eaa2329313191be89dfd36ee5ba)

#### White to move and win.

![Lichess arrow-down-icon.png](https://image.lichess1.org/display?op=noop&path=m7q-0AF5kZR4.png&sig=d70d427725cab62d93869cdd9d347ae0cfe90e25)*(Solution appears below.)*
![Lichess arrow-down-icon.png](https://image.lichess1.org/display?op=noop&path=m7q-0AF5kZR4.png&sig=d70d427725cab62d93869cdd9d347ae0cfe90e25)

## The Solution

https://lichess.org/study/BfjBVnVh/KjElW0Ke#0

## Outro

For more on the wonderland of chess problem compositions, visit [ChessProblem.net](https://www.chessproblem.net/index.php).