Hi All,
I'm stuck again on one of Capablanca's examples - no. 27. The screenshot below shows the position, and the prior moves:
This is the alternative route to a win shown by Capablanca: he says "If 4...K - K 3 [e6]; 5 K - Kt 5 [g5] will win."
However, I cannot see how to avoid a draw in this position, as kg5 gives lateral opposition to Black's king (i.e. 5 ... ke5), so that Black can trap White's king into the h file, preventing the pawn moving to queen.
Can anyone shed any light for me? Many thanks
Hi All,
I'm stuck again on one of Capablanca's examples - no. 27. The screenshot below shows the position, and the prior moves:
This is the alternative route to a win shown by Capablanca: he says "If 4...K - K 3 [e6]; 5 K - Kt 5 [g5] will win."
However, I cannot see how to avoid a draw in this position, as kg5 gives lateral opposition to Black's king (i.e. 5 ... ke5), so that Black can trap White's king into the h file, preventing the pawn moving to queen.
Can anyone shed any light for me? Many thanks
Trust the engine, not a Cuban from the last century.
Trust the engine, not a Cuban from the last century.
I mean, he was one of the greatest players ... and known for being very good at the endgame. I'd be surprised if he was wrong, and still think it more likely that there is a way for white to win, which I'm missing.
I mean, he was one of the greatest players ... and known for being very good at the endgame. I'd be surprised if he was wrong, and still think it more likely that there is a way for white to win, which I'm missing.
"known for being very good at the endgame"
- All endgame books contain mistakes. Even Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual contained mistakes, which GM Karsten Müller corrected in the 6th edition after Dvoretsky passed away.
"known for being very good at the endgame"
* All endgame books contain mistakes. Even Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual contained mistakes, which GM Karsten Müller corrected in the 6th edition after Dvoretsky passed away.
The game is drawn as shown, but in my copy the queenside pawns are on the b-file not the a-file and this makes all the difference.
The white king doesn't get trapped on the h-file because white can lose a move by advancing the h-pawn if black takes close horizontal opposition after white takes the h-pawn. White will ultimately give up the h-pawn but will then be in position to go back to the b-pawn and win. With an a-pawn as shown, white ends up trapped on the a-file.
E.g., after 4...Ke6 5. Kg5 Ke5 6. Kxh5 Kf5 7. Kh6 Kf6 8. h5 Kf7 9. Kg5.
The game is drawn as shown, but in my copy the queenside pawns are on the b-file not the a-file and this makes all the difference.
The white king doesn't get trapped on the h-file because white can lose a move by advancing the h-pawn if black takes close horizontal opposition after white takes the h-pawn. White will ultimately give up the h-pawn but will then be in position to go back to the b-pawn and win. With an a-pawn as shown, white ends up trapped on the a-file.
E.g., after 4...Ke6 5. Kg5 Ke5 6. Kxh5 Kf5 7. Kh6 Kf6 8. h5 Kf7 9. Kg5.
@ArcticPuffin said ^
...the queenside pawns are on the b-file not the a-file and this makes all the difference.
https://lichess.org/study/FeKnX2IG/ySno3SFV
See also FENs for the examples from the book "Chess Fundamentals" by José Raúl Capablanca.
@ArcticPuffin said [^](/forum/redirect/post/DyPuRKcU)
> ...the queenside pawns are on the b-file not the a-file and this makes all the difference.
https://lichess.org/study/FeKnX2IG/ySno3SFV
See also [FENs for the examples from the book "Chess Fundamentals" by José Raúl Capablanca](https://gist.github.com/haussbrandt/bca4acedb3991dd60ddfc8a9449d45b1).
It helps to have the correct position when reading a book or discussing it.
It helps to have the correct position when reading a book or discussing it.
@tpr said ^
"known for being very good at the endgame"
- All endgame books contain mistakes...
There is practically no book without errors. Some authors spend decades working to eliminate them, here a legendary example.
@tpr said [^](/forum/redirect/post/SAMnDIhS)
> "known for being very good at the endgame"
> * All endgame books contain mistakes...
There is practically no book without errors. Some authors spend decades working to eliminate them, [here](https://cs.stanford.edu/~knuth/books.html) a legendary example.
@ArcticPuffin said ^
The game is drawn as shown, but in my copy the queenside pawns are on the b-file not the a-file and this makes all the difference.
The white king doesn't get trapped on the h-file because white can lose a move by advancing the h-pawn if black takes close horizontal opposition after white takes the h-pawn. White will ultimately give up the h-pawn but will then be in position to go back to the b-p...
Many thanks. @ArcticPuffin. You are right that I had the pawns in the wrong file in that particular screenshot; however, I still would not have solved it, as I could not work out how to escape from the h-file. Seems obvious now, to simply use the pawn as a waiting move. Thanks for your help everyone.
@ArcticPuffin said [^](/forum/redirect/post/DyPuRKcU)
> The game is drawn as shown, but in my copy the queenside pawns are on the b-file not the a-file and this makes all the difference.
>
> The white king doesn't get trapped on the h-file because white can lose a move by advancing the h-pawn if black takes close horizontal opposition after white takes the h-pawn. White will ultimately give up the h-pawn but will then be in position to go back to the b-p...
Many thanks. @ArcticPuffin. You are right that I had the pawns in the wrong file in that particular screenshot; however, I still would not have solved it, as I could not work out how to escape from the h-file. Seems obvious now, to simply use the pawn as a waiting move. Thanks for your help everyone.
In this case, we shoot the messenger, not the prophet.
In this case, we shoot the messenger, not the prophet.
