Defend for black

Again, I so not see a winning attempt. As I said, as soon as your K makes contact to your f-pawn, I attack your g-pawn form teh 3rd rank. I have plenty of squares there to wait... Eventually you can play g4 as you wish, and we trade h for g. That my king is cut of on the h-file is true, but does not matter, because it is cut of by one file on the the short-side. That is not enough for Lucena. Again, this is basic rook ending knowledge.

How do you want to win the f-pawn only ending?? I cannot see any attempt for why that forces a specific defense... As long as black does the basics... Keeps his king on the short side, steps in front of the pawn when allowed, guards the 6 with checks form the side (obviously keep the black rook an a or b files, so that checks from the side are always distant checks.). Honestly, I do not see how black could even lose this unless he does not know Philidor, or willingly moves his king away from the pawns path seems to me that ALL standard defenses are holding.

I just tried against the engine a couple of times... Played absolutely rote moves without thinking, and it never came close to making progress.

I of course am not saying its trivial... Would many 1600s find a way to loose it? Of course yes... What I am saying is that presented as this was...." Defend for black"... The fact that black does not need any special/creative defense seems obvious. He just needs standard competent defense.

Play Caro-Cann

"I am not 100% sure this is a draw."

• It is a draw, 100% sure.

"they thought that they were going to flag anyway"

• Black has 45 seconds, that is enough for 45 moves to reach the draw.

Did you notice that black has 42 seconds left? @abyss-void ;). That adds a fresh spin on it. With white having many minutes left, if he were to play Kf3 I might also consider resigning.

50 Kf3 Ra1 is an easy draw.

@tpr said ^

50 Kf3 Ra1 is an easy draw.

...and so is Rf1, or Rd5, or about a dozen other moves.

I am completely baffled at this entire discussion. The defensive strategy for black is "Dont do anything completely dumb". All standard/normal/sensible moves draw... Might I do something completely dumb while trying to play 45 moves in 45 seconds... maybe... (In my case, most likely a mouse slip, given my mousing skills)... But just because I might mess up is no reason to resign...

Moreover, if that is the concern (nor being able to make 45 moves in 45 seconds), then the title should be "Help me with better time management" or "help me move faster"... That question certainly has nothing to do with "Defend for black".

The question of how to defend for black is as simple as dont blunder, make completely routine moves following standard R and p ending guidelines, and wait for the position to simplify to Phillidor or 'non-Lucena'.

I understand why a 1600 without much formal training in R endings might panic here, but it baffles me that a 2000+ player would "consider resigning".

(I also dont understand why moves 42 and 43 were worth 15 seconds each, as again, any normal R move would have accomplished exactly the same.)

@DrHack said ^

Did you notice that black has 42 seconds left? @abyss-void

You clearly did not notice that I noticed. Read my previous post again.

I should say that what I meant earlier is that the position is likely drawn, but not trivial. White should still play on to try to win, and Black should still play on to try to draw. Neither side has exhausted its resources yet.

"the position is likely drawn, but not trivial"

• The position is clearly drawn, and it is trivial.
  Black just plays passively Ra1-Rb1-Ra1 until white advances his f-pawn, when Rf1+ secures the draw.

@tpr said ^

"the position is likely drawn, but not trivial"

• The position is clearly drawn, and it is trivial.
  Black just plays passively Ra1-Rb1-Ra1 until white advances his f-pawn, when Rf1+ secures the draw.

It is whites turn.