Monday, April 20, 2009

Solution to Problem # 54



This position is a 1921 Reti construction. As Steve Giddins says in his 101 Chess Endgame Tips, "We are all taught at an early age that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. However, there are some important differences between chessboard geometry and its Euclidean equivalent. White draws this hopeless-looking position because the king march Kg7-f6-e5-f4-g3-h2 does not take any more moves than the straight route Kh7-h6-h5-h4-h3-h2. By using the former route, however, the white king is able to threaten to queen his own pawn, and thereby gain vital tempi."

The game proceeds 1.Kg7 h4 2.Kf6 Kb6 (2...h3 3.Ke6 Kb6 4.Kd6 draws) 3.Ke5 Kxc6 4.Kf4 and White saves the draw.