Endgame study solving is fun for everybody
By Harold van der Heijden
Some years ago I was invited to a general chess meeting in the city of Apeldoorn
to promote the endgame study. The meeting was attended by many young chess talents,
strong players, and even some grandmasters. Besides some promotional material
(magazines and books on endgame studies) I hoped to attract the audience with
a chess board which had the following position:
Harold van der Heijden
White to play and win
This composition, authored by myself, had previously appeared in a Dutch newspaper
(Algemeen Dagblad, 18.1.2003). It is very suited for such an occasion, as it
can be solved by everybody by the trial-and-error method, while it is still
fun (i.e. difficult) for the more gifted o.t.b. players.
Surely, everybody appreciates that White’s win should come from a pawn
breakthrough combination. However, 1.g5? fxg5 is a draw – after 2.e5 Black
even wins, as the black g-pawn advances with check and promotes with a mate-in-one
threat. And 1.e5? fxe5 2.g5 e4 3.g6 e3 4.g7 e2 5.g8Q e1Q is a draw. Perhaps
1.Kh3? In that case, after 1...Kf3! White has nothing better than 2.e5 fxe5
3.g5 e4 4.g6 e3 5.g7 e2 6.g8Q e1Q with a draw we recognize from the 1.e5? line.
The only legal move that remains is the surprising 1.Kh1!,
which is “of course” the solution. Obviously, if Black plays to
the e-file (1...Ke3) then White plays 2.e5 fxe5 3.g5 e4 4.g6 and the black king
obstructs his e-pawn. Playing to the g-file (1...Kg3) allows White to promote
with check: 2.e5 fxe5 3.g5 e4 4.g6 e3 5.g7 e2 6.g8Q+ and win.
More difficult is 1...Kf3. White then plays 2.e5! (not 2.g5? fxg5 3.e5? –
still attempting to win – 3...Kf2 and White is mated) 2...fxe5 3.g5 e4
and now 4.Kg1! e3 5.Kf1 and wins.
But, almost everybody asked, what about 1...Kf1, which seems
to change nothing in the initial position? But it does: 2.e5! fxe5 3.g5
e4 4.g6 e3 5.g7 e2 6.g8Q e1Q with a position that we have seen with
the kings shifted one or two files up. Here’s the difference: 7.Qg2
mate!
[Event "Algemeen Dagblad"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2003.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "van der Heijden, Harold"]
[Black "White to play and win"]
[Result "1-0"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/5p2/8/4P1P1/8/5k1K/8 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "13"]
[EventDate "2003.??.??"]
1. Kh1 $1 (1. e5 $2 fxe5 2. g5 e4 3. g6 e3 4. g7 e2 5. g8=Q e1=Q 6. Qg3+ Ke2 $1
$11) (1. g5 $2 fxg5 2. Kh3 (2. e5 g4 3. e6 g3+ 4. Kh3 g2 5. e7 g1=Q 6. Kh4 Qe1
$19) 2... Kf3 $11) (1. Kh3 $2 Kf3 $1 2. e5 fxe5 3. g5 e4 4. g6 e3 5. g7 e2 6.
g8=Q e1=Q $11) 1... Kf1 (1... Kf3 2. e5 $1 ({Not} 2. g5 $2 fxg5 3. Kg1 {draw.}
({If} 3. e5 {still attempting to win} Kf2 {and White gets mated.})) 2... fxe5
3. g5 e4 (3... Kf2 4. g6 e4 5. g7 e3 6. g8=Q $18) 4. Kg1 $1 e3 5. Kf1 e2+ 6.
Ke1 $18) (1... Ke3 2. e5 (2. g5 $2 fxg5 3. e5 $4 Kf2 4. e6 g4 5. e7 g3 6. e8=Q
g2+ 7. Kh2 g1=Q+ 8. Kh3 Qg3#) 2... fxe5 3. g5 e4 4. g6 $18) (1... Kg3 2. e5
fxe5 3. g5 $18) 2. e5 $1 fxe5 3. g5 e4 4. g6 e3 5. g7 e2 6. g8=Q e1=Q 7. Qg2#
1-0
I estimate that perhaps some fifty people tried to solve the position, and
almost all of them tried all other keys before considering 1.Kh1 (i.e the trial-and-error
method). Some smart guys said: “1.Kh1 is the solution, because it is the
most unlikely move in this position”. But they also failed to see the
point from the initial position. Then GM Artur Yusupov walked along my table.
Earlier that day I had talked to this very nice person, and he told me then
than he often used my endgame study database for training purposes, i.e. improving
his endgame tactics. I challenged him: “Mr. Yusupov, can you solve this
study?”. He glanced over the position for about ten seconds and said:
“Kh1 and Qg2 mate” and shook my hand.
My “revenge” was a challenge that even proved to be too difficult
for him to solve (see picture). Here he almost discovered the main line, but
found himself lost in the myriad of sub-variations. Endgame study solving is
for fun for everybody!
Van der Heijden,H, Beasley,J, 2000
White to play and win
Solution
[Event "sp.p Diagrammes#4510"] [Site "?"] [Date "2000.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White
"Van der Heijden=H Beasley=J"] [Black "(+0013.30a3b1)"] [Result "1-0"] [SetUp
"1"] [FEN "8/8/8/8/4n3/K1P5/P1P5/Bk6 w - - 0 1"] [PlyCount "19"] [EventDate
"2000.??.??"] 1. Bb2 $1 (1. c4 $2 Kxa1 $1 2. Kb3 Nd2+ 3. Kc3 Nb1+ 4. Kb3 Nd2+)
(1. Kb3 $2 Nd2+ $1 (1... Kxa1 $2 2. a4) 2. Ka3 Kxa1) (1. Kb4 $2 Kxa2 $1 (1...
Kxa1 $2 2. a4 $1) 2. c4 Kxa1) 1... Nd2 (1... Kxc2 2. c4 $1 Kb1 3. Bh8 Nc5 4.
Bd4 Ne6 5. Bb6) (1... Nc5 2. c4) (1... Nd6 2. Kb3) 2. c4 $1 (2. Ka4 $2 Kxb2)
(2. Kb4 $2 Kxa2 $1 (2... Kxb2 $2 3. a4 $1 Ne4 4. c4 $1 Kxc2 5. c5 $1 Kd3 6.
a5 $1 Kd4 7. a6 $1 Nxc5 8. a7 Na6+ 9. Kb5) 3. Bc1 Ne4 $1 4. Ba3 (4. Bf4 Kb2)
4... Kb1 5. Kb3 Nd2+) 2... Nxc4+ 3. Kb4 $1 (3. Kb3 $2 Nxb2) 3... Nxb2 4. Kb3
$1 Kc1 $1 (4... Nd1 5. c4) (4... Ka1 5. a4) 5. a3 $1 (5. a4 $2 Nxa4 6. Kxa4
Kxc2) (5. c4 $2 Nd3 $1 6. a4 (6. Kc3 Nc5 7. Kb4 Ne6 8. a4 Kd2 9. a5 Kd3 10.
a6 Kd4 11. a7 Nc7) 6... Kd2 $1 7. a5 Ke3 $1 8. a6 (8. Ka4 Nc5+ 9. Kb5 Kd4) 8...
Nc5+) (5. Kc3 $2 Na4+) (5. c3 $2 Nd3 $1) 5... Nd1 (5... Kb1 6. c4 $1 Nd3 7.
a4 $1 Nc5+ 8. Kb4 $1 Na6+ 9. Kb5 Nc7+ 10. Kb6) 6. a4 $1 (6. c4 $2 Kd2 7. c5
Nc3 8. Kc4 Na4 $1 9. c6 Nb6+ $1 10. Kb5 Nc8 11. a4 Kd3 12. a5 Kd4 $1 13. Ka6
Kd5 14. Kb7 Nd6+ 15. Kb6 Nc8+) 6... Ne3 (6... Kd2 7. a5 Nc3 8. Kc4 Ne4 (8...
Kxc2 9. a6 Na4 10. a7) 9. Kd5 Nf6+ 10. Kc6) 7. a5 $1 (7. c4 $2 Kd2 8. a5 Kd3
$1) 7... Nd5 (7... Nf5 8. a6 $1 Ne7 9. a7 $1 Nc6 10. a8=Q) (7... Nxc2 8. Kc4
(8. Kc3 $1 Ne3 9. a6 Nd5+ 10. Kb3 $1) 8... Ne3+ 9. Kc5 $1) 8. a6 $1 (8. c4 $2
Nc7 $1) (8. Kc4 $2 Nc7 9. Kc5 Kxc2 10. Kc6 Na6) 8... Nc7 (8... Kd2 9. a7 $1
Nc7 10. Ka4) (8... Nb6 9. a7 $1 Kd2 10. Kb4) 9. a7 Nb5 (9... Kd2 10. Kb4) 10.
a8=Q 1-0
Study king Harold van der Heijden
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