|
Year Book 2019-20 Contents |
Thing of the Day |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
(Click on underlined link) \/ to end of list \/
|
Chess Meets Snakes and Ladders
The following position was published in the Chess Player’s Chronicle of 1862 with the caption "Endgame between Mr. Thorold and Dr. Wilson", and the stipulation “White to move and win.” As both Edmund Thorold and Dr. William John Wilson lost their first-round games in the 8-player knock-out at West Yorkshire CA meeting in Leeds on 01/06/1861, it seems quite likely this comes from a 3rd-place play-off game between the two.
Clearly, to win, White must win the black pawn and queen his own, but, if in the position below White were to play 1. Ba2 to win the pawn, then 1. … Kc8 2. Bxc7 allows 2. … g1=Q., so some subtlety is needed.
How does White, to move, win from this position?
The following position was published as a study in The Chess Amateur volume XI (1916-17), with the caption “White wins.” If you think of the board having Black at the bottom, then the position could have resulted from a time scramble in which Black allowed the White queen to capture his last piece, to allow him to promote his pawn to get a queen. Believing Q+N versus Q to be a “book” drawn ending, Black might in this position offer a draw, but the “book” draw does not necessarily apply when the defending K+Q are at the edge of the board, and the opposing knight is within striking distance – as here.
How does White, to move, win from this position?
By a humorous twist of fate, the above study was in fact printed incorrectly, and when the intended solution was printed, the reader was instructed to add a black pawn at g5, which makes the win much more difficult. In fact the black pawn at g5, and White’s own king at g3, both get in the way of the white queen’s operations. Thus, in the corrected position, given below with added visual aids to solving, the white queen needs to carefully descend the snake indicated by the green arrows (9 queen moves), move across to the bottom of the first of the two ladders whose ends are indicated by red asterisks (another queen move), wait while the knight makes a move (the one knight move in the solution), then climb up the two ladders (2 more queen moves), and finally deliver mate next move. The assumption is that Black avoids losing his queen for nothing, moving accordingly, otherwise the win becomes trivial. So, it is White to move and mate in 14, or win Black’s queen for nothing and win easily.
How does White win from this position? (Follow the instructions above, if needs be.)
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
