White to Move...

Assessment

This is an interesting position because it is more complex than it seems. First of all, we have been trained to consider a piece advantage as a decisive one. Black is up a bishop in this position. Bishops have more mobility than pawns, but pawns in the endgame are no longer mere pawns. They have a greater potential for promotion, usually to the strongest piece the Queen. White has two passed, unconnected pawns. Their queening squares are white while Black's bishop is a dark-squared one. Practically, this means that the A and G pawns need to get passed the a5, a7, g5, g7 squares to be out of danger from the black bishop. The Black king can help against the G pawn but he is too far from the A pawn to be able to influence it in any way. The black bishop will have to take on that respon- sibility, and it will need a good outpost from which it can stop the A pawn. The bishop's goal is to cover the a7 square and its actions should be according to that plan.

That brings us to another aspect of good endgame play ---the centralized king. The White king fits the description! From his position on e4, the white king controls two key squares for the black bishop, e3 and d4. Without this centralized king position, a win for white is not possible. Finally, can you see another important aspect of this position? A correct assessment of the position must lead to the following conclusion: White can never lose in this position! Even if he loses both his pawns, the game is a draw. The black king & bishop are not enough to mate a lone king. So, Black is playing to avert a loss and White will play for the win using good endgame technique.

The Moves

1. a5 ...
Not a big surprise for Black. This move gets the
A pawn passed one of the two black squares on the
way to the queening square.

1 ... Bf8
The bishop aims for the c5 square from which it can
move along the a7 to g1 diagonal.

2 Kd5 ...
White guards the c5 square.

2 ... Bh6
Black tries another route to that important diagonal.
Now the bishop aims for the e3 square.

3 g5!!! ...
Supposing White played 3 a6 ... then Black would
play 3 ... Be3 and the game should be an easy draw
for Black. See Diagram

4 ... Bg5 If Black plays 3 ... Kg5, then White can proceed with 4 a6 Kf6 ( or 4 ... Bf8 ) 5. a7 and the pawn queens after black's reply!

5 Ke4 ...
The White king guards the e3 square. Notice that with the capture of the white pawn on g5 by the bishop, the bishop is now on the same diagonal as the black king. The squares d8 and e6 are not available to the bishop.

5 ... Bh4 ( See Diagram )
Black tries one more time to get to the a7 to g1 diagonal.
If he succeeds, he would have an easy draw by moving the
bishop up and down the diagonal until it can be sacrificed
for the a pawn

6 Kf3 ...
The white king moves to cover the f2 square. Black has run
out of ways to catch the a pawn. If Black plays 6 ... Be1, White
responds with 7 a6 and there is no way for the black
to cover the a7 square. Black resigns.

Analysis by Ted Teodoro

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