S1 E18 Puzzles

Ten episodes ago, we looked at puzzles. This week, we will be trying a couple more. 
These puzzles are not necessarily ordered in terms of difficulty, but each provide key endgame elements that occur in games. 
With enough practice, you will be able to visualize the solution without needing to think to solve them, 
you can simply look at the board and say 'This is winning', 'This is a draw', or 'This is losing'. 

Our first puzzle examines pawn promotion against kings. 
The goal - is to visualize the solution before the moves are called out. Pause the podcast to work out the solution if you need to. 
Now let's dive in. 

Position 1: 
White has a pawn on b5.
White's king is on c6. 
Black's king is on a7. 

Again, that is - 
White has a pawn on b5.
White's king is on c6. 
Black's king is on a7.

Please attempt to work out the solution before moving on - 
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This puzzle requires pushing the black king out of the corner, but you need to be careful to avoid the stalemate traps that occur on either 
a8 - if you move the king to the wrong square
or b8 if you push the pawn straight forward

Good! We made it through the first one. Now onto the second one - 

Position 2:
White has a pawn on e5. 
White's king is on d6.
Black has a pawn on e6. 
Black's king is on f5. 

Again, that is - 
White has a pawn on e5. 
White's king is on d6.
Black has a pawn on e6. 
Black's king is on f5. 

Two questions arising from this position - if it is White to move, who is winning? Second - if it is black to move, who is winning? 
I'll give you a couple moments to consider this one. 
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This puzzle is an example of 'mutual zugzwang'. Whoever is to move in this position loses the game. 
Both players are attacking their opponent's pawn and defending their own. Who ever needs to move has to step away from their pawn, allowing their opponent to capture.
From there, they will be in a position to win the game. 

I have attached a link in the show notes if you would like more zugzwang practice - 

https://www.chess.com/article/view/what-is-zugzwang-chess-terms 

The final puzzle we are looking at today looks at Rook and Pawn promotion. There are a couple more pieces on the board in this one - 

Position 3: 
White has a pawn on a7.
White has a rook on a8.
White's king is on f2.
Black has a rook on a1. 
Black's king is on f6. 

Again, that is - 
White has a pawn on a7.
White has a rook on a8.
White's king is on f2.
Black has a rook on a1. 
Black's king is on f6. 

Best of luck! 
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This one is fairly straightforward - white can simply check the black king, leveraging the checking distance to promote their pawn, and eventually winning a rook against king ending. 

For an added challenge - how does the position change if the black king is on e7 instead of f6? 

Now, white needs to check from the side of the black king - getting around the king in order to reach the black rook that is now on a7. 

That is all we have time for this week. Join us next time where we continue to work on our blindfold capabilities and we look at games (and puzzles!) of the Masters. 

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