"I had to be in for half six... there was a curfew at half nine"
I've been rather enjoying the Pimlico Open. Every Thursday at 6:30 for five weeks, I get to keep my game up to speed and speed my game up to keep going. And it's going all right, so far. Two wins and a draw mean I'm in a share of the lead. But I very, very nearly blew it last week.
In this position, I managed to not immediately see that my king could shepherd the passed pawn from the c file. Over about five minutes, I terrified myself into thinking that I had to bail out for a draw with 47... Kf4. It's just as well that blindness can be temporary.
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Earlier today I found myself asking the question, "What are desi beats?". Any offers?
Why is ...Kf4 a draw? Doesn't he queen first and stop your h-pawn?
What trivial thing am I missing, I wonder.
It's good to be reminded of The Fall now and again. I like that chugging bassline.
coz black can queen the g-pawn.
Richard
In the line where Black plays Kf4, the next moves are presumably Kxf3, Kg3, Kxh3 and Kxg4. There are then two routes to queen, h5,h4,h3,h2,h1Q which runs into the problem that White has just played a8Q. Alternatively playing Kf4, g4,g3,g2,g1Q avoids this.
Soltis once wrote that his suggestion for practical play in King and pawn endings was to avoid them where possible.
Any other hidden snares in the position?
RdC
I queen the g pawn instead.
47...Kf4 48. Kxd4 Kxf3 49. Kc5 Kg3 50. Kb6 Kxh3 51. Kxa6 Kxg4 52. Kb5 Kf4 53. a5 g4 54. a6 g3 55. a7 g2 56. a8Q g1Q 57. Qf8+ draw
How did you do that?! Ah, well, you were lucky, I guess.
I had another dream related to Star Wars. Darth Reuben and Emperor Arkell wanted to turn OB1 Benoni to the dark side. RdC2 and Jedi master Ernie Lazenby rescued OB1 just in time. However, Fluke Plystalker was tortured by Arkell in a long rook and pawn ending and was turned to the dark side. Eventually, after several AGMs, Master Lazenby and Darth De Mooi ruled the galaxy as father and son. The ECF ruled the local systems through fear...
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