Connected vs split pawns ending
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First have look at the diagram on the left site.
It’s a draw. Can you see why?
And do you see that the game is won by White if the black pawns are removed from the board?
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Endgame |
1... Kf5
[Certainly not 1... b2+ because after 2.Kxb2 a1=Q+ 3.Kxa1 the game will be rather easy to win by White. This is a king vs. two split pawns ending that is also discussed in Silman's Complete Endgame Course. According to Silman the White king is “light-years awayâ€, and even though White’s pawns look vulnerable, it is a rather easy win for White. But the easy win has everything to do with the fact that the pawns can not be captured by the black King which enables the white King to approach. Please note that in our starting diagram the white King is also unable to assist the pawns. 3...Kg7
( 3... Kh5 4.f5 Kh6 ( 4... Kxh4 5.f6 makes it very easy ) 5.Kb2 ( and certainly not 5.f6?? Kg6 ) 5... Kg7 6.h5 ( 6.Kc3 is a serious mistake, because we allow to capture the f-pawn and Black will still be in time to capture the h-pawn as well. ) 6... Kh6 7.f6 and now Black is unable to capture the pawn again 7...Kh7 8.Kc3 Kh6 9.Kd4 Kh7 10.Ke5 Kh6 11.Ke6 )
4.Kb2 Kg6 5.Kc3 Kf5 6.h5 Kf6 7.Kd4 Kf5 8.Kd5 Kf6 9.Ke4 Kg7 10.f5 ( 10.Kf5 may be easier to see with our knowledge about the key squares. ) 10... Kf6 11.h6 Kf7 12.Ke5 Kf8 13.f6 Now the white king is not needed anymore as we have seen in our lesson about the square rule for separated pawns.]
2.h5 Kf6 Remember the square rule. 3.Kb2 Kg7 4.f5 and for Black each King’s move will do 4...Kf6 5.h6 the only move resulting in a draw. 5... Kf7 6.Ka1 Kf6 7.Kb2 Kf7 8.Ka1 Kf6 9.Kb2 resulting in a draw. 1/2-1/2
Both White as well as Black didn’t have other options.
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