Chess Puzzles Quiz #8 (Endgame)

This is a collection of 5 endgame chess puzzles. Can you go 5/5 by finding the correct solutions to all of them? If you like to solve the rubik's cube, you might also like chess puzzles.


Internet Chess Club

[BillG]

#5 was one of the most amazing things I've seen to avoid a loss. :)

[JalebJay]

I remember you posting the last puzzle on facebook :D

[chosen_none]

great stuff, Jerry. Learned a bunch. Quite amazed by that last puzzle.

[OgreVI]

@BillG37
I'm with you. I absolutely did not see that coming, but it was GORGEOUS.

[RyanTradesFutures]

would another solution for puzzle 4 be:
a6 Kc6
Ke7 and then continue to catch the black pawn for a draw?

[nrmz]

very good puzzles even though I didnt get any one right. my calculation needs alot of work... but thanks again Jerry...looking forward to your next one...:)

[burnsyy]

The self stalemeate bit.I saw it before reaching that puzzle.

[cortoth]

Wouldn't Kd6 still work if you then go Kc5 Kd5 making use of triangulation that way?

[BossAtUCF]

Were you running Fritz on a toaster? Because it should be able to search just a few moves deep all variations in a matter of microseconds.

[NeverInterpreter]

Houdini found it in a couple of seconds ^^

[RastaDrummer]

@DeTaPix I can't belive that, my armageddon chess prog (rated about 2300) find it in a millisecond

[randalcolvin]

these lessons remind me of 40 years ago when my uncle and i sat up studying end game principles. tenx!

[noxure]

@MrIran69 No, just no... because:

It would dumb the game down tremendously. Endgames without stalemate-traps will be really boring.
Instead of draws, you'll just get more people resigning before the 30th move.
And most importantly, it would make the game unbalanced. White would win a lot more than reasonable.

[ZoeTheCat]

6:10 - would it not be nice to know where Black/White originally resided?

[akameki]

just a draw... perpetual checks, repetition, whatever, a draw is better than a loss.

[noxure]

@dietsnapple89 I do it automatically if I see that I'll lose otherwise. No point trying to win a losing position.

Also, stalemate is a psychological weapon and can even lead you to unlikely victories.

Some people are so stubbornly trying to win that they start making some really stupid moves to avoid a draw and end up losing the game altogether. Why? Because the game was really rather well for them so they underestimate you and don't want to spoil that feeling of superiority with a draw.

[gorantrevise]

@zduracel77 If you play a6 instead of Kb8 black might try to catch your pawn by playing very cleverly Kb6!

[keydetpiper]

These puzzles make me feel very incompetent at chess, but they definitely stretch my thinking.

[tjajcj]

@RyuBao White can't catch the black pawn after h5

[MrIran]

there are too many draws in chess and stalemate would greatly reduce number of draws in chess for eg king and a pawn against lone king would always be win for player with a pawn ( unless it is captured ) . it's illogical for player who has no legal moves to get a draw, he should lose