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DEAD DRAW!
That's right. If White loses both g-pawns AND
his three queenside pawns for Black's two, the
game is still a draw!
The extreme position in the last diagram didn't
occur though, and the actual game ended without
any adventures: 25…Kg7 26.a4 bxa4 27.Bxa6
Kg6 28.Bb5 Bxg3 29.Bxa4 Kxg5 30.Ke2 f5 31.Kf3
Bd6 32.c3 e5 33.Bc2, 1/2-1/2.
Okay, after seeing me label the last diagram
(which we'll use for our new starting position)
a dead draw, many of you might be thinking, “Someone
let Silman loose in the pharmaceuticals again!” So,
just in case you doubt this humble writer, let
me try and prove my point of view.
We'll explore two different methods for Black.
METHOD ONE:
Black tries to bring his King to d4 without pushing
his pawns.
1…Kf5 2.Be8!
So that the f7-pawn won't be defending the e6-pawn
anymore.
2…f6 3.Bd7!
Now the Black King is stuck defending the e6-pawn.
He has to give up his plan and try
3…Ke5 4.Bc8 Kd6 5.Ke4
But now Black will have to push his pawns if
he wants to win, and that will be examined next.
METHOD TWO:
Black shoves his pawns forward!
1…f5 2.Bb3!
This fine move gives Black two choices: he can
play …Kf6 and simply guard the pawn for
the rest of the game (which means he'll make
no progress whatsoever), or he can push the pawn
to e5, which is clearly what Black was aiming
for anyway.
2…e5
Now Black threatens (after something hideous
like 3.Ba4??) 3…e4+ 4.Ke3 Bc5+ 5.Ke2 f4
when the pawns will soon make their way to the
sixth rank: 6.Bc2 f3+ 7.Ke1 Kf4 8.Bb1 e3 9.Bd3
Bb4+ 10.Kf1 Ke5 (Black will march his King around
to d2 so he can play …e3-e2+ without letting
White sacrifice his Bishop for both enemy pawns.
White can't do anything to prevent this plan.)
11.Ba6 Kd4 12.Bb5 Kc3 13.Ke1 Kc2+ 14.Kf1 Kd2,
0-1.
| RULE THREE: In general (in the context
of our subject matter), two connected passed
pawns on the sixth are winning. To draw,
the defender can't allow the pawns to get
that far! |
3.Bc2!
Believe it or not, this simple move, which stops …e4+
due to Bxe4, ends the game. Black is no longer
able to generate any kind of threat whatsoever.
3…Kf6 4.Bd3 Ke6 5.Bc2
Black would have chances if he could get his
King to d4 (which would help the e-pawn safely
advance to e4), but White's attack on f5 freezes
the enemy King in its tracks. Since White's defensive
plan now calls for nothing more than Bc2-b1-c2-b1,
the game should be declared drawn.
DRAW AGREED
This position is literally over (White didn't
let the Black pawns get to the sixth, as mentioned
in RULE THREE.), and should be agreed drawn.
White will simply play Bg2-h1-g2-h1 and Black
can't make progress since …f4-f3+ is always
met by Bxf3.
However, our next position is won for Black.
WHITE LOSES!
Ah, the lovely sound of confused chess players
screaming! Why is the previous diagram a dead
draw while this one is dead lost? Understanding
the difference will give you the true key to
this whole endgame!
In the drawn version of this position, Black's
King is forever doomed to baby-sit the e4-pawn.
That means he can't get the King to g3 (which
would allow a winning …f4-f3 push) because
the e-pawn would hang. Of course, if Black tries …e4-e3,
then White just moves his Bishop mindlessly (and
endlessly!) along the h1-a8 diagonal, forming
a perfect block to both enemy pawns.
In the losing version, the e4-pawn is not
attacked by the White Bishop. Now the Black
King is indeed free to roam, and after …Ke5-d4-e3,
the …f4-f3 advance will seal the deal.
| RULE FOUR: The correct defensive stance
calls for the defender's Bishop to tie the
enemy King down to the defense of its pawn. |
Some of you might now be wondering what happens
if Black leaves his pawns back a bit and instead
strives to improve the position of his King (in
an effort to avoid the drawn position we have
just seen). If you glance back to METHOD ONE,
you'll finally understand what I was trying to
do (it probably didn't make much sense earlier!) – the
defender will answer this strategy by attacking
the pawns with his Bishop and forcing their
advance!
Let's look at a simple example of this.
BLACK HAS ONE LAST SHOT
In this position, we're familiar with 1…d4
2.Bc2 when we have our basic dead drawn defensive
posture. But suppose Black refuses to take the
bait and instead tries to activate his King by
1…Kd4. Here's a quick white suicide that
will serve as an example of what Black has in
mind: 2.Bc2 Kc3 3.Bb1?? Kb2 when the Bishop,
and the game, are lost!
Fortunately, after 1…Kd4 White
can draw easily if he remembers to always
restrict the enemy King's movements by forcing
it to defend its pawns. Thus 2.Ba2! stops
the King's march in its tracks! After 2…Bg5 (Hoping
White will move his Bishop off the d5-pawn.) 3.Bb3 (Nope.
White can go Bb3-a2-b3 all day!) 3…Kc5
4.Ba2 d4 5.Bb1! Kd5 6.Bc2 and we once again
have our ideal drawing posture.
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