Pins and wins - Kaplan-Bronstein Hastings 1975/76

[Marc MP]

[d]

After 1... Rxd2! 2. Rxd2 Rd8 3. Rd1 c4! black wins because white will run out of a-g-h pawn moves and will have to move the king, losing the rook on d2. Is there an engine able to find this ?

[Terry McCracken]

[d]

After 1... Rxd2! 2. Rxd2 Rd8 3. Rd1 c4! black wins because white will run out of a-g-h pawn moves and will have to move the king, losing the rook on d2. Is there an engine able to find this ?

Easy for humans...do you have the whole game or a link to it?

[Marc MP]

Hi Terry,

I just found it on chessgames.com (my original diagram and analysis are from Inside Chess August 21, 1995, an article by FM Robert Timmer),

There is an interesting disscusion about it (I think), but I didn't have the time to sort it out. The address is: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1034749

Cheers,

[Vinvin]

5rk1/pp3p1p/7b/2pR4/8/2P4P/P1PNr1P1/2K4R b - - 1 1[/D]

After 1... Rxd2! 2. Rxd2 Rd8 3. Rd1 c4! black wins because white will run out of a-g-h pawn moves and will have to move the king, losing the rook on d2. Is there an engine able to find this ?

After 1... Rxd2! 2. Rxd2 Rd8 3. Rd1, Toga II 1.4 beta5c needs 13m51s to give more than -3 to 3...c4! :

[d]3r2k1/pp3p1p/7b/2p5/8/2P4P/P1PR2P1/2KR4 b - - 0 1

Analysis by Toga II 1.4 beta5c:

3...Rg7 4.c4 Rg6 5.g3 Rf5 6.g4+ Rg6 7.c3 Txd2 8.Txd2 Fxd2+ 9.Rxd2 Rg5 10.a4 Rh4 11.Re3 Rxh3
µ (-0.92) Profondeur: 12/21 00:00:01 140kN
3...Rg7 4.c4 Rg6 5.g3 Rf5 6.g4+ Re5 7.Te1+ Rf6 8.Tf1+ Rg6 9.Tff2 Txd2 10.Txd2 Fxd2+ 11.Rxd2 Rg5 12.Re2 Rh4 13.Re3 Rxh3
µ (-0.92) Profondeur: 13/22 00:00:01 235kN
3...Rg7 4.c4 Rg6 5.g3 Rf5 6.g4+ Re5 7.Te1+ Rf6 8.Tf1+ Rg6 9.Tff2 Txd2 10.Txd2 Fxd2+ 11.Rxd2 Rg5 12.Re2 Rh4 13.Rf3 Rxh3 14.Rf4
µ (-1.12) Profondeur: 14/24 00:00:01 476kN
3...Rg7 4.c4 Rg6 5.g3 Rf5 6.g4+ Re5 7.Te1+ Rf6 8.Tf1+ Rg6 9.Tff2 Txd2 10.Txd2 Fxd2+ 11.Rxd2 Rg5 12.Re2 Rh4 13.Rf3 Rxh3 14.g5 Rh4
µ (-1.16) Profondeur: 15/25 00:00:01 1004kN
3...Rg7 4.c4 Rg6 5.g3 Rf5 6.g4+ Re5 7.Te1+ Rf6 8.Tf1+ Rg6 9.Tff2 Txd2 10.Txd2 Fxd2+ 11.Rxd2 Rg5 12.Re2 Rh4 13.Rf3 Rxh3 14.g5 Rh4 15.Rf4
µ (-1.24) Profondeur: 16/25 00:00:01 1876kN
3...Rg7 4.c4 Rg6 5.g3 Rf5 6.c3 Txd2 7.Txd2 Re4 8.g4 Fxd2+ 9.Rxd2 Rf4 10.Re2 Rg3 11.Re3 Rxh3 12.Rf4 h6 13.a4 Rh4 14.a5
µ (-1.24) Profondeur: 17/32 00:00:02 2053kN
3...Rg7 4.c4 Rg6 5.g3 Rf5 6.g4+ Re5 7.Te1+ Rf6 8.Tf1+ Rg6 9.Tff2 Txd2 10.Txd2 Fxd2+ 11.Rxd2 Rg5 12.Re2 Rh4 13.Rf3 Rxh3 14.g5 Rh4 15.Rf4 b6 16.Rf5
µ (-1.24) Profondeur: 18/32 00:00:02 2053kN
3...Rg7 4.c4 Rg6 5.g3 Rf5 6.g4+ Re5 7.Te1+ Rf6 8.Tf1+ Rg6 9.Tff2 Txd2 10.Txd2 Fxd2+ 11.Rxd2 Rg5 12.Re2 Rh4 13.Rf3 Rxh3 14.g5 Rh4 15.Rf4 Rh5 16.Rf5
µ (-1.24) Profondeur: 19/32 00:00:02 2055kN
3...Rg7 4.c4 Rg6 5.g3 Rf5 6.g4+ Re5 7.Te1+ Rf6 8.Tf1+ Rg6 9.Tff2 Txd2 10.Txd2 Fxd2+ 11.Rxd2 Rg5 12.Re2 Rh4 13.Rf3 Rxh3 14.g5 Rh4 15.Rf4 Rh5 16.Rf5 b6 17.Rf4
µ (-1.24) Profondeur: 20/32 00:00:02 2056kN
3...Rg7 4.c4 Rg6 5.a3 Fe3 6.c3 Rf5 7.Rc2 Fxd2 8.Txd2 Txd2+ 9.Rxd2 Rf4 10.Re2 Rg3 11.Rf1 f6 12.Rg1 f5 13.Rh1 f4 14.Rg1 f3 15.gxf3 Rxf3 16.Rf1
µ (-1.26) Profondeur: 21/51 00:00:11 13780kN
3...Rg7 4.c4 Rg6 5.g3 Rf5 6.g4+ Re5 7.Te1+ Rf6 8.Tf1+ Rg6 9.Tff2 Txd2 10.Txd2 Fxd2+ 11.Rxd2 Rg5 12.Re2 Rh4 13.Rf3 Rxh3 14.g5 Rh4 15.Rf4 b6 16.c3 a6 17.a4 Rh5 18.Rf5
µ (-1.24) Profondeur: 22/51 00:00:11 15340kN
3...Rg7 4.a3 Rg6 5.a4 b6 6.c4 Td4 7.c3 Txc4 8.Rb2 Fxd2 9.Txd2 Txa4 10.Td7 h5 11.Rb3 b5 12.Rb2 a6 13.Td5 c4 14.h4 f6 15.g3 f5 16.Td7 a5 17.Td6+ Rf7
-+ (-1.51) Profondeur: 23/53 00:01:07 104mN
3...Rg7 4.a3 Rg6 5.a4 b6 6.c4 Td4 7.g3 Fe3 8.c3 Fxd2+ 9.Txd2 Txc4 10.Rb2 Txa4 11.Td6+ Rg7 12.Td7 h5 13.Tb7 Rf6 14.Tc7 Re6 15.Tb7 f5 16.Th7 h4
-+ (-1.53) Profondeur: 24/53 00:01:35 155mN
3...Rg7 4.a3 Rg6 5.a4 b6 6.c4 Td4 7.g3 Fe3 8.c3 Fxd2+ 9.Txd2 Txc4 10.Rb2 Txa4 11.Td6+ Rg7 12.Td7 h5 13.Tb7 Rf6 14.Tc7 Re6 15.Tb7 f5 16.Rb3 Ta1 17.Rb2 Tg1
-+ (-1.53) Profondeur: 25/53 00:02:12 218mN
3...Rg7 4.a3 Rg6 5.a4 b6 6.c4 Td4 7.g3 Fe3 8.c3 Fxd2+ 9.Txd2 Txc4 10.Rb2 Txa4 11.Td6+ f6 12.Td7 h5 13.Te7 a6 14.Te6 b5 15.Tc6 c4 16.Td6 a5 17.Td4 Rf7 18.Td7+ Re6
-+ (-1.53) Profondeur: 26/53 00:03:30 338mN
3...Rg7 4.a3 Rg6 5.a4 b6 6.c4 Td4 7.c3 Txc4 8.Rb2 Fxd2 9.Txd2 Txa4 10.Td6+ Rg7 11.Rb3 Te4 12.Td7 a5 13.Tb7 Te6 14.Ra4 Rg6 15.Rb5 f5 16.Tb8 Rf6 17.Td8 Re7 18.Tb8 h5 19.Txb6
-+ (-1.67) Profondeur: 26/61 00:07:52 700mN
3...c4 4.h4 Ff4 5.g3 Fh6 6.g4 Ff4 7.h5 b5 8.g5 b4 9.cxb4 c3 10.Tg1 cxd2+ 11.Rd1 Td5 12.g6 Txh5 13.gxh7+ Rxh7 14.c4 Th4 15.Re2 Fh6 16.Rd3 Tg4 17.Th1 Rg6 18.b5 Rf5
-+ (-3.42) Profondeur: 26/69 00:13:51 1118mN
3...c4 4.g4 Ff4 5.h4 b5 6.a3 a5 7.g5 b4 8.axb4 axb4 9.cxb4 c3 10.Rb1 Txd2 11.Tf1 Fd6 12.Te1 Fxb4 13.Te4 Fd6 14.Te3 Td4 15.Txc3 Txh4 16.Tb3 Th1+ 17.Ra2 Th2 18.Rb1
-+ (-3.45) Profondeur: 26/69 00:14:15 1132mN
3...c4 4.h4 Ff4 5.g3 Fh6 6.g4 Ff4 7.h5 b5 8.g5 b4 9.cxb4 c3 10.Tg1 cxd2+ 11.Rd1 Td5 12.a3 Txg5 13.Txg5+ Fxg5 14.c4 Rg7 15.c5 f5 16.a4 Rf6 17.c6 Ff4 18.b5 Re6 19.Re2
-+ (-3.48) Profondeur: 27/69 00:17:44 1205mN

[Terry McCracken]

Hi Terry,

I just found it on chessgames.com (my original diagram and analysis are from Inside Chess August 21, 1995, an article by FM Robert Timmer),

There is an interesting disscusion about it (I think), but I didn't have the time to sort it out. The address is: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1034749

Cheers,

Thanks Marc! Yes it appears hard for computers...they want to snap the g2 pawn instead.

Terry

[JVMerlino]

Uh, easy for really good humans, you mean?

The winning of the d2 Rook requires a search depth of 21, as far as I can tell. No surprise that it will take comps some time to find it.

jm

[Terry McCracken]

Uh, easy for really good humans, you mean?

The winning of the d2 Rook requires a search depth of 21, as far as I can tell. No surprise that it will take comps some time to find it.

jm

Easy for many humans...I spoted it in less than a second, in fact it was my first move to look at as I know the technique to win the pinned Rook.

It's a Zugzwang and I perfected this technique decades ago.

I didn't mean to offend anyone.

Terry

[JVMerlino]

Oh, no offense taken -- I know that I'm a patzer.

But perhaps this wasn't a good test of your chess expertise due to the title of the post? Hard to say...

jm

[Terry McCracken]

Oh, no offense taken -- I know that I'm a patzer.

But perhaps this wasn't a good test of your chess expertise due to the title of the post? Hard to say...

jm

You're quite right! The title does give it away. But I have exploited such pins in my own games often.

Best,
Terry

P.S. Never call yourself a patzer, there are plenty of people willing to try and demonstrate that

[Albert Silver]

5rk1/pp3p1p/7b/2pR4/8/2P4P/P1PNr1P1/2K4R b - - 1 1[/D]

After 1... Rxd2! 2. Rxd2 Rd8 3. Rd1 c4! black wins because white will run out of a-g-h pawn moves and will have to move the king, losing the rook on d2. Is there an engine able to find this ?

After 1... Rxd2! 2. Rxd2 Rd8 3. Rd1, Toga II 1.4 beta5c needs 13m51s to give more than -3 to 3...c4! :

[d]3r2k1/pp3p1p/7b/2p5/8/2P4P/P1PR2P1/2KR4 b - - 0 1

Analysis by Toga II 1.4 beta5c:

3...Rg7 4.c4 Rg6 5.g3 Rf5 6.g4+ Rg6 7.c3 Txd2 8.Txd2 Fxd2+ 9.Rxd2 Rg5 10.a4 Rh4 11.Re3 Rxh3
µ (-0.92) Profondeur: 12/21 00:00:01 140kN

3...Rg7 4.a3 Rg6 5.a4 b6 6.c4 Td4 7.c3 Txc4 8.Rb2 Fxd2 9.Txd2 Txa4 10.Td6+ Rg7 11.Rb3 Te4 12.Td7 a5 13.Tb7 Te6 14.Ra4 Rg6 15.Rb5 f5 16.Tb8 Rf6 17.Td8 Re7 18.Tb8 h5 19.Txb6
-+ (-1.67) Profondeur: 26/61 00:07:52 700mN
3...c4 4.h4 Ff4 5.g3 Fh6 6.g4 Ff4 7.h5 b5 8.g5 b4 9.cxb4 c3 10.Tg1 cxd2+ 11.Rd1 Td5 12.g6 Txh5 13.gxh7+ Rxh7 14.c4 Th4 15.Re2 Fh6 16.Rd3 Tg4 17.Th1 Rg6 18.b5 Rf5
-+ (-3.42) Profondeur: 26/69 00:13:51 1118mN
3...c4 4.g4 Ff4 5.h4 b5 6.a3 a5 7.g5 b4 8.axb4 axb4 9.cxb4 c3 10.Rb1 Txd2 11.Tf1 Fd6 12.Te1 Fxb4 13.Te4 Fd6 14.Te3 Td4 15.Txc3 Txh4 16.Tb3 Th1+ 17.Ra2 Th2 18.Rb1
-+ (-3.45) Profondeur: 26/69 00:14:15 1132mN
3...c4 4.h4 Ff4 5.g3 Fh6 6.g4 Ff4 7.h5 b5 8.g5 b4 9.cxb4 c3 10.Tg1 cxd2+ 11.Rd1 Td5 12.a3 Txg5 13.Txg5+ Fxg5 14.c4 Rg7 15.c5 f5 16.a4 Rf6 17.c6 Ff4 18.b5 Re6 19.Re2
-+ (-3.48) Profondeur: 27/69 00:17:44 1205mN

Rybka Winfinder on an Athlon64 2.2GHz with 512MB hash takes 3 minutes 25 seconds:

[-2.70] d=24 3...c4 4.g4 Be3 5.h4 b5 6.a3 a5 7.g5 b4 8.axb4 axb4 9.cxb4 c3 10.Kb1 (0:03.50)
[-2.70] d=23 3...c4 4.g4 Be3 5.h4 b5 6.a3 a5 7.g5 b4 8.axb4 axb4 9.cxb4 c3 10.Kb1 (0:03.25)
[-1.00] d=23 3...Kg7 4.c4 Kf6 5.c3 Rxd2 6.Rxd2 Ke5 7.Kc2 Bxd2 8.Kxd2 Kf4 9.Ke2 Kg3 10.Kf1 (0:02.43)
[-0.90] d=22 3...Kg7 4.c4 Kf6 5.c3 Rxd2 6.Rxd2 Ke5 7.Kc2 Bxd2 8.Kxd2 Kf4 9.Ke2 Kg3 10.Kf1 (0:01.34)
[-0.80] d=21 3...Kg7 4.c4 Kf6 5.c3 Rxd2 6.Rxd2 Ke5 7.Kc2 Bxd2 8.Kxd2 Kf4 9.Ke2 Kg3 10.Kf1 (0:00.52)
[-0.80] d=20 3...Kg7 4.c4 Kf6 5.c3 Rxd2 6.Rxd2 Ke5 7.Kc2 Bxd2 8.Kxd2 Kf4 9.Ke2 Kg3 10.Kf1 (0:00.35)
[-0.70] d=19 3...Kg7 4.c4 Rd4 5.c3 Bxd2 6.Rxd2 Rxc4 7.Kb2 (0:00.23)
[-0.50] d=19 3...Rd6 4.c4 Kg7 5.c3 Kf6 6.Rf1 Ke6 7.Re1 Kf5 8.Rf1 Kg6 9.Rff2 Rxd2 10.Rxd2 (0:00.14)
[-0.50] d=18 3...Rd6 4.c4 Kg7 5.c3 Kf6 6.Rf1 Ke6 7.Re1 Kf5 8.Rf1 Kg6 9.Rff2 Rxd2 10.Rxd2 (0:00.10)
[-0.50] d=17 3...Rd6 4.c4 Kg7 5.c3 Kf6 6.Rf1 Ke6 7.Re1 Kf5 8.Rf1 Kg6 9.Rff2 Rxd2 10.Rxd2 (0:00.06)
[-0.50] d=16 3...Rd6 4.c4 Kg7 5.c3 Kf6 6.Rf1 Ke6 7.Re1 Kf5 8.Rf1 Kg6 9.Rff2 Rxd2 10.Rxd2 (0:00.04)
[-0.50] d=15 3...Rd6 4.c4 Kg7 5.c3 Kf6 6.Rf1 Ke6 7.Re1 Kf5 8.Rf1 Kg6 9.Rff2 Rxd2 10.Rxd2 (0:00.03)
[-0.50] d=14 3...Rd6 4.c4 Kg7 5.c3 Kf6 6.Rf1 Ke6 7.Re1 Kd7 8.Ree2 Rxd2 9.Rxd2 Ke6 (0:00.02)
[-0.60] d=13 3...Rd6 4.g4 Kg7 5.g5 Bxg5 6.Rg1 Rg6 7.Rxg5 Rxg5 8.Rd7 (0:00.01)
[-0.60] d=12 3...Rd6 4.g4 Kg7 5.h4 Bf4 6.a3 c4 7.a4 (0:00.00)
[-0.50] d=11 3...Rd6 4.g4 Kg7 5.h4 Bf4 6.a3 c4 (0:00.00)
[-0.40] d=11 3...Kg7 4.a3 f5 5.c4 Kf6 6.c3 Rxd2 (0:00.00)
[-0.50] d=10 3...Kg7 4.a4 f5 5.c4 Rd4 6.c3 (0:00.00)
[-0.50] d=9 3...Kg7 4.g4 f5 5.gxf5 Kf6 (0:00.00)
[-0.40] d=8 3...Kg7 4.h4 Bxd2 5.Rxd2 Rxd2 6.Kxd2 Kf6 7.Kd3 (0:00.00)