White wins
White has a disadvantage of two exchanges. In order to win, not only one but both rooks should be captured. The awkward position of the black king gives some hope to succeed. 1. Bf3+! Re4 2. Bxh4 Of course not 2. Bxe4+? Rxe4 -+ 2... Nxh4 2... Kb8 3. Bg3+! -+
3. Bh1!! mutual zugzwang 3. Bxe4+? Kb8 mutual zugzwang 3... Kb8 4. Bxe4 Mutual zugzwang & Domination!
4...Bc5 The only safe square on the a7-g1 diagonal. 5. Kb5 The white king gains an important tempo in the race toward the black knight. 5... Be7 6. Kc6 Kc8 7. Kd5 Kd7 8. Ke5 Bc5 9. Kf6 9. Kf4? Ke6 10. Kg4 Ke5 = 9... Be7+ 10. Kf7 Kd6 11. Nf2 Bd8 12. Nd3! and white wins.
The black king is restricted to a small portion of the board and will be gradually pushed back to the side of the board by the two white knights. 12... Bg5 13. Na3 Kd7 14. Nc4 Kd8 15. Nc5 Bc1 Stepping with the king further back leads to a quick checkmate: 15... Kc8 16. Ne6 Bc1 17. Ke8 Bh6 18. Nd6+ Kb8 19. Nb5 Kc8 20. Nc5 Be3 21. Na6 Bf4 22. Na7# 16. Kf6 After this move, the white bishop also gets some freedom to move. 16... Bh6 17. Ne6+ Kd7 18. Nb6+ Kd6 The black king is back again to d6 and the black knight seems safe as long as the black bishop controls g5. How to win this position?
19. Ba8! (or 19. Bh1!) 19... Bc1 20. Nc4+ Kd7 21. Bb7! Domination! 21... Bh6 22. Ne5+ Kd6 23. Nf7+ +-
This study is based on a position found in one of the 8-man mutual zugzwang lists released by Marc Bourzutschky. For finding that special position (see the solution after 3.Bh1!!), I have created a special version my software SEE (Syzygy Endgame Explorer) to support some searches up to 8 pieces.
1 comment:
Thank you Arpad for the dedication, a very attractive find!
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