Another endgame masterclass by IM Stephen Solomon!
Alexei Troitsky established that if a black pawn is blockaded (by one of the white knights) on a square no further forward than the line a4–b6–c5–d4–e4–f5–g6–h4, then White can win the resulting endgame (and similarly in reverse for Black the line a5-b3-c4-d5-e5-f4-g3-h5), no matter where the other pieces are placed.
Stephen said that this was the third time he had converted this endgame in FIDE events!
A fascinating endgame.Our tablebase indicates that this ending could have been drawn in the early stages.
Absolutely! – Solo was not on the line – the g pawn was well in advance of it!
THe line seems to have been drawn incorrectly on the diagram. The position seems to be winning at this stage.This a very complicated ending that most players would not be able to handle.
Hi John – I used the Black side of the Troitsky line – hoping to see if anyone noticed that the white side put the g pawn outside of Troitsky’s winning line.
oops I should have left judgements to tablebases.Even Karpov has messed this ending up.