Any Key Square By Any Route
Jan Drtina, 1908| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
| 8 | 8 | ||||||||
| 7 | 7 | ||||||||
| 6 | 6 | ||||||||
| 5 | 5 | ||||||||
| 4 | 4 | ||||||||
| 3 | 3 | ||||||||
| 2 | 2 | ||||||||
| 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h |
With a king and pawn versus a lone king, it is important to get the attacking king to any key square and the path to a key square is not always direct. For instance, in the diagram on the right, the key squares for the white king are b5, c5, and d5. Black can prevent the white king from reaching a key square directly, e.g.:
- 1. Kd2 Ke7
- 2. Kd3 Kd7
- 3. Kc4 Kc6 (taking the opposition).
However the white king can reach a key square (b5) by going on the other side of the pawn:
- 1. Kc2! Ke7
- 2. Kb3 Kd6
- 3. Kb4 Kc6
- 4. Kc4 (opposition, and Black is in zugzwang) Kd6
- 5. Kb5
or
- 4... Kb6
- 5. Kd5
and the white king has occupied a key square and has a winning position (Müller & Lamprecht 2007:20).
Read more about this topic: Key Square
Famous quotes containing the words key, square and/or route:
“This is the Key of the Kingdom:
In that Kingdom is a city;”
—Unknown. This Is the Key (l. 1–2)
“O for a man who is a man, and, as my neighbor says, has a bone in his back which you cannot pass your hand through! Our statistics are at fault: the population has been returned too large. How many men are there to a square thousand miles in this country? Hardly one.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“A route differs from a road not only because it is solely intended for vehicles, but also because it is merely a line that connects one point with another. A route has no meaning in itself; its meaning derives entirely from the two points that it connects. A road is a tribute to space. Every stretch of road has meaning in itself and invites us to stop. A route is the triumphant devaluation of space, which thanks to it has been reduced to a mere obstacle to human movement and a waste of time.”
—Milan Kundera (b. 1929)