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Copyright 1991,1996, 1997, 1998 John Richard Coffey.
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0 [Next]	#8 This is an endgame I had as black in a tournament around 1990. It is extremely subtle. But if you learn this endgame then you will defeat most players rated under 2000 at king and pawn endgames. I suggest playing through the position on a real board.
1 [Next]	It is white to move. Who has the advantage here? Should white be playing for a draw, and if so how?
2 [Next]	Black has an advantage because his king is closer to the white pawns and he has more reserve tempo moves that he can make with is own panws. How should white play for a draw?
3 [Next]	White should bide his time. If Black chases after the c2 pawn then it will take him 9 moves to queen the c7 pawn while it takes white only 8 moves to capture the h7 pawn and then queen the g4 pawn.
4 [Next]	#8 continued ... Instead white makes a mistake here. By pushing the c3 pawn he loses one of his reserve tempo moves and he brings the c3 pawn one square closer to the black king.
5 [Next]	#8 continued ... Moving the king is a mistake because
6 [Next]	White moves closer to h7 pawn while the black king has moved farther away from the c3 pawn.
7 [Next]	White draws by keeping his king in range of the h7 pawn.
8 [Next]	#8 continued ... So instead black should move his pawn. He is not worried about pushing the C pawn because he knows that White can't get to it. (Instead white may have to go after the h7 pawn.)
9 [Next]	#8 continued ... White moves the king because pushing a pawn would be even worse.
10 [Next]	#8 continued ... Black gets closer to the enemy pawn. We see that it would take too long now for White to go capture the h7 pawn as it will take him 8 moves to queen whereas White queens in 6 more moves.
11 [Next]	#8 continued ... This is a critical position. How should black play here?
12 [Next]	#8 continued ... This king move limits white's options. If white plays g5 here then black plays c4 and win the pawn.
13 [Next]	#8 continued ... Now h6 will lead to a win or black can play ....
14 [Next]	#8 continued ... c4+
15 [Next]	#8 continued ... Lucky for black he has one reserve tempo move.
16 [Next]	#8 continued ... Black's last reserve tempo allows him to win a pawn and the game. As I said this endgame is very subtle. I suggest playing the endgame with a board to explore some of the other possibilities that can happen.
17 [Next]

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