The Reti manoeuvre — one king, two goals

Draw White to move · Pawn endgames · Difficulty about Elo 1400

The plan

The most famous study in endgame history, and its whole content is a property of the board that you cannot see: the diagonal path is no longer than the straight one. A king that walks diagonally arrives in the same number of moves as one that walks straight ahead — and because it moves toward both wings at once, it pursues two goals at the same time. White appears hopeless: the enemy passed pawn can no longer be caught, his own pawn can no longer be defended. On the diagonal, though, the king approaches BOTH at once. Black has to decide which of the two things to prevent, and can only manage one: if he runs with his pawn, the white king turns off toward its own pawn and supports it; if he looks after the white pawn, the king catches the passed pawn after all. How narrow the ridge is, the measurement says more plainly than any words: of the four moves in the starting position, exactly ONE holds the draw. The same position with the black pawn one square further forward is lost from every move, and with it one square further back, three of the four moves suddenly hold — the position sits exactly on the razor's edge. Even afterwards it stays tight: four of the five white moves in this study are each the only one that still holds the draw.

Rule of thumb: when chasing is too late, walk diagonally — the detour isn't one, and it leads to two places at once.

Why this level: The most famous study: one king, two goals

The solution, move by move

1. 1. Kg7 The miracle move — and the ONLY one of four: the other three all lose. The king appears to move away from the action and in truth draws closer to both pawns, because the diagonal leads to both. The two natural tries are shown as sidelines.
   Sideline 1. Kh7 The blunt chase: the king simply runs straight after the pawn. The path is exactly as long as the diagonal one — only it leads to just ONE place. 1… h4 And the pawn runs. The king is right on its heels and still arrives a single tempo too late. 2. Kg6 h3 3. Kf5 h2 4. Ke6 Too late for the turn as well: his own pawn is now unreachably far away. 4… h1=Q Black has the queen, White has nothing. The same king march, one file off — and half a point becomes zero.
   Sideline 1. c7 The greed: his own pawn runs off. But it only gets to the second-to-last rank and stands there without any defence. 1… Kb7 The ONLY move — and Black finds it in his sleep: the king places itself beside the pawn and picks it up next move. 2. Kg7 Kxc7 Gone. With it the second goal of the king march has vanished too, and the march itself has become pointless. 3. Kg6 h4 The ONLY move for Black, and the point is secure: the pawn runs through. 4. Kg5 h3 No holding it any more. Whoever pushes his own pawn here instead of going to it with the king loses both goals at once.
2. 1… h4 Black bets on the pawn storm. He has nothing better: the passed pawn is his whole advantage.
3. 2. Kf6 Again the ONLY holding move, this time of nine. The king stays on the diagonal — any sideways deviation costs the half point.
4. 2… h3 The pawn keeps running. By pure arithmetic it can no longer be caught, and that is exactly what Black is relying on.
5. 3. Ke6 The turning point: White gives up the chase and supports his own pawn — only two of the nine moves still hold here. The king had kept both paths open the whole time, which is why it may now choose.
6. 3… h2 The pawn stands ready to promote. Black has won his race and will still get no more than a draw.
7. 4. c7 The ONLY move of nine: the white pawn goes along, because only whoever promotes himself survives an enemy queen.
8. 4… h1=Q Black arrives first — one move sooner, but without check.
9. 5. c8=Q+ And that is why it is not enough: White promotes WITH CHECK, the new black queen stands on a square that is attacked at the same time, and queen against queen is a draw. From an apparently hopeless position comes half a point — with a king that walked diagonally.

More in Pawn endgames

• Rook pawn — the saving corner Draw
• Triangulation — losing a tempo White wins
• Opposition — the drawing defence Draw
• Blocked pawns — the outflank White wins
• Opposition — king in front of the pawn wins White wins
• Distant opposition — opposition at a distance White wins