C&C Chess Club

Queen and pawn against queen — the bishop pawn wins

White wins White to move · Queen endgames · Difficulty about Elo 1900

Position: 2K5/2P5/k7/5Q2/8/1q6/8/8 w - - 0 1
White to move · FEN 2K5/2P5/k7/5Q2/8/1q6/8/8 w - - 0 1

The plan

Here the most important rule of thumb of this category turns on its head. With queen AGAINST pawn, the bishop pawn and the rook pawn hold the draw; with queen AND pawn against queen it is exactly the other way round — the bishop pawn wins, the rook and knight pawn do not. Measured across every queen square, with your own king in front of the pawn and the enemy king directly opposite: on the four central files the attacker wins in nearly nine of ten positions, with the knight pawn in two of three, with the rook pawn in barely six of ten. And the bishop pawn is even better than the centre pawns: with it only every twenty-sixth position stays drawn, with the d- and e-pawn every fourteenth. The reason is always the same: the defender has only one resource, the perpetual check, and the attacker only one task, to lead his king out of the check series. With the bishop pawn the king finds this path, because the whole board lies open to him and the pawn shields him at the same time. In the end there is no promotion picture but a double attack: the king keeps walking until the queen delivers a check that simultaneously hits the enemy queen. And the precision is frightening — in the starting picture exactly one move of twenty-six wins.

Rule of thumb: with queen against pawn the bishop pawn saves, with queen and pawn against queen it wins — apply the old rule here and your calculation is wrong.

Why this level: Queen and pawn against queen: the hardest practical material

The solution, move by move

  1. 1. Kd7 The ONLY winning move of twenty-six. The king steps beside its pawn and sets off on the way out of the check series. One square over and it is only a draw (first sideline), and every queen move gives away the point or the queen (second sideline).
    Sideline 1. Kd8 A single square off — the king goes to the back rank instead of beside the pawn. The whole point is gone. 1… Qg8+ The ONLY move that holds, and it shows the difference: from here the queen checks all along the rank, and the king finds no square anywhere without check. 2. Ke7 Qg7+ 3. Ke8 Qh8+ 4. Kf7 White has come as far as in the main line — only now no double attack comes together. 4… Kb7 And the black king has meanwhile had time to catch up with the pawn. A draw.
    Sideline 1. Qe6+ The double attack right away? It looks exactly like the winning move later in the main line — only the black queen still stands on the wrong diagonal. 1… Qxe6+ The ONLY move, and it simply captures. The win has become a loss. 2. Kb8 Qe7 The queen places itself in front of the pawn; White has nothing left at all. Only the king march turns the same double attack into a weapon.
  2. 1… Qa4+ Black has only the perpetual check. So he checks — and hopes the white king runs out of cover.
  3. 2. Ke7 Again the ONLY move. The king goes neither back nor sideways, but always further away from the enemy. His pawn is left alone for now; that is the price.
  4. 2… Qb4+
  5. 3. Ke8 The king heads for the corner of the board where the black queen has the fewest checking squares.
  6. 3… Qa4+
  7. 4. Kf7 One more step. You can see it in the position: the checks get longer and longer, the angle keeps getting more obtuse.
  8. 4… Qc4+ The last check Black has — and it is one too few.
  9. 5. Qe6+ The ONLY winning move, and the whole point of this endgame. The queen gives check while standing on the same diagonal as the black queen. That is exactly what the whole king march was working toward.
  10. 5… Kb7 The king has to get out of check, and that leaves his queen alone.
  11. 6. Qxc4 The ONLY move that still wins — the queen falls. What's left is queen and pawn against the bare king.

Play it yourself

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