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Queen against bishop pawn — where the king must stand

White wins White to move · Queen endgames · Difficulty about Elo 1500

Position: 8/8/8/8/2K4Q/8/1kp5/8 w - - 0 1
White to move · FEN 8/8/8/8/2K4Q/8/1kp5/8 w - - 0 1

The plan

The stalemate trap with the bishop pawn only holds as long as your own king is too far away. Once it stands close enough, the queen wins after all — but the winning zone is tiny, and it sits askew. It has been measured square by square: the king wins from the side on which the enemy king also stands, that is, by going round the back, and it wins from the immediate neighbourhood. Head-on in front of the pawn, a single square further to the right, everything is only a draw. The winning method itself is simple: a check drives the black king onto the back rank, then the white king comes up and covers the queening square, and the stalemate turns into a mate. Only two things matter — never place the queen so that promotion happens with check, and never simply capture an underpromoted knight, because then only bare kings are left.

Rule of thumb: with the bishop pawn, what counts is not the king's distance but its side — it has to go round the outside, not head-on.

Why this level: The winning zone sits askew — one square over and it's a draw

The solution, move by move

  1. 1. Qd4+ The check drives the black king away from its pawn. Five of twenty-four moves win; whoever places the queen wrongly gives away the whole point.
    Sideline 1. Kd4 One square further right, equally far from the pawn — and the whole point is gone. From there the king never reaches the square it needs. 1… Ka1 The king goes into the corner and offers the pawn. Taking would be stalemate. 2. Qe1+ Kb2 The only move, but it is enough: the queen cannot capture the pawn without either hanging its own queen or giving stalemate. 3. Qd2 Kb1 Again the only move — and White gets no further at all. A draw.
  2. 1… Kb1
  3. 2. Kb3 The king step everything hinges on — and the reason the same position one square further right is only a draw (first sideline). Not Qd2, which allows promotion with check (second sideline).
    Sideline 2. Qd2 The queen places itself behind the pawn and blocks it — looks forcing, but throws away the win. 2… c1=Q+ Because the white king stands on the pawn's file: promotion comes WITH CHECK, and with it Black wins the tempo it was missing. 3. Kd3 Qc8 Queen against queen, a draw. That is why the king has to step aside first.
  4. 2… Kc1
  5. 3. Qd6 A quiet move: the queen takes squares away from the king and puts it in zugzwang.
  6. 3… Kb1 The ONLY move — every other square no longer exists. That is exactly what White wants: Black has to move the pawn right away.
  7. 4. Qa3 And another quiet move. Now Black has only the promotion left — and the queen already covers the square where it will be punished for it (third sideline: promotion to a queen is immediate mate).
  8. 4… c1=N+ The last trick: underpromotion to a knight, with check. This is how Black holds out longest.
    Sideline 4… c1=Q The obvious promotion to a queen — 5. Qa2# — and immediate mate, and indeed the ONLY move that mates: the square is covered by the white king. That is exactly what it was standing there for.
  9. 5. Kc3 The king move — and watch out: capturing the knight would be a gross mistake, because after that only the bare kings would remain on the board (fourth sideline).
    Sideline 5. Qxc1+ The reflex to scoop up the newly created piece. 5… Kxc1 And now only the bare kings are left: a draw. The knight is poisoned because it is defended by its own king — that is why White has to hunt it with the king instead of taking it.
  10. 5… Na2+
  11. 6. Kd2 The king hunts the knight and at the same time cuts off its retreat.
  12. 6… Ka1
  13. 7. Qb3
  14. 7… Nc1 The knight no longer has a safe square.
  15. 8. Qc3+ The check finally separates the king from its piece.
  16. 8… Ka2
  17. 9. Qxc1 The knight falls. What remains is the basic mate with the queen.

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