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Queen against pawn — the zigzag wins

White wins White to move · Queen endgames · Difficulty about Elo 1200

Position: 8/8/2K5/7Q/8/8/3kp3/8 w - - 0 1
White to move · FEN 8/8/2K5/7Q/8/8/3kp3/8 w - - 0 1

The plan

A pawn on the seventh rank, its own king far away — is the queen enough on its own? Against a CENTRE or KNIGHT pawn: yes, always. The technique is the ZIGZAG: a check series repeatedly forces the king IN FRONT OF its own pawn — and exactly in these moments, when the pawn cannot move, the white king edges one square closer. The pattern repeats until the king has arrived; then the pawn falls, and the basic mate ends the game. The next position shows the big exception: with the bishop and the rook pawn, this very method fails against stalemate.

Why this level: Queen against pawn: the zigzag as the basic technique

The solution, move by move

  1. 1. Qa5+ The zigzag begins: check by check the queen feels its way closer — its target is not the king, but the square IN FRONT OF the pawn.
    Sideline 1. Kd5 The king simply marches off, without check. Exactly one tempo too slow. 1… e1=Q The pawn promotes, and queen against queen is a draw. The zigzag is not decoration, it is the only way to take the pawn's time away.
  2. 1… Kd1
  3. 2. Qa1+
  4. 2… Kd2
  5. 3. Qd4+
  6. 3… Kc1
  7. 4. Qe3+
  8. 4… Kd1
  9. 5. Qd3+
  10. 5… Ke1 The intermediate goal: the black king has to go to e1, in front of its own pawn — the pawn is frozen.
  11. 6. Kc5 NOW the king step! Only as long as the opponent stands in front of its pawn does White have this tempo for free.
  12. 6… Kf2
  13. 7. Qd2
  14. 7… Kf1
  15. 8. Qf4+
  16. 8… Kg1
  17. 9. Qe3+
  18. 9… Kf1
  19. 10. Qf3+
  20. 10… Ke1
  21. 11. Kc4 The same pattern a second time: check series, king forced to e1, king step. This is how White edges closer square by square.
  22. 11… Kd2
  23. 12. Qf2
  24. 12… Kd1
  25. 13. Kd3
  26. 13… Kc1
  27. 14. Qxe2 The king has arrived — the pawn falls, and with it every hope.
  28. 14… Kb1 The only move — and this was exactly the point of the zigzag: the king now stands on the edge and has no square left that does not run into mate.
  29. 15. Kc3
  30. 15… Ka1
  31. 16. Qb2# The familiar basic mate on the edge. Remember the pattern: zigzag checks, force the king in front of the pawn, king step.
    Sideline 16. Qc2 STALEMATE. The most natural move in the world — the queen places itself next to the king — and the whole endgame is thrown away. This stalemate lurks in the corner with every queen mate.

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