1026:; this is why this study is well-known while many other elaborations on the Saavedra position are forgotten: 1.Nc1 Rd5+ 2.Kc2 (2.Nd3? Rxd3+ 3.Kc2 Rd5! 4.Kc3 Rxb5 draws; 2.Ke2? Rxb5 3.c7 Re5+ draws) 2...Rc5+ 3.Kd3! (3.Kd2? Rxb5 4.c7 Rb2+! 5.Kd1 Rc2! 6.Kxc2 stalemate) 3...Rxb5 (3...Rxc1 4.Kd4, intending 5.Kd5 and 6.b6, wins) 4.c7 Rb8! and now both 5.cxb8=Q and 5.cxb8=R are stalemate, 5.cxb8=N leaves a drawn ending, and 5.Nb3+ Rxb3+ 6.Kc2 Rb2+! 7.Kc1 (7.Kc3
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1019:, 1931) where White is to play and win. After the first move 1.Nc1, Black has two main defences; the first of these shows the Saavedra theme: 1.Nc1 Rxb5 (1...Kb2 2.Nd3+ wins) 2.c7 Rd5+ 3.Nd3! Rxd3+ 4.Kc2 Rd4 and we have a position already seen in the Saavedra position itself; White wins with 5.c8=R Ra4 6.Kb3.
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confirm, Black can offer longer resistance by 3...Kb2, for which White has only one winning reply, 4.c8=Q, promoting to a queen instead of the underpromotion to a rook. Then White can force checkmate on the twenty-sixth move. However, per the normal conventions of endgame studies, moves that result
220:
The
Saavedra position has inspired many chess composers. There are only four pieces, yet there are both tricks and counter-tricks, challenging a composer's imagination as to just what might be achievable with a full set of pieces. It is among a minority of positions where a king and a pawn can win
750:
chess column of April 27, 1895, which he claimed to have occurred in Fenton–Potter. In fact, he had misremembered the game, and the position he published (see diagram) had never arisen. It was published as a study with Black to play and White to win; the technique is just that demonstrated by
773:
instead wins, a solution published by
Barbier on May 18. Saavedra, a Spanish priest who lived in Glasgow at the time, was a weak amateur player; his sole claim to fame in the chess world is his discovery of this move. The modern form of the position was obtained by
272:
Or 2...Rd2 3.c8=Q Rb2+ 4.Ka4 Ra2+ 5.Kb3 Rb2+ 6.Kc3 and White wins. Note that if Black's king were on b1, 6...Rc2+ would win, so White must acquiesce to a draw by perpetual check.
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This is the move that
Saavedra introduced. White threatens 7. Ra8+ and mate. Material is even, but the unfortunate positions of Black's king and rook doom him to a loss.
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Kb1! and Black wins) only draws after 7...Rb1+ or 7...Rb4 8.c8=Q (8.c8=R Ra4 is safe now) Rc4+. White can only win by 5.cxb8=B! followed by a
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calls it "unquestionably the most famous of all endgame studies". It has inspired many other composers: the many promotions in the studies of
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A number of composers have produced work which elaborates on the basic
Saavedra idea including the one by Mark Liburkin (second prize,
784:, June 1, 1902, p. 53) by moving the c7-pawn back to c6 and changing the stipulation to the standard "White to play and win".
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because of 5...Rb1+) 4...Ra5+ 5.Kc4 Ra4+ 6.Kc3 (or 6.Kb3 Ra1 7.Kb2) 6...Ra3+ 7. Kb2, and White will promote the pawn when the
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in positions known to be theoretically lost, such as the resulting queen versus rook endgame, are considered sidelines.
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from h6 to a1 the position could be transformed into a "Black to move and draw" study. On May 11 he gave the solution
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The position as it is usually given today, with White to move and win, is shown in the diagram. The solution is:
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The other Black defence features two new stalemate defences, and a second underpromotion, this time to
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in 1875. From the position shown, the game continued 1.Rxh3 Kxh3 2.Kc6 Rxa5 3.b7 Ra6+ and the players
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during the late 19th century. Though not a strong player, he spotted a win involving a dramatic
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262:; if instead 2.Kb7? then Rd7 pins the pawn, allowing Black to capture it to assure a draw.)
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The long history of the study has its origins in a game played between
Richard Fenton and
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is a theoretical win (this winning method had earlier been demonstrated in a study by
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Upon Potter's death in March 1895, G.E. Barbier published a position in his
Glasgow
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When
Barbier published this solution on May 4, he claimed that by moving the black
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1... Rd6+ 2. Kb5 Rd5+ 3. Kb4 Rd4+ 4. Kb3 Rd3+ 5. Kc2 Rd4! 6. c8=Q Rc4+ 7. Qxc4
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1220:(Faber and Faber, 1972) – positions 112 to 115 tell the story of the position
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It looks like Black is out of squares, but he has one last attempt.
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Tim Krabbé's page on the position, including the original five
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1006:, for example, were inspired by the Saavedra position.
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1... Rd6+ 2. Kb5 Rd5+ 3. Kb4 Rd4+ 4. Kb3 Rd3+ 5. Kc2
1203:, another endgame problem involving underpromotion
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213:in a position previously thought to have been a
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751:Zukertort and by Kling and Horwitz before him:
994:The study has been widely reproduced, and in
1231:, Gambit Publications, pp. 10, 52–53,
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1159:(2nd ed.), Oxford University Press,
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16:Chess endgame study by Fernando Saavedra
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1282:Video explaining the Saavedra Position
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769:; however, as Saavedra pointed out,
1252:, Batsford Chess, pp. 119–20,
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1126:The Survival Guide to Rook Endings
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295:Now if 6. c8=Q? Rc4+! 7.Qxc4 is
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277:3. Kb4 Rd4+ 4. Kb3 Rd3+ 5. Kc2
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1156:The Oxford Companion to Chess
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542:City of London Chess Magazine
327:) or be checkmated by 8.Rc1.
1010:was also one such composer.
7:
1194:
1032:bishop and knight checkmate
319:Black must either lose the
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221:against a king and a rook.
10:
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1178:The Encyclopaedia of Chess
330:
223:
1056:The Mammoth Book of Chess
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198:is one of the best-known
1250:Practical Chess Endgames
781:The Brooklyn Daily Eagle
336:Fenton vs. Potter, 1875
230:to describe chess moves.
1110:Hooper & Whyld 1992
254:then Rd1 threatening a
989:White to play and win
792:As computer-generated
189:White to move and win
1180:, St. Martins Press,
806:Mark Liburkin, 1931
325:elementary checkmate
1130:Gambit Publications
575:G.E. Barbier, 1895
571:, September 1853).
540:pointed out in the
323:(allowing White an
20:Saavedra position
794:endgame tablebases
538:Johannes Zukertort
228:algebraic notation
226:This article uses
1259:978-1-84994-495-3
1238:978-1-901983-83-8
1229:Endgame Challenge
1201:Plaskett's Puzzle
1187:978-0-7091-4697-1
1139:978-1-904600-94-7
987:
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742:
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554:queen versus rook
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245:1. c7 Rd6+ 2. Kb5
196:Saavedra position
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1070:Sunnucks 1970
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1246:Keres, Paul
561:Josef Kling
258:via 3...Rc1
1225:Nunn, John
1122:Emms, John
1038:References
1248:(2018) ,
1083:Emms 2008
767:stalemate
304:6. c8=R!!
297:stalemate
267:2... Rd5+
250:(If 2.Kc5
1291:Category
1227:(2002),
1195:See also
1176:(1970),
1153:(1992),
1124:(2008),
1054:(2010),
236:Solution
1277:columns
1085::10–11)
771:6. c8=R
557:endgame
546:promote
331:History
287:5...Rd4
207:Glasgow
1256:
1235:
1184:
1163:
1136:
1024:bishop
801:Legacy
256:skewer
200:chess
1254:ISBN
1233:ISBN
1182:ISBN
1161:ISBN
1134:ISBN
778:(in
760:king
563:and
550:pawn
548:the
321:rook
215:draw
194:The
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1132:,
1128:,
1034:.
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