The following position occured in the game Hernandez-Nakamura, Chicago Open 2008:
Nakamura went on to win fairly easily. (See how
here.) However, in his
online report Chris Bird comments:
"This position is apparently a well known win, so long as the black rook's pawn is on h7. If the pawn is on further up the board then the position is a draw!"
Is it so simple? Clearly the same technique used by Nakamura won't quite work when the pawn is further forward, but does Black have other winning resources? The answer is sometimes. Your challenge is to figure out just how far forward the pawn can be with Black still able to win.
In other words, answer the following four questions:
1) If the Black h-pawn is moved to h6, can Black still win?
2) If the Black h-pawn is moved to h5, can Black still win?
3) If the Black h-pawn is moved to h4, can Black still win?
4) If the Black h-pawn is moved to h3, can Black still win?
In all cases it remains White to move, with the White king at g2, the White pawn at h2, and the Black king at g4.
If you think you know the answers, send them to
michaelfschulte@yahoo.com. I'll post the solutions next week. Until then, happy solving!