Here is another chess endgame puzzle where we’re looking for the winning move. It’s white to play. See if you can find the correct move. The answer will appear in my next post.
The two most obvious moves for white are either Rxf6 check or exf check. The important difference is where the black king ends up. Rxf6 check followed by …Kxf6, then exf followed by …Kxf5 leaves the black king on f5, and white with a draw and virtually no hope for a win.
But, if you reverse the sequence and play exf check, the black king must take the pawn because the black rook is pinned. So after …Kxf5 white plays Rxf6 check. The black king captures the white rook on f6 leaving the white king free to move to g4 and then capture the black pawn on h4 on the next move leading to a win. Congrats if you saw the proper moves.
Here is a online chess endgame puzzle that came from a game played by one of my students. It focuses on finding the winning move instead of a checkmate like the previous chess puzzles.
It’s white to move and there are a few obvious continuations. A couple of them lead to draws, but one leads to an easy win. Good Luck!
Chess endgame puzzle.
Find the winning move for white.
