2015-11-23

Chess Game

Recovering from shoulder surgery cost me some sleep last night.  This was the 
last game tonight at my chess club and I was pretty tired.

[Event "Blitz:5'+2""]
[Site "Greenwood Indiana Chess Club"]
[Date "2015.11.23"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Coffey, John"]
[Black "Thomas"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B01"]
[WhiteElo "2034"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventType "blitz"]
[TimeControl "5+2"]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bc4 c6 5.Nc3 g6 6. d4 Bg7 7. Nf3 O-O 8. O-O cxd5 9. Nxd5 Nxd5 10. Bxd5 Qb6 11. c3 Bc6
12. Bc4 Bf6 13. Re1 e6 14. Bh6 Qxb2 (I think my opponent was feeling adventurous) 
15. Bxf8 Kxf8 16. Qd2 Qb6 17. Ng5 Kg7 (At this point my opponent was taunting me a 
little about how no sacrifice would work because he had all the squares covered.  I took
this as him daring me to sacrifice, so without giving it much thought I played ...) 
18.Nxf7 Kxf7 19. Rxe6 Kg7 20. Rxf6 Kxf6 21. Qf4+ Kg7 22. Qf7+ Kh6 23. Qf8+ Kg5 24.
h4+ Kxh4 25. Qf4+ 1-0

I didn't really calculate that very much.  I just had a gut feeling it would work.

I see that my official blitz rating is only 1895.

2015-08-14

Byrne vs. Fischer

2015-08-06

Chess Game

I like the way I played this ...

[Event "G5 i2"]
[Site "Columbus Indiana Chess Club"]
[Date "2015.08.06"]
[Round "last game"]
[White "John Coffey"]
[Black "Steve Salo"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 a6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bd7 6. e4 b5 7. axb5 c6 8. Bxc4
Bb4 9. bxa6 Bxc3+ 10. bxc3 Nf6 11. e5 {Overlooking a7.} Nd5 12. Bxd5 {
Overlooking a7.} cxd5 13. a7 Nc6 14. Ba3 Rxa7 15. O-O Qa8 16. Bc5 Rxa1 17.
Qxa1 Qxa1 18. Rxa1 Bc8 19. Ra8 Kd7 20. Ng5 Nd8 21. Bb6 h6 22. Bxd8 Rxd8 23.
Nxf7 Rf8 24. Nd6 Kc7 25. Rxc8+ Rxc8 26. Nxc8 Kxc8 27. Kf1 Kb7 28. Ke2 Kb6 29.
Kd3 Kb5 30. c4+ dxc4+ 31. Kc3 g6 32. f4 g5 33. fxg5 hxg5 34. h3 1-0  Black faces pawn majorities on both sides.

2015-08-01

2015-07-01

Chess Game

Worth looking at ...

[Event "Speed Game"]
[Site "Bloomington Indiana Chess Club"]
[Date "Jun 30, 2015"]
[Round "1"]
[White "John Coffey"]
[Black "Jimmy"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bg4 5. Ne5 Bf5 6. cxd5 cxd5 7. Qb3 b6 8. e4
Nxe4 9. Nxe4 Nd7 10. Bb5 a6 11. Qxd5 Be6 12. Bxd7+
1-0

I have given similar chess lessons to people before.

Then I lost the next 3 games to this guy. We finished the night either even or he was slightly ahead.

2015-06-10

Chess game

[Event "Louisville Meijer Grocery"]
[Site "Meijer"]
[Date "2015.05.25"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Coffey, John"]
[Black "O'Bannon, Glenn"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A40"]
[WhiteElo "1780"]
[BlackElo "2032"]
[Annotator "Coffey,John"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventType "schev (rapid)"]
[TimeControl "G/30"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3  Nbd7
5. cxd5 cxd5 6. Qb3 e6 7. Bg5 Be7 8. e3 O-O 9. Bd3 h6 10. Bh4 a6 11. a4 Qb6 12.
Qc2 (12. Qxb6 Nxb6 13. a5) 12... Re8 13. O-O Qd8 14. a5 Nf8 15. Ne5 N6d7 16.
Bg3 (16. Bxe7) 16... Nxe5 17. Bxe5 Bd6 18. Bxd6 Qxd6 19. Na4 e5 20. Nb6 Rb8 21.
Rfc1 (21. dxe5) 21... e4 (21... exd4) 22. Be2 Qg6 23. Nxd5 Bf5 24. Qc7 Qg5 25.
Qf4 Ne6 26. Qxg5 Nxg5 27. Rc3 Kf8 28. Rac1 f6 29. Nb6 Nf7 30. g4 Be6 31. d5
Bxd5 32. Nxd5 Red8 33. Nf4 Rd2 34. R1c2 Rdd8 35. Ne6+ 1-0

Chess Game

[Event "Louisville Meijer Grocery"]
[Site "Meijer"]
[Date "2015.05.25"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Fuller, William"]
[Black "Coffey, John"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A40"]
[WhiteElo "2190"]
[BlackElo "2032"]
[Annotator "Coffey,John"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventType "rapid"]
[TimeControl "G/30"]

 1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Qe2 Nf6 4. Bg5 h6 5. Bxf6
Qxf6 6. Nc3 Bb4 (6... Nc6 7. exd5 Nd4 8. Qd2 Bb4 9. dxe6 Bxe6 =+) 7. e5 Qe7 8.
d4 c5 9. Nf3 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Qc5 11. Qe3 Nc6 12. Rd1 O-O 13. Be2 f6 14. exf6 Rxf6
15. O-O Bxc3 16. bxc3 e5 17. Nf5 Qa3 18. Ng3 Be6 19. Rb1 Qxa2 20. Rxb7 Qxc2 21.
Bd3 Qa4?? (21... Qa2) 22. Bb5 Qa5 (22... Qf4) 23. Bxc6 (23. Nh5) 23... Rc8 (
23... Bf7) 24. Nh5 Rg6 (24... Rf7) 25. Qxe5 Bf7 26. Rxf7 Kxf7 27. Qf5+ Kg8 28.
Bxd5+ Kh8 29. Qxc8+ 0-1



Chess Game

Not a particularly great game.  I completely misplayed the opening, and was in a terrible position until my opponent let me break free ...

[Event "Louisville Meijer Grocery"]
[Site "Meijer"]
[Date "2015.05.25"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Niro, Frank"]
[Black "Coffey, John"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C11"]
[WhiteElo "1700"]
[BlackElo "2032"]
[Annotator "Coffey,John"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventType "rapid"]


 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4
c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Bd3 cxd4 (7... Nxd4) 8. Ne2 Qb6 9. a3 a5 10. b3 Bc5 11. Bb2 a4?! 12. O-O O-O (12... axb3) 13. b4 Be7 14. Kh1 f6 15. Nexd4 Nxd4?! (15...
Ncxe5 16. fxe5 fxe5) 16. Bxd4 Qc7 17. Qe2 (17. Rc1) 17... f5 18. Qf2 Rb8?! (
18... b6) 19. Bb5 Ra8 20. Bd3?! (20. c4) 20... Nb8?! (20... b6) 21. Bb6 Qc3
22. Bd4 Qc6 23. b5 Qe8 24. Bc5?! (24. c4) 24... Nd7 25. Bd4 Qd8 26. Rfc1?! (
26. c4) 26... b6 = 27. c4 Nc5 28. Bxc5 Bxc5 29. Qd2 Bb7 (29... d4) 30. cxd5
Bxd5 31. Rf1 Rf7 (31... Qe7) 32. Be2 (32. Qe2) 32... Rd7 -/+ 33. Qe1 Qe7 (33...
Rc8) 34. Qc1 Rc7 35. Qb2 Be3 (35... Rd8) 0-1 eventually.

Chess Game

Catching up on old chess games.  This is probably from a Utah chess tournament, although I am really not sure which tournament or which opponent this was.  It could have been from a Louisville chess tournament.

[Event "???"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.02.22"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Coffey, John"]
[Black "???"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D31"]
[WhiteElo "2032"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 e6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Qb3
a5 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 Nf6 8. Bg5 dxc4 9. Qxc4 Qd5 10. e3 Qxc4 11. Bxc4 Ne4 12.
Rc1 Nd7 13. Bh4 O-O 14. O-O Nb6 15. Bd3 f5 16. Bxe4 fxe4 17. Nd2 Rf5 18. c4 e5
19. Nxe4 exd4 20. Nd6 Rh5 21. Bd8 Na4 22. exd4 Rh6 23. Bc7 Rg6 24. Rfe1 Rf6 25.
Re8+ Rf8 26. Rce1 g6 27. Rxf8+ Kxf8 28. Re8+ Kg7 29. Nxc8 Nb2 30. Be5+ Kh6 31.
c5 Nc4 32. Bf6 b5 33. Re4 g5 34. Ne7 a4 35. Rg4 b4 36. Rg3 1-0

2015-06-01

Chess Games

For a 10 minute game, this was pretty wild and had some interesting tactics.

[Event "First Chess Club Meeting. G/10"]
[Site "Greenwood IN"]
[Date "Jun 1, 2015"]
[Round "1"]
[White "John Coffey (IN) 2034"]
[Black "Mark Ayers (CA) 2043"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Be6 5. Ne5 Nbd7 6. Bxc4 Bxc4 7. Nxc4 g6 8.
O-O Bg7 9. Nc3 O-O 10. e4 c6 11. Qe2 b5 12. Nd2 b4 13. Na4 Qa5 14. b3 Qb5 15.
Re1 Qxe2 16. Rxe2 Nh5 17. Nf3 e5 18. Bb2 Nf4 19. Rc2 Rac8 20. Rd1 exd4 21. Nxd4
Ne5 22. Nc5 Rfd8 23. g3 Nf3+ 24. Kf1 Nxh2+ 25. Ke1 Ng2+ 26. Ke2 h5 27. Nxc6 Re8
28. Bxg7 Rxc6 29. Ba1 Rxe4+ 30. Kd3 Re8 31. Nd7 Rd6+ 32. Kc4 Rc8+ 33. Kxb4 Rxc2
34. Rxd6 Rxf2 35. Nf6+ Rxf6 36. Bxf6 Kh7 37. Rd2 Ng4 38. Bd4 N2e3 39. Re2 Nd5+
40. Kc5 Nc7 41. Kc6 Ne6 42. Bxa7 f5 43. Rxe6
1-0


[Event "First Chess Club Meeting. G/10 "]
[Site "Greenwood IN"]
[Date "Jun 1, 2015"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Mark Ayers (CA) 2043"]
[Black "John Coffey (IN) 2034"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. d4 cxd4 7. Nxd4 O-O 8.
O-O Ng4 9. e3 d6 10. Bxc6 bxc6 11. Nxc6 Qd7 12. Nd5 Re8 13. Ncxe7+ Rxe7 14.
Nxe7+ Qxe7 15. Qd5 Bb7 16. Qd1 Ne5 17. f4 Nxc4 18. Qb3 Qe4 19. Kf2 Re8 20. a4
Nxe3 21. Bxe3 Qf3+ 22. Ke1 Rxe3+ 23. Qxe3 Qxe3+ 24. Kd1 Bf3+ 25. Kc2 Qe2+ 26.
Kb3 Qxb2+ 27. Kc4 Qc3+ 28. Kb5 Qb3+
0-1

Chess Club

2015-04-16

Fwd: Test I took

Here is our feedback on your performance:

You correctly judged whether White could force a win for 41 of the 48 positions.

1)

 

Your response was: Yes, White can force a win. 

This response was: Correct

White wins because he can use the opposition to convert his pawn after 1.Kf6 Ke8 2.Kg7 Ke7 3.f6+ Ke6 4.f7

2)

 

Your response was: Yes, White can force a win. 

This response was: Correct

White wins because he has the opposition after 1.Kd6 Kf8 [ 1...Ke8 2.Kxe6 Kd8 3.Kf7 Kd7 4.e6+ Kd8 5.e7+ Kd7 6.e8Q+ ] 2.Kxe6 Ke8 3.Kf6 Kf8 4.e6 Ke8 5.e7 Kd7 6.Kf7 Kd6 7.e8Q

3)

 

Your response was: Yes, White can force a win. 

This response was: Correct

White wins by converting his a4 pawn because Black has to lose time to capture the g3 pawn: 1.Kf4 Kf6 2.Ke4 Ke6 3.Kd4 Kf5 4.Kc5 Kg4 5.Kb5 Kxg3 6.Kxa5 Kf4 7.Kb6 Ke5 8.a5 Kd6 9.a6 Kd7 10.a7 Kc8 11.a8Q

4)



Your response was: Yes, White can force a win.

This response was: Correct

White wins because the Black king has to abandon his kingside pawns to capture White's outside passed pawn: 1.a4 d4+ 2.Kd3 Kb4 3.Kxd4 Kxa4 4.Kd5 Kb4 5.Kd6 Kc4 6.Ke7

5)



Your response was: Yes, White can force a win.

This response was: Correct

White wins because one of his pawns can break through after 1.f5!! Kd4 [ 1...exf5 2.h5 gxh5 3.g6 fxg6 4.e6; 1...gxf5 2.h5 Kd4 3.h6 ] 2.h5 Kxe5 3.f6 gxf6 4.h6+- fxg5 5.h7

6)



Your response was: Yes, White can force a win.

This response was: Correct

White wins by fixing all black pawns on the kingside first, and then creating an outside passed pawn: 1.g5! Kd6 2.a4 Kc6 3.b5+ axb5+ 4.axb5+ and White can win the black pawns on the kingside.

7)



Your response was: Yes, White can force a win.

This response was: Correct

White wins because his superior pawn structure allows him to create a passed pawn on the kingside: 1.Ke2 Ke7 2.Ke3 Ke6 3.f4 f6 4.Kd4 g6 5.g4 h6 6.h4 Kd6 7.e5+ fxe5+ 8.fxe5+ Ke6 9.b4

8)



Your response was: No, White cannot win by force.

This response was: Incorrect

White wins by attacking the weak h7 pawn to obtain a superior position for his king: 1.Kf3 Kd7 2.Kg4 Ke7 3.Kh5 Kf8 4.Kh6 Kg8 5.b4 Kh8 6.g4 Kg8 7.h4 Kh8 8.f4 Kg8 9.g5 fxg5 10.fxg5 Kh8 11.h5 Kg8 12.g6

9)



Your response was: Yes, White can force a win.

This response was: Correct

White wins because the Black pawns on the kingside are blocked, and White can create an outside passed pawn on the queenside by playing 1.c5+ bxc5+ 2.Kc4 and Black is in Zugzwang.

10)



Your response was: Yes, White can force a win.

This response was: Correct

White wins according to endgame tablebases because two white knights can mate against a single black pawn if this pawn is not too far advanced: 1.Kg5 Kh7 2.Ndf5 Kg8 3.Kf6 Kf8 4.Ng7 Kg8 5.Ne6 Kh7 6.Kg5 Kh8 7.Kg6 Kg8 8.Ng4 e3 9.Nf6+ Kh8 10.Ng5 e2 11.Nf7#

11)



Your response was: Yes, White can force a win.

This response was: Correct

White wins because his two knights can mate the black king before the black pawn queens: 1.Ng4 h2 2.Nh6+ Kh8 3.Nf6 h1Q 4.Nf7#

12)



Your response was: No, White cannot win by force.

This response was: Incorrect

White wins with his strong knight against the weak bishop because the black squares are also weak and allow the white king to intrude after 1.g5 fxg5 [ 1...f5 2.Kf3 Kd8 3.Ke3] 2.fxg5 Bc8 3.Kf4 a5 4.Ke5 Ba6 5.Kf6

13)



Your response was: Yes, White can force a win.

This response was: Correct

White wins because his bishop controls the square h8, where White can therefore queen his h-pawn: 1.Kg4 Kh7 2.Kf5 Kg7 3.h4 Kh7 4.h5 Kg7 5.h6+ Kf7 6.Bc5 Kg8 7.Kg6 Kh8 8.Ba3 Kg8 9.h7+ Kh8 10.Bb2#

14)



Your response was: Yes, White can force a win.

This response was: Correct

White wins by preventing the black king from controlling the square h8, where White intends to queen his h-pawn: 1.Bh7! Kf6 2.Kf4 Kf7 3.Kf5 Kf8 4.Kf6 Ke8 5.Bf5 Kf8 6.h7 Ke8 7.h8Q#

15)



Your response was: No, White cannot win by force.

This response was: Incorrect

White wins by exploiting the weakness of the black pawns which are on white squares and can therefore be attacked by the white-colored bishop: 1.Kc4 Be8 2.Kb4 Bd7 3.Bf3 Be8 4.h4 Bb5 5.g4 hxg4 6.Bxg4 Bd7 7.h5 gxh5 8.Bxh5 Be8 9.f5 Bd7 10.Bxf7 1-0

16)



Your response was: Yes, White can force a win.

This response was: Correct

White wins because he can create two connected passed pawns on the 6th rank that cannot be stopped by the black rook: 1.e6 Kc4 2.d7 Rb8 3.e7 Kd5 4.d8Q+ 1:0

17)



Your response was: Yes, White can force a win.

This response was: Correct

White wins by advancing his passed pawn and building the so-called Lucena bridge (shielding his king and queening pawn by using his Rook): 1.Kc6 Re2 2.d5 Kf8 3.d6 Kf7 4.Rc1 Ke8 5.Kc7 Rd2 6.Rc5 Rd1 7.Re5+ Kf7 8.d7 Rc1+ 9.Kd6 Rd1+ 10.Rd5

18)



Your response was: Yes, White can force a win.

This response was: Correct

White wins the black rook by playing 1.Rh8 (threatening to queen) Rxa7 2.Rh7+ Kg6 3.Rxa7 1-0

19)



Your response was: Yes, White can force a win.

This response was: Correct

White wins by building a Lucena bridge (shielding his king and queening pawn by using his Rook): 1.Re4 Rc1 [ 1...Rc3 2.Rf4+ Ke6 3.Ke8 ] 2.Rf4+ Kg6 3.Ke7 Re1+ 4.Kd6 Rd1+ 5.Ke6 Re1+ 6.Kd5 Rd1+ 7.Rd4 1:0

20)



Your response was: No, White cannot win by force.

This response was: Incorrect

White wins by first sacrificing his pawns to clear the seventh rank 1.f5 gxf5 2.g6 fxg6 and then playing 3.Rh8 (threatening to queen) to win the black rook after Rxa7 4.Rh7+ Kf6 5.Rxa7

21)



Your response was: Yes, White can force a win.

This response was: Correct

White wins because he can queen his passed pawn (or create another, unstoppable passed pawn) by playing 1.Rb2 Rxc7 2.Rb8+ Kf7 3.Rb7 Te7+ 4.Kd6+- Rxb7 5.axb7 and 6. b8Q

22)



Your response was: Yes, White can force a win.

This response was: Correct

White wins because the approaching white king creates a mate threat: 1.Qb4+ Kd1 2.Qd4+ Kc2 3.Qe3 Kd1 4.Qd3+ Ke1 5.Kg4 Kf2 6.Qg3+ Kf1 7.Kf3 e1D 8.Qg2#

23)



Your response was: Yes, White can force a win.

This response was: Correct

White wins because his approaching king suffocates the black king and creates an unstoppable mate threat after 1.Kg3 Qh6 2.Qe1 mate.

24)



Your response was: Yes, White can force a win.

This response was: Correct

White wins even though a queen normally cannot win against an h-pawn on the seventh rank, but here White can create a discovered check to approach his king close enough to create mate threats while Black queens: 1.Kg6 Kg2 2.Kf5+ Kf1 3.Qa1+ Kg2 4.Qb2+ Kg3 5.Qb1 Kg2 6.Kf4 h1Q 7.Qc2+ Kh3 8.Qd3+ Kg2 9.Qe2+ Kg1 [ 9...Kh3 10.Qg4+ Kh2 11.Qg3# ] 10.Kg3 and Mate in the following move: 1-0

25)



Your response was: No, White cannot win by force.

This response was: Correct

White cannot win because Black has the opposition; Black can therefore force a stalemate after 1.Kd6 Kd8 2.e7+ Ke8 3.Ke6.

26)



Your response was: Yes, White can force a win.

This response was: Incorrect

White cannot win because even though his pawn queens, the queen cannot win against the black h-pawn on the seventh rank because of a potential stalemate: 1.a6 h3 2.a7 h2 3.a8Q Kg1 4.Qa1+ Kg2 5.Qb2+ Kg1 6.Qc1+ Kg2 7.Qd2+ Kg1 8.Qe1+ Kg2 9.Qe2+ Kg1 10.Qg4+ Kh1 11.Qg3 Stalemate.

27)



Your response was: No, White cannot win by force.

This response was: Correct

White cannot win even though he can capture the black pawn; but his king cannot escape from the corner and gets stalemated after 1.h6 Kd6 2.Kg7 Ke7 3.Kxh7 Kf7 4.Kh8 Kg6 5.h7 Kf7 Stalemate.

28)



Your response was: No, White cannot win by force.

This response was: Correct

White cannot win because the black king has the opposition after White wins the black pawn: 1.Kd6 Kf7 2.Kxe5 Ke7! 3.Kd5 Kd7 4.e5 Ke7 5.e6 Ke8! 6.Kd6 Kd8 7.e7+ Ke8 8.Ke6 Stalemate.

29)



Your response was: No, White cannot win by force.

This response was: Correct

White cannot win because he cannot prevent the dancing black knight from defending the queening square d8: 1.Kc6 Nd8+ 2.Kc7 Ne6+ 3.Kd6 Nd8 4.Ke7 Nc6+ 5.Kd6 Nd8 =

30)



Your response was: No, White cannot win by force.

This response was: Correct

White cannot win because his bishop cannot control the square h8. The Black king can therefore prevent the white pawn from promoting to a queen on this square.

31)



Your response was: No, White cannot win by force.

This response was: Correct

White cannot win because after 1.b4 Bc4 there is no way to further advance the blocked passed pawns because of the opposite-colored bishops.

32)



Your response was: Yes, White can force a win.

This response was: Incorrect

White cannot win because according to the omnisicent endgame databases ("tablebases"), this position is drawn - one way for Black to draw is to sacrifice the bishop against the only two remaining pawns.

33)



Your response was: No, White cannot win by force.

This response was: Correct

White cannot win because the opposite-colored bishops allow Black both, to maintain a secure blockade of the passed pawn on the queenside and to defend all of his pawns on the kingside.

34)



Your response was: No, White cannot win by force.

This response was: Correct

White cannot win because his king cannot escape the black rook's checks from behind: 1.Kf3 Ra6 2.Ke4 Ra4+ 3.Kd5 Ra1 4.Kc6 Ra2 5.Kb7 Rb2+ 6.Ka6 Ra2+ 7.Kb7 Rb2+

35)



Your response was: No, White cannot win by force.

This response was: Correct

White cannot win in this well-known Philidor position in which the defender should keep his king in front of the opposing pawn and keep his rook on the third rank until the pawn advances to that rank. Then he should go to the far end of the board (the seventh or eighth rank) and check the king from behind: 1.e6 Rg1 2.Kd6 Rd1+ 3.Ke5 Re1+ 4.Kf6 Rf1+ 5.Ke5 Te1+ Draw.

36)



Your response was: No, White cannot win by force.

This response was: Correct

White cannot win because two pawns versus one pawn on the same wing is an insufficient material plus in this rook ending, an assessment that is also confirmed by the omnisicent endgame databases ("tablebases").

37)



Your response was: Yes, White can force a win.

This response was: Incorrect

White cannot win. The endgame with rooks and f- and h-pawn was analyzed to be a draw by Mikhail Botvinnik in the 1940s (with correct defense) and this position also is a draw according to the omnisicent endgame databases ("tablebases").

38)



Your response was: No, White cannot win by force.

This response was: Correct

White cannot win. This endgame with rooks and four vs. three pawns on the same wing is a draw because due to his perfect defensive setup (f7-g6-h5), Black can force the exchange of all his pawns if White tries to make progress.

39)



Your response was: No, White cannot win by force.

This response was: Correct

White cannot win. The endgame rook and knight versus rook is generally drawn, as confirmed for this position by endgame tablebases.

40)



Your response was: No, White cannot win by force.

This response was: Correct

White cannot win according to endgame tablebases. The endgame rook versus bishop is generally drawn assuming perfect play; the stronger side can only win if the defending king is trapped in a corner that is of the same color square as his bishop.

41)



Your response was: No, White cannot win by force.

This response was: Correct

White cannot win according to endgame tablebases. Even though the defense is very difficult and the stronger side therefore often wins, the endgame rook and bishop versus rook is generally drawn assuming perfect play.

42)



Your response was: No, White cannot win by force.

This response was: Correct

White cannot win according to endgame tablebases. The endgame rook versus bishop is generally drawn assuming perfect play; here, white cannot make progress because black is stalemated after 1.Ra8+ Bg8 2. Kg6.

43)



Your response was: No, White cannot win by force.

This response was: Correct

White cannot win according to endgame tablebases. Having the advantage of rook and pawn vs. bishop generelly leads to an easy win. However, in this position, there is no way to remove the black blockade.

44)



Your response was: No, White cannot win by force.

This response was: Correct

White cannot win according to endgame tablebases. The endgame queen versus f-pawn on the seventh rank is generally drawn because the black king is stalemated on h1 if White captures the black pawn on f2: 1.Qe3 Kg2 2.Qe2 Kg1 3.Qg4+ Kh2 4.Qh4+ Kg1 5.Qg3+ Kh1 6.Qxf2 Stalemate.

45)



Your response was: No, White cannot win by force.

This response was: Correct

White cannot win according to endgame tablebases. The endgame queen versus h-pawn on the seventh rank is generally drawn because the black king threatens to be stalemated on h1: 1.Qg3+ Kh1 2.Qh3 Kg1 3.Qg3+ Kh1 4.Qg4 Stalemate.

46)



Your response was: No, White cannot win by force.

This response was: Correct

White cannot win according to endgame tablebases. Two knights can generally draw against a queen if the king is near its knights because the two knights can set up an impenetrable fortress.

47)



Your response was: No, White cannot win by force.

This response was: Correct

White cannot win according to endgame tablebases. A queen has a theoretical forced win against two bishops in most positions, but the win may require up to seventy-one moves; this, however, is a drawing fortress position for the two bishops.

48)



Your response was: No, White cannot win by force.

This response was: Correct

White cannot win because Black can set up an impenetrable fortress along the fifth rank after 1. Kf4 Re5.