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The Concept of the far distant Passed Pawn

Heinrich_24
| 13

Presumably many of you know already the concept of a far distant passed pawn . Here is an illustrative example with it:

 

 

Although the material is equal white will win this pawn endgame easily.The reason for it is the distant passed pawn on the b-file. White offers it to get the d-pawn and then his king is directly in the near of opponent`s king side pawns. Here the proof:

 


This is easy to understand. But would that concept also work with other pieces on board? Yes and no! In endgames with minor pieces (knights and bishops) the  distant passed pawn means normally a clear advantage. But in endgames with rooks on board it depends on the positions of the rooks: Whose rook is behind the passed pawn?

In endgames with the queens on board is the kingsafety often a problem, so that the concept of distant passed pawn sometimes works not so well


Let us now look at a position of a master game:


 

Perhaps the heat in Havana influenced the black player, a Middle European, to offer here the exchange of the queens. But it was a wrong decision. The endgame with queens would probably have ended with a draw. After 1. ... Kf8 mate threat is ruled out and 2. Bc5 Be7 is good enough to defend the king. And because of insecure white king safety the concept of distant passed pawn works not so effective with queens on board.

After his move 1. ...Qc6 black is in an endgame of same-coloured bishops and an distant passed pawn on opponent`s side

 

 

So here the end position from previous diagram as puzzle. Test your technique: