Daily Chess Puzzle

Today’s puzzle is from the current Sinquefield Cup in St Louis. I watched the latter half of this game live, from our holiday villa, unable to sleep. Watching without an engine on, I felt the R+P ending was probably winning for Mamedyarov, but wasn’t sure [one analysis I have subsequently seen suggests So might at one stage have been able to hold].

Near the end, I felt it was going to be a win, but still wasn’t sure.

White to play

Mamedyarov v So, Sinquefield Cup, August 2018

Solution

1 Kg3 (or 1Kf3 or 1 Kh3) wins, as one might expect. But how?

1…b4 2 Kg4 b3 3 h7+! (the key move) Kh8[] 4 Kg5 Rb5+ 5 Kh6 (the point) and White mates.

Early hours of the morning, when So resigned after 1 Kg3, the resignation at first felt premature. I initially tried to stop the b pawn with the Rook, until I saw 3 h7+! which enables the King to ‘hide’ on h6.

FEN

1r4k1/R7/6PP/1p6/8/8/6K1/8 w – – 0 1