LESSON - today we went over the answers to the ZWISCHENZUG problems.

We learned about the King vs King and pawn ending.

On Defense get into the "Safety zone" then stay in it until you get kicked out. Then go to the square of opposition which is the square on the same file as your opponent's king and the same color square as the square your opponent's King is on.

On offense, your king must be in front of your pawn AND you must move into the square of opposition. Once your king gets to the 6th rank, you need your king in front of your pawn OR opposition.

We learned the intricacies of distant opposition.

And we learned that if you advance the pawn to the 7th rank with check it results in a draw, whereas if you advance your pawn to the 7th rank without check, the pawn queens.

Here are two problems to sharpen your pawn queening skills: 

Problem 1. White to move and win.

Problem 2. Black to move and draw.

Answer to Problem 1. 1.Kb2 Kd6 2.Ka3 Kc5 3.Ka4 Kb6 4.Kb4 Your King is in front of the pawn and you have the opposition which is enough to win.

Answer to Problem 2. 1.Kf7! prevents white from gaining the opposition.

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RATINGS

Merit	Name	26-Apr
11.5	Cavan	585
4.5	Grant	507
10	Thomas	485
7.5	Simon	455
3	Quillan	449
2.75	Owen	407
	Warren	321
	Luke	303
	Lucia	241
	Jack	209
	Alan	152
	James	141
	Kellen	128