Zigzag: The King's Crooked Path to the Win
White to play and win, after Grigoriev, 1928
PlayYou are White and you play to win. Both pawns are five moves from queening. Your king has to come back to c2 to stop the b-pawn, and a pawn push with check would cost you the move you need. The rule: on the way back, pick a route the pawn cannot check. A crooked route takes no more moves than a straight one.
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The King's Zigzag
White to play and win · Win against perfect defense
Waking the engine…
The theory
Watch the method: press play to see the winning idea run, or step through it move by move.
Pushing g4 at once only draws. The b-pawn reaches b3 with check, both pawns queen, and after your check from g8, Black's king hides on a1. Draw.
Board geometry is not ruler geometry: a king that walks a crooked line arrives just as fast as one that walks straight, and it can pick up extra work on the way. That is the zigzag.
King first. Only 1.Kc3 wins. The natural 1.g4 throws the point away, because Black's b-pawn races down with check and your king never catches it.
Up, then back. Kc3 and Kc4 drive the black king to the edge. Then, after g4 b5+, only Kd3 holds the win: the king turns back inside the square of the b-pawn while your own passer starts running.
The point of it all. The b-pawn is stopped by Kc2, Black's king is squeezed onto a2, and g8=Q lands with check down the g8-a2 diagonal. The new queen then rounds up the b-pawn at leisure.
In this drill every king move matters more than every pawn move. Walk the zigzag.
Keep going
Zigzag Around the Check
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Key Squares: The Winning Map
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King and Two Pawns vs King
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All 68 king & pawn positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)