The Reti Idea: A King That Does Two Things at Once
White to play and draw, after Reti
PlayBlack's h-pawn is running and your king looks too slow to catch it. Your a5 pawn saves you without ever moving, because the threat to push it wins the time you are missing. The rule: walk your king where it helps your own pawn and heads for the square of his pawn at the same time.
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The Pawn That Never Moves
White to play and draw · Hold the draw against perfect play
Waking the engine…
The theory
Watch the method: press play to see the winning idea run, or step through it move by move.
So go the other way, toward your own pawn, with Kc8. If he runs with the h-pawn anyway, your pawn runs too and queens first.
Reti's famous study taught that a king moving diagonally can chase a pawn and shoulder the enemy king at the same time, gaining ground on two fronts with a single move.
Why the chase fails. Going straight after the h-pawn leaves you exactly one move short. 1.Ke8 loses.
Why the push fails. 1.a6 loses too. The pawn is captured on a7 instead of a5 and you have bought nothing. It is bait, not a runner, and it never needs to move: the threat of a6 does the work.
The right route. 1.Kc8! Kc6 2.Kb8! Kb5 3.Kb7! Kxa5 4.Kc6! Your king has walked d8-c8-b8-b7-c6 while Black walked d6-c6-b5-a5 and captured a pawn. Now c6-d5-e4-f3-g2 catches the h-pawn to the tempo.
In this drill the opponent fights for every tempo. Only Kc8 holds.
Keep going
Queen Beats the Center Pawn
White to play and win
Reciprocal Zugzwang: e6 Against c5
White to play and win
The Same Position, and Only One Move Saves It
Black to play and draw
All 68 king & pawn positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)