Triangulation Practice: When the Outflank Wins

Watch the method: press play to see the winning idea run, or step through it move by move.

Triangulation sounds exotic and is actually the plainest idea in endgame play: some positions are lost for whoever must move, so arrange to arrive there when it's not your turn.

Mutual zugzwang. In blocked pawn positions there are square-pairs where the kings glare at each other and any move loses ground. If reaching the stand-off with the OPPONENT to move wins, your task is pure tempo arithmetic.

Not a triangle here. The triangle itself is simple arithmetic: a king returns to its square in three moves through two neighbours, while a defender confined to two squares needs only two, so the move changes hands. But it needs a mutual zugzwang to aim at, and this position has none. Hand Black the move here and it is a draw. The tempo trick on this board is an outflank: your king walks round by g5 and h6 to reach e6 from the side his king cannot cover, and every other first move throws the win away.

Where it appears. Blocked central pawns, queen endings, even the Lucena's cousin positions. The prerequisite is always the same: know WHICH square-pair is the zugzwang, then dance.

Against a defense that never cracks approximate play achieves nothing here: only Kf4 keeps the win, and the king march that follows has to be exact. This is the drill that turns 'I know the idea' into technique.