The Saavedra position is one of the best-known

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

endgame studies In the game of chess, an endgame study, or just study, is a composed position—that is, one that has been made up rather than played in an actual game—presented as a sort of puzzle, in which the aim of the solver is to find the essentially uniqu ...

. It is named after the Spanish priest Fernando Saavedra (1849–1922), who lived in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

during the late 19th century. Though not a strong player, he spotted a win involving a dramatic

underpromotion In chess, promotion is the replacement of a pawn with a new piece when the pawn is moved to its last . The player replaces the pawn immediately with a queen, rook, bishop, or knight of the same . The new piece does not have to be a previously c ...

in a position previously thought to have been a

draw Draw, drawing, draws, or drawn may refer to: Common uses * Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them * Drawing (manufacturing), a process where metal, glass, or plastic or anythin ...

. This is among a minority of positions where king and pawn can win against a king and rook, and one of the most famous examples of underpromotion in chess. It is also a rare example of a player being famous for a single move.

Solution

The position as it is usually given today, with White to move and win, is shown in the diagram. The solution is: :1. c7 Rd6+ 2. Kb5 (If 2.Kc5 then Rd1 threatening a skewer via 3...Rc1; if instead 2.Kb7? then Rd7 pins the pawn, allowing black to capture it to assure a draw.) :2... Rd5+ Or 2...Rd2 3.c8=Q Rb2+ 4.Ka4 Ra2+ 5.Kb3 Rb2+ 6.Kc3 and White wins. :3. Kb4 Rd4+ 4. Kb3 Rd3+ 5. Kc2 Rd4! 6. c8=R! Threatening 7.Ra8+; instead 6.c8=Q? Rc4+! 7.Qxc4 is

stalemate Stalemate is a situation in the game of chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check and has no legal move. Stalemate results in a draw. During the endgame, stalemate is a resource that can enable the player with the inferi ...

. :6... Ra4 7. Kb3 Black must either lose the

rook Rook (''Corvus frugilegus'') is a bird of the corvid family. Rook or rooks may also refer to: Games *Rook (chess), a piece in chess * Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game Military * Sukhoi Su-25 or Rook, a close air support aircraft * US ...

(allowing White an elementary checkmate) or be checkmated by 8.Rc1.

History

The long history of the study has its origins in a game played between Richard Fenton and William Potter in 1875. From the position shown, the game continued 1.Rxh3 Kxh3 2.Kc6 Rxa5 3.b7 Ra6+ and the players agreed a draw. However, as

Johannes Zukertort Johannes Hermann Zukertort (Polish: ''Jan Hermann Cukiertort''; 7 September 1842 – 20 June 1888) was a Polish chess master. He was one of the leading world players for most of the 1870s and 1880s, but lost to Wilhelm Steinitz in the World C ...

pointed out in the ''City of London Chess Magazine'', 1875, White could have won with 4.Kc5 (not 4.Kb5 Ra1 when White cannot promote the

pawn Pawn most often refers to: * Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous piece in the game * Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral Pawn may also refer to: Places * Pawn, Oregon, an h ...

because of 5...Rb1+) 4...Ra5+ 5.Kc4 Ra4+ 6.Kc3 (or 6.Kb3 Ra1 7.Kb2) 6...Ra3+ 7. Kb2, and White will promote the pawn when the

queen versus rook A pawnless chess endgame is a chess endgame in which only a few pieces remain, and no pawns. The basic checkmates are types of pawnless endgames. Endgames without pawns do not occur very often in practice except for the basic checkmates of king a ...

endgame Endgame, Endgames, End Game, End Games, or similar variations may refer to: Film * ''The End of the Game'' (1919 film) * ''The End of the Game'' (1975 film), short documentary U.S. film * ''Endgame'' (1983 film), 1983 Italian post-apocalyptic f ...

is a theoretical win (this winning method had earlier been demonstrated in a study by

Josef Kling Josef Kling (19 March 1811 – 1 December 1876), also found in English-language sources as Joseph Kling, was a German chess master and chess composer. He has been called "a pioneer of the modern style of chess." Although Kling was an expert on e ...

and

Bernhard Horwitz Bernhard Horwitz (1807 in Neustrelitz – 1885 in London) was a German and British chess master, chess writer and chess composer. Horwitz was born in Neustrelitz and went to school in Berlin, where he studied art. From 1837 to 1843, he was par ...

published in ''The Chess Player'', September 1853). Upon Potter's death in March 1895, G.E. Barbier published a position in his Glasgow ''Weekly Citizen'' chess column of April 27, 1895, which he claimed to have occurred in Fenton–Potter. In fact, he had misremembered the game, and the position he published (see diagram) had never arisen. It was published as a study with Black to play and White to win; the technique is just that demonstrated by Zukertort and by Kling and Horwitz before him: 1... Rd6+ 2. Kb5 Rd5+ 3. Kb4 Rd4+ 4. Kb3 Rd3+ 5. Kc2. When Barbier published this solution on May 4, he claimed that by moving the black

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ...

from h6 to a1 the position could be transformed into a "Black to move and draw" study. On May 11 he gave the solution 1... Rd6+ 2. Kb5 Rd5+ 3. Kb4 Rd4+ 4. Kb3 Rd3+ 5. Kc2 Rd4! 6. c8=Q Rc4+ 7. Qxc4

; however, as Saavedra pointed out, 6. c8=R instead wins, a solution published by Barbier on May 18. Saavedra, a Spanish priest who lived in Glasgow at the time, was a weak amateur player; his sole claim to fame in the chess world is his discovery of this move. The modern form of the position was obtained by

Emanuel Lasker Emanuel Lasker (; December 24, 1868 – January 11, 1941) was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years, from 1894 to 1921, the longest reign of any officially recognised World Chess Champ ...

(in ''

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle :''This article covers both the historical newspaper (1841–1955, 1960–1963), as well as an unrelated new Brooklyn Daily Eagle starting 1996 published currently'' The ''Brooklyn Eagle'' (originally joint name ''The Brooklyn Eagle'' and ''King ...

'', June 1, 1902, p. 53) by moving the c7-pawn back to c6 and changing the stipulation to the standard "White to play and win".

Alternate line

As computer-generated

endgame tablebase An endgame tablebase is a computerized database that contains precalculated exhaustive analysis of chess endgame positions. It is typically used by a computer chess engine during play, or by a human or computer that is retrospectively analysin ...

s confirm, Black can offer longer resistance by 3...Kb2, for which White has only one winning reply, 4.c8=Q, promoting to a queen instead of the underpromotion to a rook. Then White can force checkmate on the twenty-sixth move. However, per the

anthropocentric Anthropocentrism (; ) is the belief that human beings are the central or most important entity in the universe. The term can be used interchangeably with humanocentrism, and some refer to the concept as human supremacy or human exceptionalism. F ...

conventions of endgame studies, moves that result in positions known to be theoretically lost are considered sidelines.

Legacy

The study has been widely reproduced, and in ''Test Tube Chess'',

John Roycroft Arthur John Roycroft (born 25 July 1929, London) is an English chess endgame study composer and author. Chess career In 1959 he was awarded the title International Judge of Chess Compositions. In 1965 he founded '' EG'', the first long-running ...

calls it "unquestionably the most famous of all endgame studies". It has inspired many other composers: the many promotions in the studies of Harold Lommer, for example, were inspired by the Saavedra position. Mark Liburkin was also one such composer.

Plaskett's Puzzle Plaskett's Puzzle is a chess endgame study created by the Dutch endgame composer Gijs van Breukelen (February 27, 1946 – December 21, 2022) around 1970, although not published at the time. Van Breukelen published the puzzle in 1997 in the Nethe ...

is yet another famous endgame problem that features underpromotion prominently. A number of composers have produced work which elaborates on the basic Saavedra idea. The study shown to the left is the most famous of these; it is by Mark Liburkin (second prize, ''

Shakhmaty v SSSR ''Shakhmaty v SSSR'' (russian: Шахматы в СССР; ''Chess in the USSR'') was a Soviet chess magazine published between 1931 and 1991. It was edited by Viacheslav Ragozin for several years. Yuri Averbakh was also an editor. From 1921 or ...

'', 1931) and is White to play and win. After the first move 1.Nc1, Black has two main defences; the first of these shows the Saavedra theme: 1.Nc1 Rxb5 (1...Kb2 2.Nd3+ wins) 2.c7 Rd5+ 3.Nd3! Rxd3+ 4.Kc2 Rd4 and we have a position already seen in the Saavedra position itself; White wins with 5.c8=R Ra4 6.Kb3. The other Black defence features two new stalemate defences, and a second underpromotion, this time to

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

; this is why this study is well-known while many other elaborations on the Saavedra position are forgotten: 1.Nc1 Rd5+ 2.Kc2 (2.Nd3? Rxd3+ 3.Kc2 Rd5! 4.Kc3 Rxb5 draws; 2.Ke2? Rxb5 3.c7 Re5+ draws) 2...Rc5+ 3.Kd3! (3.Kd2? Rxb5 4.c7 .Nb3+ Rxb3 5.c7 Rb2+! – see belowRb2+! 5.Kd1 Rc2! 6.Kxc2 stalemate) 3...Rxb5 (3...Rxc1 4.Kd4, intending 5.Kd5 and 6.b6, wins) 4.c7 Rb8! and now both 5.cxb8=Q and 5.cxb8=R are stalemate, 5.cxb8=N leaves a drawn ending, and 5.Nb3+ Rxb3+ 6.Kc2 Rb2+! 7.Kc1 (7.Kc3 Kb1! and Black wins) only draws after 7...Rb1+ or 7...Rb4 8.c8=Q (8.c8=R Ra4 is safe now) Rc4+. White can only win by 5.cxb8=B! followed by a

bishop and knight checkmate The bishop and knight checkmate in chess is the checkmate of a lone king which can be by a king, a bishop, and a knight. With the stronger side to move and with perfect play, checkmate can be forced in at most thirty-three moves from any start ...

References

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External links