Questions tagged [zugzwang]
Zugzwang is a German term, literally meaning "compulsion to move," which refers in chess to a situation in which any move by the side whose turn it is leads to ruin, but the player would be saved if only it were legal to "pass."
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Zugzwang where the side to move must be mated in exactly 2 moves
On page 6 of this PDF, it mentions the existence of a legal position such that whoever moves first must be checkmated in exactly 2 moves. Can someone please show me this position?
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Maximum saved moves to win caused by zugzwang
For a zugzwang where x>y and:
If white has the move, White can force checkmate in x full moves
If Black has the move, White can force checkmate in y full moves
The score of such a zugzwang is x-y....
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One-liner double zugzwang
Can you construct a position on a single file (double your points if it is the a or h file, triple if position is symmetric) which is a mutual full point zugzwang?
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Mutual Zugzwang positions from practical play
The following fascinating position recently arose in Round 5 of the ongoing Tata Steel tournament.
[Title "Ju Wenjun - Alireza Firouzja, Tata Steel, 2024"]
[FEN "8/2pk4/6p1/2P4p/3PR2P/...
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Can a rook and King checkmate a bare King without zugzwang?
Can a rook and a king force a checkmate against a bare king that starts in the center if the opponent was allowed to pass?
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Technique for drawing this king and multiple pawns endgame
Given this position with king and multiple pawns per side (white to move):
3k4/p4ppp/1p2p3/8/8/1P4P1/P3PPKP/8 w - - 0 26
Engines give a 0.0 evaluation. Assuming your opponent plays best moves, my ...
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Is there a position with the stupidest possible move?
I define a stupid move as a move that
puts the opponent in zugzwang so that all their moves result in mate in one (weaker version: a loss);
is chosen instead of a move that gives mate in one (weaker ...
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What is the difference between a waiting move and zugzwang?
I can't see the difference between a waiting move and zugzwang.
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How does Anna Rudolf beat Hikaru Nakamura in this rook vs queen endgame fortress that came from a choker game (chess + poker)?
Position that follows is from Anna Rudolf's video 'Challenging Top Chess Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura for a Choker Match!':
[FEN "8/5p2/8/2qkp3/4R1P1/5P2/3KP3/8 b - - 0 1"]
Also, here's a ...
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Better-known term for "cyclic" zugzwang?
What's the term for a zugzwang position P where
White is winning, with or without the move
White's best way to win from P is to execute a tempo-losing manoeuvre which leads back to P with Black to ...
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Can a zugzwang be a bad move?
There's this related Helpful Zugzwang? but it's not quite what I am asking. I mean a double (or further) zugzwang.
So a player puts another player in zugzwang, and the other player makes a move. ...
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Trying to remember a zugzwang puzzle/study position
I am trying to remember a puzzle position, or maybe was it originated from a real game, i dont remember.
Something like (white to move):
7R/rp6/pk6/p7/P7/8/1K6/8 w - - 0 1
I would like to know where ...
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Demystifying Seirawan-Kasparov 1983 king and pawn endgame
I am currently studying the Tarrasch Defense 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5, and naturally I've stumbled upon many Kasparov games as he frequentloy and quite successfully employed this opening throughout ...
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The highest amount of moves by the losing side in a zugzwang
In zugzwang, the usual idea is to limit the number of moves that the opponent can make. But they can also have many moves in certain scenarios.
What is the highest amount number of moves by the losing ...
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Formal definition of corresponding squares
For (endgame) training purposes, I would like to write a python program (using python chess) that generates all pairs of corresponding squares in a pawn endgame. Following the definition from ...
