Réti endgame study

The Réti endgame study is a chess endgame study by Richard Réti. It was published in 1921 in "Kagan's Neueste Schachnachrichten". It demonstrates how a king can make multiple threats and how it can take more than one path to a given location, using the same number of moves. It is arguably the most famous endgame study and is covered in many books on the endgame (see chess endgame literature). The procedure is known as the "Réti Maneuver" or "Réti's Idea" Harvcol|Müller|Pajeken|2008|pp=32-33, Harvcol|Nunn|2007|pp=118-19, Harvcol|Dvoretsky|2006|p=26. Endgame composer Abram Gurvich called the theme "The Hunt of Two Hares" and it appears in many other studies and games Harvcol|Müller|Lamprecht|2007|p=39. It is also called "chasing two birds at once" Harvcol|Dvoretsky|2006|p=26.

The study

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Richard Réti, 1921
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White to play and drawWhite is to move and draw in this position. At first inspection, it appears that White has no hope in drawing. His king is well outside the "square" of the black pawn (see king and pawn versus king endgame) and the king is a long way from supporting his own pawn. However, White can draw by making king moves that have two purposes. One goal is getting in the square of the black pawn, so it can be intercepted and the other is getting to the "d6" square to support the promotion of his pawn.

The black king will have to spend two tempi to stop the white pawn from promoting, and this is the number of tempi the white king needs to gain in order to get into the square of the black pawn.

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de la Villa, page 179
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Number of ways for the white king to get to squares in the minimum number of movesThe second diagram shows the number of ways that the white king can get to various squares in the minimum number of moves. There are nine ways to get to "d6", but only one of them allows him to get into the square of the black pawn.

The solution is for the white king to follow the path on the diagonal marked by "1" and then follow the dots to intercept the black pawn (if necessary):: 1. Kg7! h4: 2. Kf6 Kb6 Black has to spend a tempo on preventing the white king from reaching his pawn. If 2... h3 then 3. Ke7 h2 4. c7 Kb7 5. Kd7 and both pawns promote, with a drawn position.: 3. Ke5! Kxc6 Black has to spend another tempo to capture the pawn, to prevent the white king from protecting it. If 3... h3 then 4. Kd6 h2 5. c7 h1=Q 6. c8=Q, draw Harvcol|Müller|Pajaken|2008|p=12-13. Now the white king has gained enough tempi to get in the square of the black pawn and intercept it:: 4. Kf4, draw since the white king can stop the pawn from promoting (e.g. 4... h3 5. Kg3 h2 6. Kxh2) harvcol|de la Villa|2008|pp=179-80.

Another study with the same idea

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Richard Réti, 1928
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White to move and drawRéti used the same idea in another study. The solution is:: 1. Kg6 Kb6: 2. Kxg7 f5: 3. Kf6! f4: 4. Ke5 f3: 5. Kd6 f2: 6. c7 f1Q: 7. c8Q Qf4+: 8. Kd5 ½-½ harvcol|Fishbein|1993|pp=18-19

Examples from games

Yates versus Marshall

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Yates-Marshall, 1929
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Black to move In this game [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1066957 Yates-Marshall] between Frederick Yates and Frank Marshall, Black draws using the same idea::60... Kb2! (if 60... Kc2? 61. f4 wins):61. Kxa4 (if 61. f4?? then 61... a3 wins):61... Kc3!:62. f4 Kd4 ½-½ harvcol|Fishbein|1993|pp=18-19, harvcol|Dvoretsky|2006|pp=26-27

Lasker versus Tarrasch

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Lasker-Tarrasch, 1914
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White to moveIn this 1914 game [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1271260 Lasker-Tarrasch] between World Champion Emanuel Lasker and Siegbert Tarrasch, Black exchanged down into this position because he thought is was a win, but White used the maneuver above to draw the game. : 40. h4 Kg4: 41. Kg6! Threatening 42. h5 harvcol|Giddins|2007|p=8. Black had only considered the line: 41. Kf6? c4 42. bxc4 bxc4 43. Ke5 c3 44. bxc3 a4 45. Kd4 a3, winning harvcol|Kasparov|2003|p=209.: 41... Kxh4 This move is forced and the white king gains a tempo to return on a different diagonal which is not obstructed by his pawns harvcol|Giddins|2007|p=8.: 42. Kf5 Kg3: 43. Ke4 Kf2: 44. Kd5 Ke3: 45. Kxc5 Kd3: 46. Kxb5 Kc2: 47. Kxa5 Kxb3 ½-½ The theme of this endgame was used later by Réti in the study harvcol|Kasparov|2003|p=210.

Notes

References

*citation
last = de la Villa| first = Jesus
title = 100 Endgames You Must Know
publisher = New in Chess
year = 2008
id = ISBN 978-90-5691-244-4
* citation
last = Dvoretsky| first = Mark| authorlink = Mark Dvoretsky
year = 2006
title = Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual
edition = 2nd
publisher = Russell Enterprises
id=ISBN 1-888690-28-3
* citation
last=Fishbein|first=Alex|authorlink=Alex Fishbein
title=King and Pawn Endings
year=1993
publisher=American Chess Promotions
id=ISBN 0-939298-39-2
*Citation
last=Giddins|first=Steve|authorlink=Stephen Giddins
year=2007
title=101 Chess Endgame Tips: Golden nuggets of endgame wisdom
publisher=Gambit Publications
ID=ISBN 978-1-904600-66-4
*Citation
last=Kasparov|first=Garry|authorlink=Garry Kasparov
year=2003
title=My Great Predecessors, part I
publisher = Everyman Chess
ID=ISBN 1-85744-330-6
*Citation
surname1=Müller|given1=Karsten|authorlink1=Karsten Müller
surname2=Lamprecht|given2=Frank|authorlink2=Frank Lamprecht
year=2007
title=Secrets of Pawn Endings
publisher=Gambit Publications
ID=ISBN 978-1-904600-88-6
*Citation
surname1=Müller|given1=Karsten
surname2=Pajeken|given2=Wolfgang
year=2008
title=How to Play Chess Endings
publisher=Gambit Publications
ID=ISBN 978-1-904600-86-2
* Citation
last=Nunn|first=John|authorlink=John Nunn
title=Secrets of Practical Chess
year=2007
edition = second
publisher=Gambit Publications
ID=ISBN 978-1-904600-70-1

Further reading

*Citation
surname1=Fine|given1=Reuben|authorlink1=Reuben Fine
surname2=Benko|given2=Pal|authorlink2=Pal Benko
year=2003
edition=2nd
title=Basic Chess Endings
publisher=McKay
ID=ISBN 0-8129-3493-8
page=11
* Citation
last=Flear|first=Glenn|authorlink=Glenn Flear
title=Starting Out: Pawn Endgames
year=2004
publisher=Everyman Chess
ID=ISBN 1-85744-362-4
page=95
* Citation
last=Keres|first=Paul|authorlink=Paul Keres
title=Practical Chess Endings
year=1984
publisher=Batsford
ID=ISBN 0-7134-4210-7
pages=13-14
*Citation
surname1=Müller|given1=Karsten
surname2=Lamprecht|given2=Frank
year=2001
title=Fundamental Chess Endings
publisher=Gambit Publications
id=ISBN 1-901983-53-6
page=31
* Citation
last=Seirawan|first=Yasser|authorlink=Yasser Seirawan
title=Winning Chess Endings
year=2003
publisher=Everyman Chess
ID=ISBN 1-85744-348-9
pages=36-37
*citation
last=Speelman|first=Jon|authorlink=Jon Speelman
year=1981
title=Endgame Preparation
publisher=Batsford
id=ISBN 0-7134-4000-7
pages=26-27