Endgame: Partly Remembered

It was with considerable interest that I was watching the round four endgame yesterday between Odysseus Rodriguez and Chase Rands. After the game, I showed both players wins that I thought they had missed. A strong move that I thought Rodriguez could have played occurred in a position that I remember partly. The position of White's king and Black's c-pawn both affect whether my idea would have been one of two winning moves or one of five ways to maintain equality.

Later in the game, Rands had a queen against an h-pawn two squares from promotion. It is a technical win for the queen, but Rands was desperately short of time. Nonetheless, he reached a position where he had a forced mate in two, but feeling harried with only three seconds left, he missed it. The game was drawn with lone kings when Rands had one second left.

I had been watching Rands' games with interest because he played an excellent game against me in round one, converting his clear advantage on the delay with three seconds remaining. I was rooting for the young player after he beat me.

Rodriguez may have missed a win from this position.

White to move

My idea is the best move, but Stockfish also finds one other idea that leads to victory. Rodriguez played Bc2, which gave Rands a key tempo with the king's move towards the a-pawn. But, this move is not losing as it seemed to be in the game, so perhaps the position is incorrect.

If Black's c-pawn was one square further, which I think it was and White's king on the g-file, which does not sit well in my memory, then Bc2 is a losing move, but my idea is one of five drawing possibilities. 

White to move

What would you do as White in either of these positions?

After watching a couple of moves, I thought Rands had good winning chances and directed my attention to another game, IM John Donaldson against Tilly Backstrom. It was difficult for me to anticipate how Donaldson was going to win the game. Both players had queens, Donaldson had a bishop to Backstrom's knight, and both had five pawns. Donaldson had a 4-2 majority on the kingside and was pressing with the e- and f-pawns. Backstrom had a 3-1 majority with a passed c-pawn on the queenside.

White to move

Donaldson eventually won in an ending I'd like to have a copy of (I do have a photo on my phone of the position above). I then faced Backstrom in the last round and was worried because she seemed to put up a great deal of resistance against Donaldson. She misplayed the Trompowsky against me and  I had a decisive advantage by move 17. I might post that game tomorrow.

The tournament was the Spokane Chess Club's Inland Classic, a five-round Swiss held February 22-23 in Rathdrum, Idaho.