The Rule of the Square is a didactic auxiliary expedient in king versus opponent passed pawn races in very late endings, basically pawn endgames or even KPK, assuming the passer may not supported and the king has no obstructions otherwise. It is based on the Chebyshev distance due to possible diagonal king moves. If the king stays outside the Square of the Pawn, the passer to move is guaranteed to promote without being immediately captured by the king afterwards.
The Square of the Pawn
The Square (of squares) is defined vertically by the passer's front fill with the horizontal edge in king direction, who is assumed on a different file either on the luff- or lee side of the passer. If the respective side span is shorter than the front span due to border restrictions, the "Square" becomes oblong. The square of a pawn, usually including the pawn itself except the home rank, due to double step ability, has a maximum size of six times six squares.
King to move may enter the "Square" to catch the passer:
if( min(5, distance(pawnSq, promoSq))<(distance(kingSq, promoSq)- king2move))
pawn can safely promote
Sample Game
During the ACM 1984, last round 4, in Nuchess (2/3) versus Cray Blitz (3/3), it seemed as if Nuchess would win, forcing a massive tie for first place. The decisive position anatomized by Boris Baczynskyj[1]:
After 44... Nc8, the following position was found on the board.
2n1k1r1/p7/3B1Rp1/2P2pKp/8/4P1P1/5P1P/8 w - - 17 45
While Nuchess has hardly produced an immortal gem of chess, its performance so far has been fairly thematic - for a computer. White is up a Pawn, but an even more important factor in its favor is the superior activity of all three of its pieces. One good move is 45.Kh6, threatening to trap the black Rook with 46.Kh7. Another approach toward a win is 45.Be5, and the threat of 46.Rxg6 forces 46...Ne7, after which White shifts the Rook by 47.Ra6, and Black has to lose more material. Instead, Nuchess played
45. Rxg6??
This is the move which turned a win into a loss, and allowed Cray to clinch its undisputed first. White wins a second Pawn, but in the coming Pawn ending its material edge is worthless as the white King is too far removed to cope with Black's lone, but distant passed a-Pawn. William Blanchard of the Nuchess team dejectedly confirmed that this program failed to include the principle of the King having to be inside the square of the Pawn to catch it. Of course, Nuchess's search did not extend so deeply that it could see the a-Pawn queening. Hyatt said that Cray knew about the square of the Pawn rule, but that this was the first time he was aware the principle was relevant to the computer's move choice...
Table of Contents
The Rule of the Square is a didactic auxiliary expedient in king versus opponent passed pawn races in very late endings, basically pawn endgames or even KPK, assuming the passer may not supported and the king has no obstructions otherwise. It is based on the Chebyshev distance due to possible diagonal king moves. If the king stays outside the Square of the Pawn, the passer to move is guaranteed to promote without being immediately captured by the king afterwards.
The Square of the Pawn
The Square (of squares) is defined vertically by the passer's front fill with the horizontal edge in king direction, who is assumed on a different file either on the luff- or lee side of the passer. If the respective side span is shorter than the front span due to border restrictions, the "Square" becomes oblong. The square of a pawn, usually including the pawn itself except the home rank, due to double step ability, has a maximum size of six times six squares.King to move may enter the "Square" to catch the passer:
Area of Hope
The whole area, where a king may catch the passer latest after queening, is the union of both squares from both luff- and lee directions.Implementation
The complete area is already implicit in what most programs do, comparisons of absolute Chebyshev distance from king- and pawn squares to promotion square considering side to move aka tempo and possible double step of the passer.Sample Game
During the ACM 1984, last round 4, in Nuchess (2/3) versus Cray Blitz (3/3), it seemed as if Nuchess would win, forcing a massive tie for first place. The decisive position anatomized by Boris Baczynskyj [1]:
2n1k1r1/p7/3B1Rp1/2P2pKp/8/4P1P1/5P1P/8 w - - 17 45
While Nuchess has hardly produced an immortal gem of chess, its performance so far has been fairly thematic - for a computer. White is up a Pawn, but an even more important factor in its favor is the superior activity of all three of its pieces. One good move is 45.Kh6, threatening to trap the black Rook with 46.Kh7. Another approach toward a win is 45.Be5, and the threat of 46.Rxg6 forces 46...Ne7, after which White shifts the Rook by 47.Ra6, and Black has to lose more material. Instead, Nuchess playedThis is the move which turned a win into a loss, and allowed Cray to clinch its undisputed first. White wins a second Pawn, but in the coming Pawn ending its material edge is worthless as the white King is too far removed to cope with Black's lone, but distant passed a-Pawn. William Blanchard of the Nuchess team dejectedly confirmed that this program failed to include the principle of the King having to be inside the square of the Pawn to catch it. Of course, Nuchess's search did not extend so deeply that it could see the a-Pawn queening. Hyatt said that Cray knew about the square of the Pawn rule, but that this was the first time he was aware the principle was relevant to the computer's move choice...
ACM 1984, round 4, Nuchess - Cray Blitz [2]
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