Pawn Breakthrough

Intermediate

How to play the pawn breakthrough

With three pawns against three on the same side and the kings far away, the side to move can often force a queen. Push the middle pawn: whichever pawn takes it, push the pawn next to it, and the last one runs through. It only works when the enemy king is too far away to catch the pawn that gets through.

Every move is checked with an endgame tablebase, which knows the exact result of every position with up to seven pieces. The computer defends perfectly, and if a move throws the result away, the trainer stops and shows you a better one.