Potter maneuvers
The Potter maneuver is a method named after William Norwood Potter to force victory against a rook in rook endings with an advanced pawn. In response to the rook's chess bids with the king, you walk along the pawn's neighboring line and only enter the line with the pawn when the rook can no longer get into the king's back. In modern chess literature, the term elevator has become established for this maneuver , some translations from English use the word escalator less instructively .
London , 1875
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This position from a game against Richard Henry Falkland Fenton was given a draw . Potter then showed the winning way:
- 1. b6 – b7! Re5-a6 +
In order to escape the chess rules and at the same time not to lose the pawn, the white king goes back to the second row along the c-file.
- 2. Kc6 – c5!
After 2. Kc6 – c7? Ra6 – a7 the pawn is tied up and is captured by the rook on the next move. On 2. Kc6 – b5? follows 2.… Ra6 – a1! with the threat of 3. b7 – b8D ?? to refute with the skewer Ta1 – b1 +. White cannot then prevent Re1 – b1 from capturing the pawn. 2. Kc6 – d5 ?? Ra6 – b6, and Black wins. The other moves follow the same logic.
- 2.… Ra6 – a5 +
- 3. Kc5 – c4! Re5-a4 +
- 4. Kc4-c3 Ta4-a3 +
- 5. Kc3 – b2!
and White wins (an alternative way to win would be 4. Kb3 Ra1 5. Kb2).
This finale was the inspiration for the creation of one of the most famous chess positions of all time, the Saavedra Study .
The maneuver was previously shown in a study published by Josef Kling and Bernhard Horwitz in The Chess Player in 1853 with a similar position and solution.