The Réti manoeuvre: one king, two jobs

White's king is in the corner, three moves behind Black's h-pawn. Black's king is next to White's c-pawn. It looks lost twice over. But a king moving along a diagonal travels as fast as one moving straight, and it can head towards two places at once. That's the Réti manoeuvre, from a famous study by Richard Réti.

The study, played out

White to move. Step through the draw.

Two aims at once

1.Kg7! A diagonal step is as fast towards the h-pawn as a straight one, and it also heads for your own c-pawn. Black pushes 1...h4.

2.Kf6! Still both. If Black keeps running with 2...h3, then 3.Ke7 and White's c-pawn queens too. So Black stops to deal with the c-pawn: 2...Kb6.

3.Ke5! Now if Black takes on c6, White's king steps into the square of the h-pawn: 3...Kxc6 4.Kf4, and the pawn is caught. A draw.

The mistakes

Every king move off the diagonal loses a tempo, and with it the game. 1.Kh7? h4 is simply too slow, and so is 2.Kg6? h3. Pushing the pawn with 1.c7? Kb7 gives it up for nothing, and then the h-pawn queens.

The idea to remember

A king on a diagonal can chase two things at once. Before writing an ending off, count king moves both ways: a diagonal path that heads for two goals can save half a point.

Train it

This is one of the endgame techniques OptiChess teaches as a walkthrough: the moves play themselves until a moment that matters, then you find the move, checked against the tablebase. More endings are in the chess endgame trainer.

Try it. Real positions, set at your level, every answer checked against the board. No account needed to start.

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