Newspaper Chess Problem

Hi everyone,

Dr. Bell's recent chess post in the local newspaper featured a problem for the reader to solve. The problem featured a well known endgame tactic that is very useful to know. In the problem, White does not have a fun position; however, White can make use of a very neat trick by playing Bxa4! White has sacrificed his bishop, but at the same time has forced Black's sole pawn onto the a-file. You will notice that the potential queening square for the pawn is not the same color as the squares on which Black's bishop can move. This is very important, since now White can triumphantly march his king over to the corner and move back and forth between a1 and b2 (or b1). Black, surprisingly, can do absolutely nothing to disrupt White's fortress and thus must adhere to a draw. Note: This is not the only way to draw the position, but it is by far the simplest.

Josiah Hereford