Catch the runner

What it trains

The endgame judgment knights are famous for failing: a knight catches most passed pawns and famously not all of them, and knowing which, before you commit your piece to the chase, is worth more than chasing. Every race here is solved exactly, so the drill can grade the judgment itself, not just the chase.

How to use it

First the call: can the knight stop it at all? Then, if you said yes, prove it on the board against a pawn that runs by stated rules: it takes your knight when it can, runs two squares on its first move when both are free, and waits only when you block it. If it promotes, you get one move to take the queen, so covering the queening square is a catch.

Half the races cannot be won, and saying so is the right answer there. A task scores when the call was right and, on a yes, the catch was made; every verdict that contradicts you shows its proof, the solver's own chase or the fact that none exists. Six races per run.

The other drills