Hold the draw for 8 moves · You play white
ProA king that looks hopelessly behind an enemy pawn catches it by walking along a diagonal that threatens two things at once: to chase the pawn and to support its own. A diagonal king walk is as fast as a straight one.
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The Réti manoeuvre is part of Pro, with all 20 endgames.
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Richard Réti published this study in 1921, and it still looks impossible at first. Your king on h8 is far behind the black pawn on h5, your own pawn on c6 is about to be taken by the king on a6, and it is your move. You can draw, if the king walks the right way. Eight moves to show it.
Straight down the h-file the king is one move too slow: the pawn queens on h1 before the king reaches it. But a king going diagonally gains a rank on every step, just as it would walking straight. Kg7 moves towards the h-pawn and, at the same time, towards the c6 pawn and its queening square c8. That makes two threats, and Black has to choose which one to meet.
If Black pushes on with h4, the king continues to f6, and after h3 to e7: now c7 cannot be stopped, your pawn queens on c8 right after Black queens on h1, and queen against queen is a draw. If Black goes for the c-pawn with Kb6, the king goes to f6 and e5 instead, and after Kxc6 it reaches f4 in time to catch the h-pawn.
In this drill a promotion you answer at once with your own counts as level, so the race line is a draw like any other. The mistake to avoid is the first move: Kh7, Kg8 and c7 all lose.
Play White. Before your first move, count the straight route to the h-pawn and see it fail, then try the diagonal. After Kg7, watch which threat Black answers and switch to the other one. Eight moves without losing the race is the draw.
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