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Come on. White is so dead.
1. nd2, qd1+
2. Qf3, qxq
3. kxq, nxn
4. bxn
Or
1. nd2, bxn
2. bxb, qe2+
3. nf3, nf2+
4. kh4
Isn’t this the final position of GM-elect Aagaard and IM Gordon? And white resigned. 🙂
What is Black’s threat in this position? It’ hard to find the save when you can’t figure out what you should be protecting against… 🙂
aam said…
“1. nd2, qd1+
2. Qf3, qxq
3. kxq, nxn
4. bxn”
Nope!
1 Nd2? Qd1+
2 Qf3 Ne5+! with a royal fork winning the queen. So Nd2 is out.
But 1 Qf3 right away is playable, and uses the same theme in your try, except that the white knight protects against the fork. I don’t see a win here, but white’s queen is out of the pin, and since black’s queen is threatened, he can’t take the bishop, so this has to be the best shot for white. If…
1 Qf3 QxQ
2 KxQ Ne1 (to move the knight out of danger while still attacking white’s bish)
3 Ke2 d4xe3
And white is in a sticky position. For if he takes the knight on e1, then the white knight on f4 is no longer protected and will be captured. However, he can salvage the situation, gaining a tempo by attacking the bish at c7 while moving the knight at f4 out of danger:
4 Nd5 Bxh2
5 KxN Bg3+
6 Ke2 Bh4
White has escaped without losing a piece, but still is in for a troubled endgame, as he can win the e-pawn, but black can eat the g-pawn, and thus create a protected passed h-pawn, which is a powerful edge in the endgame. Maybe someone can sick rybka or fritz or some cylon on the position to see if white can even pull off a draw here.
“Isn’t this the final position of GM-elect Aagaard and IM Gordon? And white resigned. :)”
Good heavens, do you have pointed ears or something? How would you know that? Only a Vulcan would know such details. If so, that was unfortunate.
I think
1. Bd2 is a better move.
White is still under attack, but probably can equalize soon.
“I think
1. Bd2 is a better move.
White is still under attack, but probably can equalize soon.”
No way. 1 Qf3! gets rid of the pin, and with an exchange of queens, white’s king is out of danger, but white is only saddled with an inferior endgame.
1 Bd2? not only doesn’t allow white to equalize, but almost gets white mated. It’s a really cool variation though:
1 Bd2 NxB
2 BxB h5+!!
3 g5xh6 e.p. Nd7!
It’s this very nasty zwitchenzug which ruins white’s position. White must capture with en passant, and that moves the g-pawn out of the way, which allows the black Queen to mate on h5, pinning the bish. (I don’t think I’d find that in a real game under time pressure, as en passant captures are so unintuitive, and this would make a good problem in and of itself.)
So now if 4 BxB?? Qf5+ 5 Kh4 Qh5++.
White’s king is boxed in, his bishop pinned, and black’s knight can now take its time and join the attack, with either Nxf6 or Nc5 and Ne6 if white moves the king to g5 to defend the f-pawn. White has nothing and the bish (and then the king) will soon fall.
In light of the nasty …h5+!!, I’d say that 1 Bd2 loses, and that 1 Qf3! is the only move that gives white any chances.
It’s not the final position of Aagard Gordon – that really was lost for White. There’s an extra piece each here.
Spock