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1. e3+ Ke4 (1… Ke5 2. Nf7+ Ke4 3. Qc2+) 2. Qc2+ Ke5 3. Nf7+ Ke6 4. Nd8+ Ke5 5. Nc6+ Ke6 6. Nd4+! cxd4 7. Qc8+ Ke5 8. exd4+ Ke4 9. Qc2+
The first move I would look at is e3:
1. e3
Black has two moves- Ke4 and and Ke5, but Ke5 loses quickly: [1. …Ke5 2.Nf7 Ke4 3.Qb1 Ke3 4.Qf5+-]. Continuing:
1. …..Ke4
2. Qc2
My idea for playing this move is to get the black king on e5 so that the knight can get involved with check, and to keep the black king tied down to defending the queen at f5, and hope to make hay with my knight checks to force the black king away so that Qxf5 can win. Continuing:
2. …..Ke5 (or lose the queen)
Now, white has the choice of two knight checks- from g6 and f7. The check from g6 seems to leave white with only checks from f8, d7, and the protected c5 in order to make any progress as the black king alternates between e6 and e5 protecting his queen. So, let’s look at 3.Nf7:
3. Nf7 Ke6
4. Nd8 Ke5
5. Nc6 Ke6
Right about move 4, I could finally see the solution. I realized from the start that I wouldn’t be able to drive the king off both e6 and e5 with the knight alone, and was simply hoping that I had chosen correctly at the start and would figure it out once I got deep enough by following the logical continuations for progress. Continuing:
6. Nd4! cd4
7. Qc8 Ke5 (Kf7 next comment)
8. ed4 Ke4 (Kd4 same as below)
9. Qc2
And, now, the black king must leave the queen undefended with the e5 square taken away. Continuing:
9. …..Kd4
10.Qf5
And with the king and bishop far from the remaining black pawns, this ending isn’t too difficult to win- the g7 pawn will fall quickly since the bishop cannot protect it with Bf8 as Qg6 and Qf7 force it way. With the weakness of the white squares, the king and queen are more than sufficient to force the black king away from the last pawn, even supported by the bishop.
More testing might be the line arising at black’s choice at move 7 where he immediately concedes the queen in order to keep the king near the king side pawns. I will cover that line in my next comment.
Lots of checks. The key lies in 7. Qc8+
1. e3+ Ke4 (If 1….Ke5 2. Nf7+ Ke4 3. Qc2+ wins the Queen.)
2. Qc2+ Ke5
3. Nf7+ Ke6
4. Nd8+ Ke5
5. Nc6+ Ke6
6. Nd4+ cd4:
7. Qc8+ Ke5
8. ed4:+ Ke4
9. Qc2+ wins Black’s Queen
In my previous comment, I discussed how white can win the queen for the knight with the following attack:
1. e3 Ke4
2. Qc2 Ke5
3. Nf7 Ke6
4. Nd8 Ke5
5. Nc6 Ke6
6. Nd4 cd4
7. Qc8
And, in the main line that followed, black persisted in protecting the queen with the king by playing 7. …Ke5, but was eventually forced to concede it after 8.ed4 and 9.Qc2 leaving black with an undefendable g-pawn which would quickly reduce to a Q vs B+P ending. Better, in my opinion was to concede the queen earlier at move 7 in order to keep the black king close the king side pawns. Let’s continue the line above:
7. …..Kf7
8. Qf5 de3
Now, can white win the bishop with some sort of double attack is the very first question to be answered. To me, the obvious try is
9. Qd5 Kf8
Here, every other move loses to double attack- Ke8 10.Qb5; Ke7 10.Qe4; Kg6 10.Qe4. Continuing:
10.Qd8
What white wants to avoid here is allowing the bishop to come to his king to block a check, but I don’t thing this can be done now that I have looked at it. As long as black keeps the king on f8 and f7, white will have to expend a tempo to get the queen onto a more advantageous series of squares, and black will then have some time to consolidate. Continuing:
10. ….Kf7
11.Qd7 Be7
Now, white needs to win the e-pawn. I see no reason not to play
12.Kf3
Now, what should black do? Should he move the f or g-pawns? One argument for doing so is that it would give him some control over the white squares around his king, and make the advance of the white king more problematic. Without doing so, I simply don’t see a defense for black- eventually the penetration of the white king and queen on the white squares will force either mate, or force the bishop away. So
12. ….g6
13.Ke3 f5
Same argument as before:
14.Kf4 Kf6 (what else?)
15.Qc6 Kg7
I am not sure Kf7 is any different, here. White still plays Ke5 like below. Continuing:
16.Ke5 Bg5
Again, I don’t immediately see how moves like Kh6 or Bh4 would be different- white still plays Ke6. Continuing:
17.Ke6
And, now the pressure on black seems overwhelming. 17. …Bf6 is going to lose to 18.Qd7+. 17. …Kh6 loses the g-pawn to 18.Kf7. About all I can see here is
17. ….Bh4
18.Qc1
A waiting move. Now, any pawn moves loses one of the remaining pawns. Any bishop move along the f2/h4 diagonal loses to a check from b2 or c3. Bf6 loses to Qc7+. A king move to h8 or h7 loses at least the f-pawn after white pins the bishop with Qh1. A king move to f8 allows Qh6+ dropping the bishop, and Kg8 loses at least a pawn to Qh6 (and is probably mate, now that I think about it). Of the options, only Bd8 looks holdable, and not really even that:
18. ….Bd8
19.Qc3
Here, 19. …Kg8 is met by 20.Qd2 and the white queen penetrates through d7 to check from f7 and win g5 (mate will follow, I am sure). Of course, 19. …Kf8 is mate after 20.Qh8. On 19. …Kh7, white still plays 20.Qd2, only now followed by 21.Kf7, and mate will come quickly, before or after black gives up the bishop. And, finally, after 19. …Kh6, Qh8 wins the bishop.
I am pretty sure there is no defense for black in any of these lines, but this, after move 7 is the most resistant.
Oeh, this is nice! 🙂 Anyways, 1. e3+ – Ke4 (Ke5, Nf7+ and Nd6+), Qc2+ – Ke5, Nf7+ – Ke6, Nd8+ – Ke5, Nc6+ – Ke6, Nd4+! – cxd, Qc8+ – Ke5, exd+ – Ke4, Qc2+ and black cannot save his queen.
true:
1. e3+ Ke4
2. Qc2+ Ke5
3. Nf7+ Ke6
4. Nd8+ Ke5
5. Nc6+ Ke6
6. Nd4+ cxd4
7. Qc8+ Ke5
8. xd4+ Ke4
9. Qc2+ wins
The aim, IMHO, is to gain the Qg6 with a fork or a skewer.
Let’s try the tempting move
1.e3+
1…Ke5 is a display of suicidal tendencies because it’s strongly met with 2.Nf7+ Ke4 3.Qb1+ (or Qc2+)
So, the main line must be
1…Ke4
I would hesitate between 2.Qb1+ and 2.Qc2+, but, if the 7th move is to be 7.Qc8+, let’s try first 2.Qc2+
2.Qc2+ Ke5 and now, an old theme, the giant knight. The Black King is stuck next to his attacked wife, and we can poke at the monarch many times.
Let’s try 3.Ng6+ Ke6 4.Nf4+ Ke5 and we don’t have any efficient check.
And trying 3.Ng6+ Ke6 4.Nf8+ Ke5? Same fiasco again.
So, Ng6 is a mistake, forfeiting the win.
Let’s try Nf7+
and here’s the catch:
Nf7+ Ke6 Nd8+ Ke5 Nc6+ Ke6
What now? all the ways seem to be barred, except if we remember the excellent hint of HeinzK, in our level quite a spoiler.
Nd4+ (the fork! Black must take the arrogant Knight!) cxd4, and here it goes!
Qc8+ Ke5 cxd4+ Ke4 Qc2+ winning her opponent
So, the formatted solution is now
1.e3+! Ke4 (1…Ke5 2.Nf7+ Ke4 3.Qc2+)
2.Qc2+! (and not Qb1+?) Ke5
3.Nf7+ (and not Ng6+?)Ke6
4.Nd8+ Ke5
5.Nc6+ Ke6
6.Nd4+!! (the key move!) cxd4
7.Qc8+ Ke5
8.cxd4+ Ke4
9.Qc2+
1-0
Again, greetings to Wolverine and Yancey Ward
****Special thanks to HeinzK****
1. e3 Ke5 2. Nf7+ Ke4 3. Qc3 snags black’s Queen.
1. e3 Ke5 2. Nf7+ Ke4 3. Qc3 snags black’s Queen.
Seems to me e3ch wins in short order. There’s a mating net with the White knight going to f7 to finish it. So, it goes…..Ke4 (prolonging the end), Qc4ch….Ke5 (forced), Nf7 mate.