White to move. How should white proceed?
Source: ChessToday.net
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Classic tactic review
About Author
White to move. How should white proceed?
Source: ChessToday.net
1.Qa5 Rxg3+
(1…Qxa5 2.Rf8+ Kh7 3.Rh8#)
(1…Qe8 2.Rf8+ Qxf8 3.Qxd5+)
2.Kh2 Rh3+ 3.Kg2 Qb8 4.Rf8+ Qxf8 5.Qxd5+ Nf7
(5…Qf7 6.Qd8+ Qf8
(6…Kh7 7.Qh8#)
7.Qxf8+ Kh7 8.Qh8#)
6.Nxf8 Rxh5 7.Nd7
If one is very eager to win a queen, one instantly plays:
1. Rf8+ Qxf8
2. Nxf8 Kxf8
with only a slight advantage to white, this is hard to win, and has to be wrong.
Then I detect that “Take queen or sack queen, that is the question”.
Black queen can’t possibly leave the backrank due to the Rf8+/Rh8# threat.
1. Qc6!! Qb8 (Qxb7 Rf8+ Kh7 Rh8#, Qd8 Qxd5+ Qxd5 Rf8+ Kh7 Rh8#)
2. Qxd5+ Kh7
This is still difficult though, I don’t look quite through it yet, but those 2 first moves must be correct I think.
After:
1. Qc6+! Qb8
2. Qxd5+ Kh7
white is not in a hurry, since black king shall never escape from the trap he is in anyway.
Black’s only defence from here is checking, why not now play a prophylactic move?
I suggest:
3. Kh2! Qb2+
4. Qg2! Qxg2+
5. Kxg2 Kg8
6. Rf8+ Kh7
7. Rh8#
Black may delay this, but not without heavy material sacks I guess.
It’s a tough one (I feel) and a good puzzle. Need to calculate deep
1. Qa7 (Simple idea of deflection) so the Rook can mate
Rook capture on g3 pawn with Checks are temporary
1….RXg3+
2. Kh2 Rh3+
3. Kg2 Qd8 (forced)
4. Qd7 Qa8
5. Qxd5+ Nf7
6. NxQ
There is mate shortly with Queen and Knight now
1-0
I had to look at:
1. Qc6 Nf3+
2. Rxf3 Rxg3+
3. Kh2! wins (Rxg3?? looses)
I also had to look into:
1. Qc6 Qb8
2. Qxd5+ Kh7
3. Kh2!? (my prophylaxis idea) Qb2+
4. Qg2 Qxg2+
5. Kxg2 Ne6!
and the situation looks equal to me…
I have to admit that chess is complicated:-)
Is this my 4th post to day?
What about:
1. Qc6 Qb8
2. Qxd5+ Kh7
3. Kg2!?
Trying a different prophylaxis.
3. … Qb2+
4. Rf2 Qb8
Here I was stuck thinking about Rf8 Qb2+ etc., but there should be an improvement?
If white could get the black queen off of the 8th rank, he could mate starting with Rf8 followed by Rh8. The hardest thing about this puzzle is to not settle for winning the black queen for the rook and knight, which is actually more tempting than even normally since black can go catastrophically wrong at the second move:
1. Rf8? Qf8
2. Nf8 Kf8??
3. Qd8 Kf7
4. Qd7 is going to win the unprotected rook at g4. At move 2, black must find a way to deal with this secondary threat:
2. …..Rg3!
3. Kf2 Rf3 (Ne4 ok???)
4. Ke2 Rf8!
5. Qd6 d4 (e4 ok???)
6. Qe5 de3
7. Ke3
And I am pretty sure this is going to be drawn since black’s fortress is inpenetrable.
The great Bronstein found a way win:
1. Qa5!
I think Qa7 will win, too, but this is more forcing to my eye. It threatens Qd5 in addition to Qa8. Continuing:
1. …..Qb8 (alternatives below)
2. Rf8! Qf8
3. Qd5! Qf7
Probably better is to play Nf7, but that line is such material disadvantage it isn’t worth discussing. Continuing:
4. Qd8 with mate to follow.
Back at the first move in this line, black can try to muck things up with Rg3, but this will not hold either:
1. Qa5 Rg3
2. Kh2!
This is the only winning move for white, I think. If he plays Kf2, black checks from f3 blocking white’s access to f8, and Kh1 allows black the time to safely put the queen on b8 while retaining his own rook: [2.Kh1 Qb8! 3.Rf8 Qf8 4.Qd5 Nf7! 5.Nf8 Kf8 with what looks like a draw to my eye]. Continuing from move 2 immediately above:
2. …..Rh3 (what else?)
3. Kg2 and black is out of time to deal with the twin threats on the back rank.
pht,
You have the right idea, but the wrong queen move. Qc6 needlessly allows black’s queen access to the second rank in some lines:
1. Qc6? Rg3! (the only defense)
2. Kh2 Rh3
3. Kg2? Qa2-+
Or, at move 3.Kg1 Rg3 is a perpetual, and finally, at move 2, Kf2 also loses for white:
2. Kf2?? Ne4!
3. Ke1
Or, if Ke2 black plays Qa2 to set up the mate. Continuing:
3. …..Qa5 with mate on Qd2 coming in another 1 or 2 moves.