White to move. How should White proceed?
Stein, Leonid – Filip, Miroslav (Moscow, 1967)
4q3/2R1p1k1/3p1bpr/1p1P4/1P2Q3/5RP1/5P2/rB4K1 w – – 0 33
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1. Rxf6!
A- 1…..exf6. 2. Qxe8 wins for W.
B- 1…..Kxf6. 2. Qd4+ and 3. Qxa1 wins a piece for W.
C- 1…..Rxb1+. 2. Kg2!.
C1- 2…..Kxf6. 3. Qe6+.
C11- 3……Kg5. 4. f4+. Kh5. 5. Qh3#
C12- 3……Kg7. 4. Rxe7+. Qxe7. 5. Qxe7+. Kg8. 6. Qxd6 should win for W. The black b pawn will soon perish and B has no counter play to rebut W pawn March.
C2- 2…..Rxb4. 3. Rxe7+.
C21- 3…..Qxe7. 4. Qxe7+. Kg/h8. 5. Rf8#
C22- 3…..Kxf6. 4. Qe6+. Kg5. 5. f4+. Rxf4. (If Kh5. 6. Qh3#) 6. gxf4+. Kxf4. (If Kh5. 7. Qh3#). 7. Rxe8 and W wins easily with Q up.
Yes, 1.Rf6 looks overpowering to me, too, however 1. …ef6 is illegal move- the pawn is pinned. The main problem I see with your analysis is 1. …Rb1, but take this with a grain of salt- I have only looked at this for a few minutes so the analysis is somewhat thin in scope and depth.
1. Rf6! Rb1
2. Kg2? Rh2!
3. Kh2? Qh8!
4. Qh4 Qh4
5. gh4 Kf6
And white will have a fight to just draw this. At move 3 in the line above, white probably has to play 3. Kf3:
3. Kf3 Kf6
4. Qb1
Maybe 4.Qe6 is better, but black plays Kg5, and I haven’t looked at every move more than a move or two deep, but it seems to me white should take the perpetual with 5.Qe3- everything else looks very dangerous to me.
Also, I haven’t gone very far past 4.Qb1, but black probably does best to put the rook on h5, and though I would rather be white here, I can’t easily see a concrete plan that has anything promising in it- each player would have a weak pawn (d for white, b for black).
I forgot to add- white wins with 2.Qxb1 pretty convincingly.
Concluding that White wins easily demands of course a more convincing
justification but in this case it seems indeed pretty easy. After 1. Rxf6 Rxb1+
2. Qxb1 Kxf6 3. Qe4 seems decisive, because of multiple deadly threats:
4. Qe6+ Kg5 5. f4+
4. Qe6+ Kg7 5. Rxe7+
4. Qf4+ Kg7 5. Qxd6
There is no way to defend against all of them (some defences get into
different troubles: 3… e5 4. dxe6 Qf4+ winning R; 3… Qf7 4. Qd4+ Kg5
5. f4 Kg4 6. Qd1+ Kxg3 7. Rc3+, there is more crushing variations)
I was tired and ready for bed when I opened up the comments- I hadn’t even planned to make one until I noticed the problem with 2.Kg2.
I generally agree with:
1. Rxf6 Rxb1+
2. Qxb1 Kxf6
3. Qe4!
Obviously, the pawn at e7 is in danger.
If 3. … Qf7, then 4. Qd4 leads to mate in 2
If 3. … Kf7, then 4. Qe6+ forces the exchange (either 5. Rxe7 or 5. Rc8)
However, 3. … Rh7 seems interesting. 4. Qe6+ Kg5 5. f4 Kh6 6. Qh3+ Kg7 …
Not sure how White gains further advantage but I’m probably overlooking something (maybe 6. f5).