White to move. Find the absolute best continuation.
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1. Rf8+ Bxf8
2. Rxf8+ Qxf8
3. Qxg6+ Qg7
4. Nf6+ Kf8
5. Qe8#
1 minute 52 seconds
Puzzle for Alena:
6Q1/8/7q/2B5/4p3/2K1pp2/p6p/k7 w – – 0 1
Pervakov, 1986
It’s a very interesting puzzle. The first move must be outstanding.
I have found only three moves so far.
1. Bd4 Qb6
2. Bxh6 h1=Q
3. Bd4 Qd1
4. Qg1 e2
5. Bg8 e3
6. Qg7 e1=Q+
7. Kc4+ Qd4+
8. Qxd4+ Qc3+
9. Qxc3+ Kb1
10. Qb2#
The second variation is the most difficult.
1. Bd4 Qb6
2. Bxh6 h1=Q
3. Bd4 Qc1+
4. Kb4+ Qb2+
5. Bxb2+ Kxb2
6. Qb3+ Kc1
7. Qxe3+ Kd1
8. Qf2 a1=Q
9. Qf1+ Kd2
10. Qxa1 Ke2
11. Qb2+ Ke3
12. Kc4 f2
13. Qb1 Kf3
14. Qh1+ Ke3
15. Qf1 Kf3
16. Kd4 e3
17. Kd3 Kf4
18. Ke2 Ke4
19. Qh3 Kf4
20. Qxe3+ Kf5
It’s a winning position for white. I need to go to bed now. I will solve your puzzle tomorrow.
Well done. The puzzle is a bit marred by that long sideline, but the win is clear.
And if you solve the first one quickly, here is another spectacular puzzle that you will either solve quickly, or take a very long time. The first time I saw it, it took me hours to find the right beginning, but once I saw it, I couldn’t believe I didn’t see it earlier.
8/1q1p4/4p1p1/2R3P1/k6P/8/8/K2R4 w
It took me 20 minutes to solve it.
1. Rc4+ Ka5
2. Rb1 Qd5
3. Rcb4 Qd2
4. R1b2 Qd1
5. Ka2 Qd5+
6. Ka3 Qc5
7. h5 gxh5
8. g6 d6
9. g7 Qc3+
10. Ka2 Qxg7
11. R4b3 Qg4
12. Ra3+ Qa4
13. Rxa4+ Kxa4
14. Rb6 e5
15. Rxd6 e4
16. Re6 Kb5
17. Rxe4 Kc6
18. Rh4 Kd5
19. Rxb5+ Kc4
Alena,
I could never determine clearly if 1.Rc4 wins for white- it might, but it might not. You would really need to use a high powered chess engine that could calculate out the lines to a depth of at least 25-30 moves.
However, there is a move at white’s very first move that leaves no doubt about the matter- it wins in all variations and can be shown as winning with about a minute’s worth of work in the head. So you need to find that.
I’m in doubt between Rb1 and h5.
Think about what you could do if you could limit the black queen’s mobility with white’s very first move.
It took me several hours to solve it 🙂 but all lines are victorious.
1. Rdd5 exd5
2. Rc2 d4
3. Ra2+ Kb5
4. Rb2+ Kc6
5. Rxb7 Kxb7
6. h5 d3
7. Kb2 gxh5
8. g6 d2
9. Kc2 d1=Q+
10. Kxd1 Kc7
11. g7 Kd6
12. g8=Q
Like you, the first time I saw this puzzle, I spent hours looking and trying to prove all variations of 1.Rc4, 1.Rb1 won, but the variations were too numerous to be certain. I do think it likely 1.Rc4 eventually wins, but 1.R1d5 is 100% won without much thought needed.
And once you find the much simpler winning line in this puzzle, there are two more puzzles in the next thread.
Rf8+ Bxf8
Rxf8+Qxf8
Qxg6+Qg7Nf6+
Kf8 Qe8#