White to move. How should White proceed?
2q1kb1r/2pbpppp/1p5n/p7/2P5/1P4P1/PB1Q1PBP/3R2K1 w k – 0 22
- About Us
- Chess Improvement
- Chess Puzzles
- Chess Research
- College Chess
- General News
- Home
- Major Tournaments
- News
- Polgar Events
- Privacy Policy
- Scholastic Chess
- SPICE / Webster
- Susan’s Personal Blog
- Track your order
- USA Chess
- Videos
- Women’s Chess
- Contact Us
- Daily News
- My Account
- Terms & Conditions
- Privacy Policy
1 minute
1. Bb7 Qd8 2. Bc6
2. … e6 3. Bxd7+ Ke7 4. Ba3+ Kf6 5. h4 g6 6. Bb2+ e5 7. Bxe5+ Kxe5 8. Qf4#
2. … e5 3. Bxd7+ Ke7 4. Bxe5 Qb8 maybe 5. h4 threatening Bf6+
4. Bxe5 Qb8? 5. Bh3
1) Bb7 forces Qd8 (otherwise Qxd7#)
2) Bc6, and it’s 3-to-2 on the pinned Bishop. Black probably moves either the e- or f-pawn.
2) — f6 or f5
3) Bxd7+, Kf7
4) Be6+ nets the Black Queen. However, 2) … e6 prolongs the agony.
3) Bxd7+, Ke7, but now
4) Ba3+, Kf6 (if … c5, Qd6#)
5) Qf4+, driving the King to a light square, and the rest is easy.
The only trickier line might arise after 2) … e5, but after 3) Qd5, I don’t see how much longer Black can survive. (3) … Ng4 obviously won’t work).
I saw the first two moves within seconds, but it took longer to get through the defenses after 2.Bc6:
1. Bb7 Qd8
2. Bc6
And Lenny has already covered 2. ….f6, so I will confine myself to 2. ….e6 since there is one line there that should be discussed a bit further, and another that requires a correction:
2. …………e6
3. Bd7 Ke7
And Lenny suggested 4.Ba3, which surely does win, but 4. ….c5 is not 5.Qd6# since 5. ….Kf6 and black is well behind, but I don’t see any quick mate there- but will look at it more tomorrow. However, I thing white gains more by closing the f6 square first…
4. Qg5!? f6 (only move)
5. Ba3 c5 (if Kf7 6.Be6 with an overwhelming edge)
6. Bc6! bc5 (if Kf7, then 7.Qh5 g6 8.Be6 Kg7 9.Qh6)
7. Qc5 Kf7
8. Be6! Kg6 (Ke6 9.Qe3 Kf7 10.Rd8)
9. Rd8 Bc5
10.Rh8 and the ending is easy.
I had to put this on the chessboard, though after the 4th move, and it took 10 minutes to work this line out even then.
And that should have been 6.Bc5, not 6.Bc6. I really need to proofread this stuff more carefully!
I was too busy kicking myself to notice because I’d seen Bxc5+ followed by Qxc5+ in another line but I hadn’t seen it when I was trying to get the 4. Qg5+ line to work.
Here is a cute little ending problem I found on another site today:
8/8/2p2p2/8/7P/8/1k1K4/8 w – – 0 1