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Rc1 +-
I like Ng5. If QxQ, the knight recaptures for mate. If not, we have all kinds of fun attacks (Like taking black’s queen or taking the h pawn with the knight and threatening mate if KxN) depending on how black responds.
I don’t see anything else that’s forcing mate though.
4511. Ng5 (a) Qxf7
2. Nxf7#
1. … (b) R, N, or p moves
2. Qxb3, 1-0
1. … (c) Qd3
I don’t see the forced win, somebody else may. But I know when I see a potential smothered mate, that has to be the answer.
Ng5
Nd8 Winning a piece. But Qf5!! is much stronger but not very pretty.
Nd8 Winning a piece. But Qf5!! is much stronger but not very pretty.
Nd8 Winning a piece. But Qf5!! is much stronger but not very pretty.
Nd8!
… Qxf7
Nxf7#
… Q(anywhere else)
Nxb7
1-0. White is a whole piece down with a losing position.
I think it’s not Ng5, in fact I think it’s Nd8!. That way on any Q move, the black N is lost, plus it has all the other advantages of Ng5 previously mentioned.
Nd8!
Nd8 double attack
Nd8 double Attack
Nd8…double Attack
Nd8
I’mm for 1. Nd8, winning a piece outright.
It’s pretty to easy to see that, if the knight were to jump to f7 (via g5, for example), it would be mate already. So, how can we best make use of that weakness?
1- Nd8;
Attacking both black’s queen and knight. No response seems satisfactory for black.
A) … Qxf7 is of course to be excluded from consideration, because of 2- Nxf7#.
B) … Rxd8 (or Nxd8) loses the queen (2- Qxb3)
C) … Nc5 or Na5 (moving the knight while protecting the queen) simply fails to 2- Qxb3; Nxb3 3- Nf7#
D) Finally, black’s “best” option is to move the queen out of harm’s way (with Qb5, for instance), but that simply means giving up the knight (2- Nxb7; Qxe5) and entering a very unfavorable endgame
I enjoyed this one.
A very interesting position. White cannot, of course, force a Philidor’s mate. But threats of
checkmate, by one means or another, combined with attacks on the vulnerable Black knight on b7-
square give White a win.
There are, I think, two ways to win. The simplest and most practical is 1. Nd8
Both Black’s knight and queen are attacked, and, naturally, if Black is silly enough to play 1. .. Qf7 the Philidor’s mate does result with 2. Nxf7#
Other Black defenses to 1. Nd8 lose the Black knight:
1. .. Qb4 2. Qxb7
1. .. Qb5 2. Nxb7 Qxe5
I’m glad I took a 2nd look at this position, because White appears to have a strong move also with
1. Qf5
The beauty of this is that not only does White now threaten to checkmate Black with
2. Ng5 g6 3. Nf7+ Kg7 4. Qf6+ Kf8 5. Nd6+ Qf7 6. Qxf7#
but White is also, now that the White queen is covering the b1-square, threatening 2. Rb1, skewering the Black queen and knight.
These defenses are no good for Black:
1. .. h6 is met simply by 2. Rb1
1. .. Rc8 is punished by 2. Rb1 Qc2 3. Qxc2 Rxc2 4. Rxb7 Kg8 5. Rxg7+ Kh8
But Black does have 1. .. Nd8
After this, I doubt if Black can survive 2. Ng5 g6 3. Qf6+ Rg7 4. e6
But this line is WAY MORE COMPLICATED than the simple lines resulting after the OTB preferred move:
1. Nd8
Nd8 !
Nd8!
O, silly me! There is another (3rd) way to exploit White’s mating attack along with the attack on
the Black knight on b7-square. I missed this before.
This just goes to show that sometimes there are a number of strong moves available, and one has to spend time finding the strongest one. And if one doesn’t have the time, play the simplest one that one knows will win for sure.
I previously missed 1. Ng5
White is threatening 2. Qh5 h6 (3. .. Qd3 Nf7#) 3. Qg6!
After 1. .. h6 White has the killer 2. Qg6 (2. ..Qc2 3. Nf7#) hxg5 3. Qh5#
Black can guard h7-square with the queen with 1. .. Qd3 or Qc2 but that loses the knight to
2. Qxb7
I hope Garry Kasparov gets as many chances as I took tonight. No kidding.
Well, I see from looking at the game score, that Ibragimov played the practical 1. Nd8 which I gave as my 1st solution.
It looks like Nd8 wins the knight.
1.Nd8 wins a piece.
I don’t see much wrong with Ng5 as suggested by mshroder above (line c 2.Qxb7 has to win, right?), but Qf5 looks like a stronger move to me- it threatens Rb1 and Ng5 (cutting off Qd3 as a defense of h7).
Nd8
Ng5
Q*g8 K*g8 Rf8#
Nd8 is quite practical, but it needlessly drops the e-pawn. To my eye, even Ng5 is superior.