This was an actual game between Reshevsky and Simonson in 1938
White to move. How do you assess this position? How should White proceed?
6k1/p2r1p1p/1pp2Qp1/4P3/3P1R2/2P4P/q5PK/8 w – – 0 1
This was sent in by Andreas.
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
1.e6
You can find out what Reshevsky did here.
I’m pleased that I was able to solve this in a couple of seconds. Nice theme.
An interesting question is whether the position is unwinnable after the “natural” 1.Qxc6. I suspect the answer is “Yes.”
1.e6
1.e6 Qxe6
… and Black should win.
An interesting question is whether the position is unwinnable after the “natural” 1.Qxc6. I suspect the answer is “Yes.”
White still has a pretty good game, but the win, if there is one, is nowhere near as clear is it is after Reshevsky’s move.
What about:
1. d5!
If 1… cxd5
2. e6 and white wins
If 1… Rxd5
2. Qxf7+ Kh8
3. Qf8#
… except for 1. d5 Qxd5
Nevermind.
1. d5 I predict. The idea is of course e6 and Qxd5 is answered by Rd4 winning material.
1. Qxc6, Qe6 leaves white with no advantage I’d say.
e.g. 2. Qxe6 fxe6 and black is going to play Rc7.
Best regards
Jochen
… except for 1. d5 Qxd5
Nevermind.
Nothing quite so tragic as a man with the right idea who changes his mind:
1.d5! Qxd5
2.Rd4!
1. Qxc6, Qe6 leaves white with no advantage
Well, I dunno about no advantage (2.Rf6, anybody?), but we all agree that Reshevsky did the right thing.
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Sorry for offtopic. 🙂
1. Qxc6, Qe6 2. Rf6, Qxc6 3. Rxc6, Ke7
That’s a rooks endgame with 5 pawns on either side with no one having an advantage.
I’d even prefer the black side a bit with the idea of Rb7 as the black a pawn is a bit more dangerous as the white ones as the black king can easily stop those while the white king is far away from the black a pawn.
Run your machines (tell me the result then), believe me or give me better analyses…. I’d be pleased about everything. 😉
Best regards
Jochen
1. Qxc6, Qe6 2. Rf6, Qxc6 3. Rxc6, Ke7
That’s a rooks endgame with 5 pawns on either side with no one having an advantage.
I’d even prefer the black side a bit with the idea of Rb7
That was supposed to be 3…Kg7, I’m guessing?
After:
1.Qxc6 Qe6
2.Rf6
… I agree that:
2…Qxc6
… is Black’s best follow-up, but after:
3.Rxc6 Kg7
4.Kg3 Rb7
White surely has a big edge with:
5.d5
…, does he not?
You never explicitly recommended Black’s exact sequence of moves, so perhaps I’m assaulting a mere strawman here. If I’ve misunderstood your intentions, I apologize.
Ups, never mind. Ke7 was meant as Ke7 but isn’t possible. In my head the king was already on f8.
So Kg8-Kf8-Ke7 takes one more move.
The idea of moving the king to e7 is that he can stop the white pawns so that d5 won’t give big threats.
So better:
1. Qxc6, Qe6 2. Rf6, Qxc6 3. Rxf6, Kf8 (first) 4. Kg3 (start centralizing the king), Ke7 4. Kf4 [idea Ke4 and d5].
Okay, probably you’re right, with the king centralized that quick I start liking the white position more than I did before. 😉
Probably black should better do nothing here (playing Rd8-d7-d8 and so on) than getting active with my proposed Rb7, I do not see a way for white to proceed.
Okay, now I agree with the slight advantage for white and sorry again for my funny move Kg8-e7.
But I still predict it is a draw…
Hmpf, it is late in Germany, should have taken a chess board instead of my old head. 😉
Best regards
Jochen
Jochen, you’ve been finding holes in my analyses for as long as I can remember. If I can snag a draw with you on this one, I’ll be delighted.
I agree with Jochen: 1.d5 wins outright. If 1…Qd5 2. Rd4 wins material, and if 1…cd5 then 2. e6! wins.
Kamalakanta
d5 is the right idea.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
http://www.ChessDiscussion.com