Showing posts with label Chess. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chess. Show all posts

Friday, September 5, 2008

Chess Combination: SOLUTION

This is the solution to the position posted in my main blog on September 2. Click here to go back.

White to move. The features that stand out are the absolute pin on black's pawn at g6, the potential pin against the black queen on the same diagonal as its king, black's vulnerable 7th rank, and the fact that the pinned pawn is attacked and defended 3 times so that removing a guard from g6 will lead to the win of material (the same point is true of the pawn on f5, which turns out to be the key to the solution).

White plays: 1.Rxd4!

"The forcing, violent move - a capture - initiates action on the long diagonal." -- Reinfeld

1...exd4

This move is forced. Otherwise Black will remain a rook behind. The next move is the tougher one to see.


2.Bxd4!

The Pin. The queen screens the king from attack but cannot move away.


2...Qxd4

The capture of the white bishop is forced, setting the stage for the decisive knight-forking check.


3.Nxf5+

"This forcing violent knight-forking check wins black's queen because the king knight pawn is pinned..." -- Reinfeld

SOURCE -- The Secret of Tactical Chess: A Manual of Chess Victory by Fred Reinfeld (1958), Collier Books (1973), softcover, diagram 85, page 129.
The themes are pin and knight fork (double attack). This was one of the first books on chess tactics that I studied. It was republished by Collier during the Fischer-Spassky boom in Great Britain and the United States. Note the cover price of $2.45. The same book would be released at ten times that much today.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

What's the best move?

White to move.

Position is after 31...exf3+. The game is between F. Niro & D. Gregoryev, Eastern Open, Washington D.C., 1996.

Your choices are:
a. gxf3
b. Kxf3
c. other


Answer and analysis:
Best is b. 32.Kxf3 with a dead draw after 32...h5 33.Kf4 g6 34.h3 Re7 35.Kg5 Kf7 36.g4 (1/2-1/2).

a. 32.gxf3? loses after 32...Re7+. For example, 33.Kd3 g5 34.Ra2 Kf7 35.Kc3 h5 36.Kb4 g4 37.fxg4 hxg4 38.Rc2 f4 39.Rg2 f3 40.Rxg4 f2 41.Rf4+ Ke8, etc. (0-1)

c. Any other move will lose because once the king steps aside, White has the choice of f2 or fxg2. One or the other will win easily in every situation.

This will be the post for solutions of all future "What's the best move?" positions from my main blog.