Cordingley puzzle 32

White to play and win

Solution

I didn't please myself here: I got the first move, it was the natural move, the move I would play at bullet, blitz or classical, 1. f4. If my mind could be examined, it wouldn't give this move an exclamation mark, let alone two; and the unclear symbol would also be unfair. No, if Chessbase had a 'fingers crossed' symbol, that is the one to use: I would play the move, and hope it works.

Does that mean I got the solution? Not really, because a few moves into my analysis, I fluffed it. Here my friend, Luke McShane (one of the world's top players, but alas, now, an amateur) told me in relation to another puzzle that things can be easier seen in practice, when the position is on the board. Here, I think what Luke says is true: there is maybe a fair chance that I would have found e6 rather than the weak ef? which I got to in my analysis: I wasn't convinced about it, but had got to the limit of my depth of vision.

I should also say that Houdini also likes 1 Bd1, which I also thought I might play (Aagaard's three questions…one of which is 'which is your worst placed piece'; it also likes 1 Ra8 a lot; but 1 f4 is its favourite, once it has had time think.

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