Cordingley puzzle 38

White to play and win

Solution

At bullet, anyone would play 1 Re5, and if black responded with his best move, 1…Qd6, white might well lose. At blitz perhaps the same, but at rapid or classical, white would realise that 1..Qd6 both defends, by pinning the rook to the king, and threatens mate, 2…Rh6+.

Once I saw the threat, I found it straightforward to counter with 2 Qg3. All I had to calculate was that black had nothing after 2…Qh6+ 3 Qh3, and he doesn't: 3…Rh5 is mated after 4 Re8+, whilst 3…Qd6 4 Kh1 and the skirmish is over: black loses a piece, since 4…Kg8+ is forced.

I found the geometry of pin and counter pin, mate and threat of counter mate, quite hard to see my way through, but got there without too much trouble.

H

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