Cordingley puzzle 67

White to play

(note, slightly cooked, not a win, but a good advantage)

Solution

Again, no prizes for the first two moves, which I saw instantly. I judged that this was likely to be a puzzle where white gets a compelling advantage, if not an absolute knock out, and that proved to be the case. The combination of a few pawns, king in the centre, strong central pawns, disco-ordinated black pieces, give white a good plus: but not a winning advantage if black plays Qb6 rather than the Qc8 played in the game. (Winning advantage- if Carlsen, Kramnik, Topalov and any of the world's top hundred or so were white, I wouldn't fancy my chances as black; but if I were white, and one of them were black, don't stake your house on my success).

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