Cordingley puzzle 80

White to play and win (or, not, if Houdini is defending)

(try to find some lines, but Houdini finds some good defensive possibilities)

Solution

The problem is cooked, with Teichmann not playing the best defence.

When I attempted the puzzle, I quickly hit on 1 e5!, but more in hope than confidence that it won. It was clear that 1…de? was the worst defence, with murder coming on e6/f7; less clear was whether Nh7 or Bf3 were the better defences: Houdini suggests that 1…Ng4 has some chances, too. I decided that 1…Bf3 was the weaker of the two, wrongly, missing a …Qa4! defence in the line: in fact, 1…Bf3! is black's best defence. Instead, I chose the move played in the game, 1… Nh7, when I felt white was better, but found the lines too uncertain. Houdini shows various better possibilities for black.

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