Cordingley puzzle 89

White to play and win

Solution

Oh dear, another one on the same page in Cordingley's book (same page as puzzle 87) which I also goofed. I half suspected I hadn't got the answer, because my solution was nothing special, very prosaic.

Because it was a puzzle, I first looked at the flashy 1 Ne6, but it is rubbish, for at least the simple reason of 1…Rc1+; and moves like 1 Nd3 or 1 Na6 simply hang the Be4. I therefore had to make 1 Ba8 work (again, poor show: whilst 1 Ba8 is the solution, Houdini's second preference is 1 Bb7, which I didn't even consider). I got it to, at least to the extent of whatI think is an easily won ending, including ensuring that the remaining passer queens on a black square…felt my solution was the best that there was, and entirely missed the not-too-hard 2 Rc5!: I had of course noted that the Qe7 was LPDO.

Disappointed in myself here: coupled with position 87, it shows an amateurish approach to the project that I have set myself.

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