Cordingley puzzle 94

White to play and win

Solution

The initial move, 1 Nce6, came to me without thinking: rationalising it, the double attack on d7, and the need to act now, make it an obvious candidate. Firstly, if black captures the N, then 2 Bc5 as a minimum regains the piece, with the Nd7 now being undefended. So 1…Qa4, and now the Nc5 is overloaded. 2 Ng7+ Kf8 3 Bc5+ Nc5 4 Nge6+ and since the Nc5 is tied to the Qa4, the Ne6 can't be taken, and captures the Nc5 on the next move: game over.

Checking with Houdini, on this occasion there is nothing to add. 1 Nde6 is the only winning move, and there are only trivial diversions from the line played in the game.

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