Cordingley puzzle 95

White to play and win

(The eagle eyed will note that I have dropped the 'and win': the problem is cooked, courtesy of Houdini)

Solution

I enjoyed this one, both in working through and coming up with a solution, and then in understanding the position better with Houdini. The engine shows that black has just enough resources to stave off white's attack, so after the move played in the game, the result after best play is a perpetual.

The first move I thought of was 1 Nf7+; but found it insufficient after (after black captures) both Bg6 and Bh7. Then, I looked at trying to improve the move order by 1 Bh7+ but found it also just not good enough (after 1…Kg7 2 Nf7 f5! the best seems to be Qe2-h5, probably with a draw). In thinking these moves through, I hit on the move played in the game, Cordingley's solution, 1 Bg6. This is probably the move I would play in a game, in the hope that at least something would come up, by advancing the f pawn as fast as possible to get the rook(s) into the game. And this is basically what happened in the game.

The analysis below though shows Black could have defended- and, once he has repelled the attack, he is winning; so white should bail out for a draw by perpetual check.

Very nice.

Houdini appraises 1 Bg6 as 0.0, because with best play it is a perpetual. It prefers Nd7-c5 with some advantage to white.

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