Cordingley puzzle 205 #chess

White to play and win

Solution

No prizes for getting white's first move correct: 1 Re7+ is obvious, and the only question is how to follow up. I quickly dismissed 2 Bg5+, since 2…f6, complicates, and eventually plumped for 2 Bb4+, thinking it worthwhile to keep the Rh8 out. Then 2….Ke8 3 Qc3 when 3…Qd5 [] 4 Qc6 and the ending is better for white.

Stockfish (on my iPad, writing this whilst away from my PC) prefers the immediate 2 Qc3, and of course, it is right: the Rh8 can't get out and Bb4+ only permits Rd1+ when white's pieces are tangled: but both lines lead to the same +- ending.

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