Cordingley puzzle 208 #chess
White to play and win
(One worth spending some time on, and, maybe, looking at the hint if necessary, before looking at the solution).
Hint
If this were 'guess the move' what would the guess be? Think in terms of 'if there is a flashy conclusion, even with poor defence' what would it be? There is a boring way that black could continue the game, but the actual game continuation is nice.
Solution
I enjoyed this one, greatly. First of all, it doesn't look like a typical puzzle, there are two few pieces on the board, and no obvious LPDOs. But the obvious first move is 1 Raf1 developing the remaining piece, and seeking to protect the Rf7, with also perhaps threats to the king: but with the equally obvious reply 1…Nf5.
What to do next took me a while: Rb7 is natural, but looks insufficient for a problem: and at first 2 Bf5 didn't seem good enough. Then I saw the 'mating' line, and knew that I had honed in on the solution. But first, black could always 'chicken out' and play 1…Kd7 instead, when I thought the game would just 'go on', but Houdini tells me that white's advantage is overwhelming after Bg7 biffing the rook, and then Bd3 removing the bishop from harm's way. Still, Houdini's +5 advantage in the position below does seem odd to me, though doubtless if I were to do what I should but never will, and play some training games starting from this position, then I would begin to appreciate the assessment.
Instead, after 1…Nf5, the above position is reached. 2 Bf5+ Kf7 3 Bg4+! (exclamation because it is better than Bh3 for an oh so subtle reason, explanation to follow) Kg8 and then what?
In my solving of the puzzle, I saw 4 Rf6, which is good enough and wins, but 4 Bd1!! Is even stronger- hence Bg4 rather than Bh3: why are retreats so hard to find (unless you are Houdini)
However, Chigorin improved, creating luft for his king by 3…Bf4!, a move I hadn't seen, resulting in this position after the bishop is captured and white has checked the king.
If I saw this game in a match I was watching, I would assess it as 'all to play for'. Houdini tells me white's advantage is decisive. The combination of the pair of bishops, the rook, and black's exposed king and back ranked rooks proves too much.
Depending on how black defends a combination of checks leads to mate or decisive gain of material. If, like me, and perhaps like Chigorin (I presume he foresaw Bf4 when playing Nf5, and that he mis-assessed the resultant position) it would be a good exercise to work out various mating lines.
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allanbeardsworth 