Cordingley puzzle 236 #chess

White to play and win

Solution

Not too hard today: a quick examination of 1 ef+ Bf7 shows that then the Bf7 is pinned, so isn't defending e8, so the Rc8 is tied to the first rank. So the tactic 1 Qc7! becomes apparent, so that if the Q is taken, then 2 ef+ Bf7 3 Re8 is mate. Instead, black has to play something like 1…Ra8 when it is all over after Qb7 and a few more moves. Only a little care is needed to stop black getting a perpetual check.

As it turns out, 1 ef+ also wins, h/t to Houdini, as the attached analysis shows.

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