Test your chess: Reitstein problem 10

Black to play and win

P Kroon v M Rubery, Johannesburg 1990

Solution

It took me a bit of a while to see this one: not too long, but not immediate either. But I eventually found the move played in the game 1…Nh5! which has the double threat of Ng3+, forking king and queen! and Qf5, winning the LPDO Bf5.

If I had done a reconnaissance for LPDOs I might have found it earlier: or if I had followed Purdy's advice to look for jump checks and jump biffs, then likewise I might have found it earlier.

When I loaded the position into Stockfish, so I could post the diagram into this blog, Stockfish initially flashed 1..Nh5, which it gives as winning, before a moment later switching to 1…Bd6, which it assesses as stronger still. I am not quite clear what the point is: perhaps it is just less fussy. If white protects the Ne6 by 2 d5, then maybe 2…Nh5 is just a slightly stronger version of the game continuation (1…Nh5 2 Qe5 Qf5!)

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