Test your chess: Reitstein problem 90

White to play and win

W Heidenfeld v J Wolpert 1957

Solution

White is a piece down, and so clearly must mate. After checking first that Rc7 achieves nothing, and nor does Qf8+ (including looking to see if the typical manoeuvre of Qf8+ Be8[] Qf6+ does anything- often it gets the defender's pieces in a helpless mess, with mate on the black squares, but not here) I quickly saw 1 Rf3!, aiming at f8: Rc1+ prolongs the game (and the desperado Rg1+ afterwards) but Rf8mate follows.

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