Test your chess: Reitstein problem 169

White to play and win (or not)

H Westerink v PE van der Walt 1989

Solution

Cooked, I am afraid, and quite badly. (Still, my reckoning, it is only the second puzzle in the book that fails).

Reitstein gives white's combination as brilliant, but in fact if is flawed.

Question 2: what is wrong with the game continuation?

1 Rd8 Rad8 2 ed(Q) Rd8 3 g6 f6 4 Qh7+ Kf8 5 Qh8 mate.

Solution

Simply 1…Be7 and black is easily winning. Examine all biffs.

I tried as an alternate, seeing that 1 Rd8 failed, 1 g6, with actually the same idea, just reversing the move order, but 1..Qg6 2 Rd8 f6 is sufficient to defend, and black will untangle and be winning. Fortunately I intuitively knew that there was either something wrong or something I wouldn't be able to see, and I didn't waste much time on this puzzle.

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