Test your chess: Reitstein problem 211

White to play and win

W Heidenfeld v H Lewis 1939

Solution

Reitstein's rubric was that white found an unanswerable move, which made me think of a knock out blow, and having tried the various biffs Qa8, Qg4, Nd4,Qc6+, Qc3, and found them all wanting, I landed on the move played in the game, 1 c5.

The main line is 1…a6 2 Nd4! when white wins a piece, since 2…Bd7 3 c6:

Black can try other lines, such as the horrible 2…e6, when his pawn structure is ruined, and king is in the open.

However, there is a slight fault with the solution: 1…Bg7! and black can play on: he is worse, after say 2 Bb5+ Kf8 3 cd, but not dead: 3…ed and yes, the engines show it is won for white, but in practice, black might be able to do something.

So, in fact, Stockfish prefers 1 Bd3! or 1 Bc3!, both with the same idea: after (1 Bd3) 1…Be6 2 Bc3 Nf6 3 Bf6 black is strategically bust.

So, not the tidiest of puzzles, and it is one where absent a hint, I might have played 1 Bd3/2 Bc3, a concept I saw but passed over for the more forceful c5.

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