Test your chess: Reitstein problem 217

White to play and win

F Koronstenski v R Friedrich 1978

Solution

I suspect this is the type of problem you either see instantly or not all. On this occasion, I was in the former camp, recognising the Novotny theme move 1 Bg6! and it is nearly all over. The Bishop interferes with the intersecting R and B, and the spite check 1…Nd1+ fails to 2 Ke1.

Black's only way of surviving is 1…Ne4+[]. This was played in the game and Reitstein only gives that continuation (only being an unfair word, since I have silicon engines to assist me). 2 Be4 (I could write ?! but since white is still winning, that too would be unfair) 2…Be4 3 Rh4 Rg2+ 4 Kf1 d5 5 Re4! Rg6[] 6 f7! and 7 Re8+ and the pawn queens.

In fact, white has better. I chose 2 Ke3! which wins, but the engine says that 2 Kg1!! is mate in seven- really, less, because many of black's moves are desperadoes, throwing pieces away to defer the inevitable. All that needs to be seen is that after 2..Nf6[] 3 Bd3, black's Nf6 is LPDO and can't be defended. So mate on h7 follows.

The above is the solution; however, for thirty seconds or more my engine (Stockfish, on my iPad) preferred 1 Kf3, assessing it as +155.3, whatever that means. 1 Kf3 is a very unnatural move; it seems to be bringing all the pieces to the party, either disrupting black's coordination, for instance 1…Be2+ takes the bishop away from h7; and if Rae8, white takes the rook, and then promotes the pawn.

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