Test your chess: daily chess puzzle # 123

White to play and win

JJ Steenkamp v MG Smith 2002

Solution

The first move is fairly straightforward: the body count on the king side, with white having three pieces to black's one defender, makes the sacrifice 1 Bg6! automatic: especially since white remains with a queen and knight, a good attacking combination, plus the Nd8 being a LPDO, plus, for good measure, the easy with which the Rb5 can be 'lifted' ('downed') to b3 and then over to the f file.

So, 1 Bg6! fg 2 Qg6+:

2…Kf8 3 Rb3!; 2….Kh8 then probably 3 Qh5+ (always useful to gobble pawns) 4 Qg5+, 5Qd8+ (perhaps prefaced by Qe7+, depending on where the king is) 1-0.

Black could instead struggle on. 1…c6 is a tougher defence, met either by 2 Bh7+, and white is a safe pawn up, with the advantage to boot: and the availability of the safety check is all that is needed to know the sacrifice is playable. Or, white has (1…c6) 2 Bf7+! Nf7 3 Ra5! overloading the queen; 2…Kf8 3 Qh7…these lines don't really need calculating, being dependent on black's choice of poison.

Posted with Blogsy