Test your chess: daily chess puzzle # 175

White to play and win

A Michael v M Blieden 1910

Solution

Nil points for me on this one: I played 1 Nf3, whereas 1 Kg1! is far better; but I didn't even see 1 Kg1 ('examine all biffs' if properly applied would have made me look at it, but of course the main idea is to anticipate black's threat).

1 Nf3?? loses, though calculating all to the end is hard, but black's pieces combine beautifully, often with pinning motifs preventing white from escaping. 1…Rf3 2 gf[] Qf3+

3 Kg1[] Qg4+ 4 Kf1 (4 Kh1 Qh3+ 5 Kg1[] Bh2+ and Bg3+) 4…de!

And perhaps surprisingly, at least to me, white has no escape.

Instead, 1 Kg1 gives white the advantage.

Black's first try is 1…Bg3 2 ed+ Kd8 (say) when 3 Ne4 keeps control, and wins.

So, Black's best is 1…Rf4 2 ed when the engine says white is about a pawn up, which means black doesn't have a mating attack on white's queen, so the game goes on.

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