It’s Your Move: daily chess puzzle # 34

Evaluate the position, with white to move

Kamenika v Korne, Riga 1962

Solution

I wonder who finds counting easy? I don't, and have to revert to 'I go there, he goes there, I go there' thinking, more or less.

The position is a bit like one of those Hans Rinck puzzles where the king moves faster than it would seem possible, due to the tricks of the geometry of the chess board.

Here, the geometrical trick is that the square e5 is just as near a1 as is c5. So after three moves each we reach:

Then, either white grabs the a pawn with check, or black is forced to promote to a N. I will only give a diagrams and let the reader navigate between them.

White captures the a pawn

Black has to promote to a N

White rounds up the a pawn, and due to the then threat of Ra1 mate, black must under promote.

But the N must move, and is lost.

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