It’s Your Move: daily chess puzzle # 156

White to play and win

Book- Westerinin, Helsinki 1966

Solution

Fairly straightforward today. The ‘main lines’ are obvious: 1 Ng6!

If 1…hg, then 2 Qh4, 3 Rh3 and mate on the h file. If 1…fg, then 2 f7+ and if 2….Kf7, 3 Bc7+ discovers on the queen.

Perhaps the move I would play if I were Black would be 1…de, hoping for white to go wrong. But 2 Nf8! plans again to play Qh4, this time with the aim of Qh6 and Qg7 mate: 1-0.