It’s Your Move: daily chess puzzle # 168

White to play and win

Cooked, alas- try and find a few ideas.

Dueball v Müller, Berlin 1967

Solution

For the first time in the years I have been blogging, a puzzle is seriously cooked. The solution is meant to be 1 Bd4 Kh8 2 Bg7+ Kg7 3 Qg6+! but that would involve the Q jumping over the Bd3.

In the game, Black played 1…f6? met by 2 Bh7+ Kh8[] 3 Qg6 Rg8[] 4 Bf6 +-. When I saw the solution in the book (since I gave up trying to make any form of check or sacrifice work) I thought 1…Qc4 but this too loses to 2 Bh7+! Kh8[] 3 Bg7+! Kg7[] 4 Qg6+ Kh8[] 5 Qh6.

So, 1 Bd4! is strong, but not winning: 1…Kh8! or 1…e5! 2 Be5 Qe6 both make the game go on. My engine tells me 1 Rb7 is similarly a slight advantage to White.

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