It’s Your Move: daily chess puzzle # 208

White to play and win

Botvinnik v Portisch, Monaco 1968

Solution

One I knew: or, perhaps I could say, one that is part of whatever chess education that I have.

1 Rf7!

Black, rather than accepting the rook, declined it, playing 1…h6. The final moves are quite pretty, especially the actual last one.

If instead Black had taken the rook, then 2 Qc4+ Kg6 3 Qg4+ (or 3 Qe4+) before bringing the N into the attack on g5; by contrast, 3 Nh4+?? is just equal after 3…Kf6.