It’s Your Move: daily chess puzzle #325

White to play and win

Romm v Tatai, Netanya 1973

Solution

So: it’s a puzzle, so you know that 1 Qh6+! has to be the answer: rule #1 of chess puzzles.

Then, it is easy to see that 1..Kg8 is trivial- 2 Nf3-3 Ng5, if nothing else (my engine says 2 Nf3 is +29, whatever that means, but 2 Ng6 is mate in 9); so 1…Kh6[] 2 Nf5+ and it is not too hard to see that 2…Kg5! is best.

What next? 3 f4+ Kf5 4 Kf3 doesn’t seem enough – and isn’t- 4…Qg8 wins for Black.

So, what do I do? Of course, go back to the start, and look at alternatives to 1 Qh6+, such as 1 Nf5 (which loses to 1..Nf5) 1 Bg6 (loses to 1…Ng6, but is appealing, and therefore took time: 2 Qh6+ Kh6 3 Nf3+ but 3…Nh4 0-1); switch back to 1 Qh6…iterate, iterate.

…and eventually find 3 Nd6!

..which looks very good; the lines are then at the periphery of my vision, but satisfy me.

…check the solution, and it is correct! – since as Teschner says, 3 Ng7 instead loses to 3…Qg8!.

Engine on: 3 Ng7!!

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3…Qg8 doesn’t win for Black, for the fairly simple (once Fritz has told you) reason: 4 f4+ Kh6 5 Ne6! threatens a bishop discovered check and mate (quite nicely, the Ne6 controls two of Black’s king’s escape squares, so has to be taken, but being on a White square, the Queen is then en pris to the bishop discovery). As played in the game (isn’t it strange, or perhaps it isn’t, that the human plays the “safer” 3 Nd6, putting the N on a solid foundation), after 3 Nd6 Ng6 4 Nc8 Rc8[] 5 f4+ Nf4+[] 6 gf+ Kf4+[] 7 Kf2 we reach the game position:

where Black played 7…Rcg8, when the evaluation swings up to +- in White’s favour, whereas 7..Rf8 is just a “Carlsen would win” +0.8 after 8 Bf3 Ne5 9 de Ke5 which looks like a bit of a grind.

Engines have changed chess, haven’t they?