It’s Your Move: daily chess puzzle #344

White to play and win

Radic v Ahrend, Bamberg 1973

Solution

I failed with this puzzle. Of course I saw 1 Rf7! but I couldn’t see more than a draw after 1…Kf7

I would have chickened out and given a perpetual. In fact, White wins by 2 Qh7+ Kf8

3 Bh5! which is of course a line I looked at, but couldn’t see to its conclusion.

If I had thought more clearly, may be I would have seen it: 3..Ne5 4 Be3 is good enough, with White’s rook joining the party next move. 4…Bd8 5 Rf1+ Nf7 6 Bg6 1-0.

Black’s better defence is 3…Bd8 but Fritz says it is mate in 13 after 4 Qh8+ Kf7[] 5 Bg6+

which happened in the game. 5…Kg6 6 Qh6+ Kf7[] 7 Qh7+! Kf8[] 8 Qh8+! Kf7

9 g6+! Kg6[]  10 Qh6+!! Kf7 11 Qh7+! Kf6 (11..Kf8 12 Bh6+ etc) 12 e5+!

12…Ke5 13 Bf4+!! Kf4[] 14 Rf1+ and the rook joins the party.

14..Kg4 (14..Kg5 15 Ne4+) 15 h3+! and wherever the King moves, 16 Ne4 move. In the game, all this was played, Black resigning after 15 h3+.

Wonderful. And perhaps, in a game, I would have seen it, since at many stages White had the luxury of being able to bale out with a perpetual.

The game of course has echoes of Wei Yi v Bruzon: