Daily chess puzzle: Check Mate #100

Another puzzle from Dragoslav Andric’s 1981 book “Matni Udar”.

Black to play and mate White

Marshall v Soldatenkov, New York 1928

Solution

I am assuming White was Frank Marshall, though I can’t find this game (nor any others by his opponent) in Megabase.

Black is winning by various means: 1…Ne5! is practically enormously strong, winning the Queen since 2 Ne5 Qe5! is brutal (3 fe Bf2 mate) and 2 fe Qf3 is also terminal. But Black also has the natural first move 1…Rd2! which is even more forcing: 2 Nd2 Nd4! which is where I stopped:

But if then 3 Qh5 Black has the glorious deflection 3…Qg5+!! 0-1.

FEN diagram

3r1r1k/ppp3pB/2n2qQ1/8/5P1b/2P2N1b/PP1B3P/R5KR b – – 0 1