Daily chess puzzle: Check Mate #269

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

White to play and mate Black

Hartston v Penrose, London 1963

Solution

A game between a giant (Penrose) and another former top player of British chess, William Hartston (nowadays an occasional star of TV’s “Gogglebox”.

(As such, I am surprised the game isn’t in Megabase 2017: it is a position I knew, likely from childhood)

1 Rf7! Kf7 (1…g5 2 Rdf1) 2 Bc4+ Kf8 (Komodo gives the strange line 2…Rd5 3 Nc5 as being +10, compared with 3 Bd5+ being a mere +7: I have no idea why). 3 Rf1+ Bf6[] 4 Rf6+

4…gf 5 Qg8+ Ke7[] 6 Qe6+ Kf8[] 7 Qf6+ and mate next move.

FEN

3rr1k1/1pq1bpp1/p1n4p/4p3/4P3/1N1B2Q1/PPP3PP/3R1R1K w – – 0 1