Daily Chess Puzzle

Today’s position is a little tactical exercise, from my first win against a GM in 2018: at 3 minute blitz, on ICC.

Since the start of 2018, I have decided to adopt the style of only saying which side is to play: and not giving an idea if the move wins or otherwise, unless on occasion I think signposting would be helpful. Instead, the problems are posed with the instruction to decide what you would play, as in a game.

White to play

White played 1 Ne6: how did the game proceed?

GM Rygel (pseudonym) v Allan Beardsworth, ICC 5/1/18, 3 minute blitz

Solution

I wouldn’t normally post such a victory, but the coup was fairly pretty. Strangely, my very next game was a 14 move win as Black vs another GM, in a truly scrappy unorthodox opening.

Here, I saw that after 1 Ne6 fe 2 Ke3 ed+, I at least had drawn the King out into the open, and also had one or two pawns for the exchange; though I also saw that White obtains the d5 square for his N.

But at the same time, more or less instantaneously, I saw that after 3 Kf2 (3 Kd3 Qd4mate or 3…Bf5 skewering the K and Q) I had the beautiful 3…Qd4+!

White took the Q, allowing the B to mate.

Chess is a good game when such fortune happens.

FEN

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