Daily Chess Puzzle

Today’s problem is from the 1972 book “Chess Combination as a Fine Art”, a book based on articles published in the 1950s-1960s by Kurt Richter.

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

Szabo v Nikitin, corres 1964

Solution

Strangely, since it is a correspondence game, I had seen this before: don’t know where; likely in a puzzle book or magazine. Fortunately, I remembered the solution.

1 Rh7+! Qh7[] 2 f7! : the trick.

The Queen is pinned to the Qh1 and devastation follows.

Oddly, my engine gives 1 Be2 and 2 Rh7+ as better than 1 Rh7+: better in the sense +13 cf +12

FEN

6rk/2nbNq1p/3p1PpR/2pPp1P1/1nB1P3/2N3K1/1P6/2B4Q w – – 0 1