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

Shamkovich v Visier Segovia, Palma de Mallorca 1966

Solution

1 g5+! and if 1…Kg7, White’s King is free from the mating net.

1…Kg5?? is trivial: 2 Be4+ discovers check, hitting the LPDO Rc2, so 2..Rc5[] 3 Rc5+ Bc5[] 4 c7 and the pawn queens.

So 1..Kh5[]

And now the star move 2 Rg3!! (2 Rf4 also wins, still prettily, but in longer fashion.

2 Rg3!! prevents 2…Rh2 mate and threatens 3 Bf3 mate, even if the rook is taken.

Lovely.

Megabase 2018

Gives an incorrect conclusion: 1 Rg3 resigns. But then 1…hg 2 g5+ and 2…Kg7 and the game goes on, and Black is not worse. My book shows the continuation as being 1g5+! and 2 Rg3!.

FEN

8/8/2Pb2pk/1R1B4/6Pp/5R1K/2r5/8 w – – 0 48