Daily Chess Puzzle: Moscow edition

If our flights are on time, today my wife Jane and I will be in Moscow: fulfilling a life long ambition of mine to visit Russia. We are spending 3 days in Moscow, before travelling to St. Petersburg for a further 3 nights. I hope to play at least one game of chess, likely blitz, whilst in the home of chess.

Today I will post a game from an English victory in Moscow. And the Englishman chosen is, of course, my old teammate and school mate Nigel Short.

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

Short v Malisauskas, England v Lithuania, Moscow Olympiad 1994

Solution

1 Rc5!! Rc5[] 2 Qa3 pins and wins: 1-0.

2…Rc8 3 Rc1 overcomes Black’s defences.

FEN

r1r2k2/pp3ppp/1q2p1b1/2b1P3/Q7/1N6/PP2BPPP/2R2RK1 w – – 0 19