Daily chess puzzle

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: examine 1 Rf7, as played in the game.

Schroeder v Golz, Aschersleben, 1963

Solution

1 Rf7 surprisingly loses to 1…Ra7, and White’s checks are fruitless.

The Black king moves to e8 where it is quite safe, even after the Ra1 enters the game by Re1+. Black’s N and B provide just enough cover, after which Black wins.

FEN

r2q3k/1Q5p/p1nb2p1/8/2P2R2/8/PPb3PP/R5K1 w – – 0 1