Daily Chess Puzzle: move of the year

Today’s problem features my move of the year, or, rather, my concept of the year.

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: devise a plan

AlphaZero v Stockfish, 2018

Solution

Firstly, let’s go back a few moves:

After White’s last move, 1 Ra2, Black played 1..h6 2 a4 Qe6 reaching the puzzle’s opening position.

White played the truly remarkable  3 Kh2!! Bc8 4 Rh1!! Nc6 5 h5! Kh8 6 Ng1!!

A joy to behold!

White’s moves all seem to have a purpose: Kh2 to vacate g1 for the N, Rh1 to protect the h5 pawn (Ra2 probably also has the idea of defending the Pe2, as well as being prophylactic against Nb3).

And the aim? To land a N on g6, a hole created by h6. Ng1-h3-f4-g6 beckons.

The whole game is remarkable .

The N actually lands on g6 and then moves off-on to the square three more times, all with a purpose.

A gif of the game is here, too; my first attempt at using the new feature in ChessBase 15.

FEN

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