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 Rd6 Rf6 2 Rd8+ Rf8 1/2-1/2, as played in the game

Ivanov v Dimitrov Sofia 1957

Solution

Alas, White missed 1 Qh8+! (or 3 Qh8+, or even 2 Qh8+) mating.

FEN

3R1rk1/p5p1/1p4q1/n4pN1/7Q/2p4P/2P2P2/6K1 w – – 0 1