Black to play and win
W Berson v DM Macfarlane 1983
Solution
Just a bit of calculation required. It is obvious that the breakthrough has to be 1…Rf2+ and 2…Qh2+, the question is what to do after 3 Ke3? 3…Bg5+ is again the natural move, but what if white interposes his bishop with 4 Bf4?
I didn't solve this one instantly, but as soon as I saw 4…Be2, taking the bishop's feet from under him (in the sense that after 5 Qe2, 5…Qg3+ followed by taking on Bf4, and it is a mop up) I knew the problem was solved.
Posted with BlogsyWhite to play and win
D Solomons v A Pedro 1995
Solution
Fairly easy today. After a quick diversion looking at f7+? I latched onto 1 Qb7 which wins simply. It threatens mate on g7, and black's only two defences are 1…Qf8, met by 2 Rd8, and 1…Qf7, met by 2 Rd8+.
Black to play and win
CC de Villiers v W Kobese 1998
Solution
By inspection, or by examine all biffs, 1…R8h4! is natural, and in fact white then resigned. If the rook is captured, then 2…Rh2+ and wins the queen, and then mops up.
White has no desperadoes or other funnies, so it is game over.
Playing through this game from the Tashkent Grand Prix last night on Playchess, I was intrigued about what would have happened if white had played the (to me, natural) Qf5:
What happens if white plays Qf5?
The position is worth studying for a while before continuing.
White to play and win
FN Barnett v C Behrens 2003
Solution
Simple, enough, with the motif being standard: 1 e6+! breaks through, giving white's king access to black's pawns via the black squares. 1…Be6[] 2 Ke5 Bf7[] 3 Kf6 and it is game over. Both black's pawns drop off.
All that is needed (especially after yesterday's failure, where I saw a winning line, but shamefully didn't look for a better one) is to check that black has no …g5 or other tricks (he doesn't) and then it is problem solved.
Black to play: what happens if 1…Qb5?
K Dreyer v W Heidenfeld 1957
Solution
I hope you took care?
I didn't, and let myself down in this daily exercise regime, part of the process of which is to take more care, to proximate a game, rather it just being one of endless tactical problems to solve. I found 2 Qe6+ which wins sure enough after 2…Kg6[] 3 Ne5+ with some more checks and then mate, but 2 Ng5+! mates next move.
Black to play and win
S Bhawoodien v G Michelakis 2003
Solution
This is one of those unbalanced positions where the engine is king. I fell for perhaps the same mistake as Black did, and feared ghosts, since White has nothing after 1…Rc7!. Shame on me, since I thought 2 Qg8+ was then getting nasty, but it is of course a howler, dropping the queen: the Ba2 can move backwards. So 2 Qf5! (threatening Qf8 mate) 2…Bc3+! (actually not an essential zwischenschach, but it is helpful, worsening the positon of white's king) 3 Ke3 Bg7! defending everything. Then if say 4 Qf4, Rc3+! (made possible by the zwischenschach) gives luft for the king, so is followed by 5…Kc7 and everything is in order for black. Stockfish gives various alternatives, but the line given is most human.
As said, I feared ghosts, and found the move played in the game, which is also winning, but maybe less convincingly: 1…Rc2+! the point being that 2 Kc2?? b1(Q)+ skewers the king and queen. Also, if 2 Qc2, either 2..b1(Q) or 2…Bf4+ first win: the checks fizzle out, though of course in practice anything can happen in such positions. So after 1…Rc2+ white plays 2 Ke3 when now 2…Rc7 with similar to the engine's preferred line. Black again controls everything by a timely Bg7.
Black to play and win
AB Rhode v K McKenzie 1995
Solution
This is quite similar to yesterday's position, with g2 and the white squares being key: 1…Bg2+ 2 Kg2 (2 Ke1 or 2 Kg1 loses to the Nf3+ fork) 2…Qf3+ and mates, since if 3 Kg1 Qg3+ can be played, because the f2 pawn is pinned by the Bb6: so a check or two more, and Nf3 is mate.
As a dog owner the attached article in yesterday's Telegraph caught my eye. The chess set in the picture might have had something to do with me noticing the article, too.
The dog in the picture is not that clever:
(I) he has set up his pieces wrongly, with the king and queen in their wrong starting positions;
(2) his first two moves, d7-d6 and b7-b5 aren't good- well, not in combination, and b7-b5?? is a move no well trained dog would consider.
Mind you, his opponent isn't good either, and I think is cheating: not only does he too have his king and queen misplaced, but somehow he has got a knight to d3 after three moves; but in particular, and why I can safely call my dog whistle and say he is cheating, he has doubled f pawns, and this can only happen by a capture, but black still has all his pieces on.
Maybe because his opponent is cheating the dog has such a puzzled expression?
Black to play and win
R Mills v PJ Foley 1996
Solution
Knowing it is a puzzle, it is easy to find the forced combination, but in a practical game, 1..Bf3 is also very natural, and equally effective. But the forcing line is 1… Qh2+ 2 Kf1[] Qh1+!
3 Bh1[] Rh1+ 4 Kg2 Bf3 mate.
allanbeardsworth 