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< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·
Later Kibitzing> |
| Mar-16-10 | | 310metaltrader: I thought the previous screw up was maybe meant to be a test of dzechiel's eyesight - by the way, the post by dzechiel's wife had to be the post of the year in its kind of chess obsess humor - the part where she says "Dzechiel is under doctor's orders not to read because it could damage his eye permanently, but he is whispering bishop to g7" FTW! |
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| Mar-16-10 | | johnlspouge: Tuesday (Easy)
J Mason vs Janowski, 1900 (51...?) Black to play and win.
Material: 2B for 2N. The White Kh1 is stalemated, so Black wants to check. White has connected passed Ps, which threaten 52.axb8=Q, so Black should consider moving Bb8. The Black Kg7 is secured from all but Qb2xd4+. Candidates (51...): Bxg2+, Bxh2
[51…Bxg2+ 52.Qxg2]
51…Bxh2 (threatening 52…Qh4)
(1) White can accept the sacrifice:
52.Kxh2 g3+ 53.Kh1 [Kh3 Qg4#]
53…Qh4+ 54.Nh3 Qxh3+ 55.Kg1 Qh2#
(2) White can decline the sacrifice, but Black just carries out the threat, leading to variations like (1). The connected passed Ps are now too slow. |
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| Mar-16-10 | | Patriot: Difficulty: Easy. Well it didn't seem easy to me! Mostly because there are quite a few checks, captures, and threats. But with 52.axb8 threatened, I decided on 51...Bxh2 because it's clear that I'm at least getting my material back with 52...Qh4+. What I didn't like about 52.Kxh2 Qh4+ 53.Nh3 is 53...g3+ 54.Kg1 OR 53...gxh3 54.g3!. I looked at 51...Bxh2 52.Kxh2 g3+ briefly but didn't follow it thru. 51...Bxg2+ 52.Qxh2 seemed pointless but I spent a while looking at 51...e2 followed by 52...Bxg2+ but that's before I noticed the bishop hanging on b8! Anyway...What happened to all the kibitzes?? |
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Mar-16-10
 | | agb2002: Black has the bishop pair for two knights. White threatens 52.axb8. The white castle looks poorly defended which suggests 51... Bxh2, removing the pawn shield, and 51... e2, cutting the white queen. In the case of 51... Bxh2:
A) 52.Kxh2 g3+ (52... Qh4+ 53.Nh3 gxh3 (53... g3+ 54.Kg1) 54.g3) 53.Kh1 (53.Kh3 Qg4#) Qh4+ 54.Nh3 Qxh3+ 55.Kg1 Qh2#. B) 52.b7 Qh4 (threatens mate in three, 52... Bxg1 53.b8=Q) B.1) 53.Nf3 gxf3
B.1.a) 54.gxf3 Bg3+ 55.Kg1 (55.Kg2 Qh2#) e2 56.Qxe2 (56.Rf2 Bxf2+ 57.Kg2 Qg3+ 58.Kh1 Qh3#) Rxe2 and mate soon. B.1.b) 54.Rxf3 Bg3+ 55.Kg1 Qh2+ 56.Kf1 Bxf3 57.gxf3 e2+ 58.Qxe2 Rxe2 and mate next. B.2) 53.Nh3 Qxh3 54.Rf3 Bg3+ 55.Kg1 Qh2+ transposes to B.1.b. B.3) 53.Rf3 Bg3+ transposes to B.2.
C) 52.Qe2 Qh4 53.Nf3 gxf3 54.gxf3 (54.Rxf3 Bg3+ 55.Kg1 Qh2+ 56.Kf1 Qh1#) Bf4+ 55.Kg1 Kh6 56.Rf2 exf2+ 57.Qxf2 Rg8+ 58.Kf1 Qh1+ 59.Ke2 Qxb1 - +. In the case of 51... e2 52.axb8=Q exf1=Q 53.Qc7+ Re7 54.Qxe7+ Qxe7 55.Rxf1 + - [2N vs B]. |
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Mar-16-10
 | | patzer2: For today's Tuesday puzzle solution, the little demolition 51...Bxh2! decisively exploits the weak position of White's castled King.
Not only is it the winning move, but it is the only move to give Black any kind of advantage. In that sense, it is both an attacking and defensive move. The followup 52...g3+!, initiating mate-in-four, is a key follow-up in providing the clearest and quickest win. If Black wants to toruture himself, Fritz 10 indicates he can win with much difficulty after 52... Qh4+ 53. Nh3 e2! (not 53... gxh3? 54. g3  ) 54. Qd2 exf1=Q (not 54... gxh3? 55. Rf4! e1=Q 56. Rxe1 Qxe1! 57. Rg4+! hxg4 58. Qg5+ Kh7 59. Qh5+ Kg7 60. Qg5+ Kf7 61. Qf5+ Ke7 62. Qg5+ Ke6 63. Qg6+ Ke7 64. Qg5+ = with a draw by perpetual check) 55. Rxf1 gxh3 56. Rf4 Qe7!) 53. Kh1 Qh4+ 54. Nh3 Qxh3+ 55. Kg1 Qh2# (-3.61 @ 19 ply, 2-cpu) 0-1. Passing up the four-move-mate with 52...g3+! would be a waste of time and could easily turn into a regretful oversight, especially if White swindles a win or a draw after the complicated 52...Qh4+ . P.S.: This doesn't seem so "easy" for a Tuesday, especially with the need to see a four-move-mate after 51...Bxh2 52. Kxh2 g3+! Of course, I suppose it depends on one's skill level as to how you define easy, but IMO this one isn't a novice level puzzle. Still it is an instructive and entertaining choice, and for a demolition combination it's about as easy they come. |
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Mar-16-10
| | agb2002: I had the impression that White could afford to throw any amount of material to Black's face, thus creating considerable complications, because his pawns were about to promote. Probably, this was only a psychological difficulty, not a real one. <Patriot: ...
Anyway...What happened to all the kibitzes??> I hope David Zechiel has not suffered a relapse. |
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| Mar-16-10 | | jhoro: <Patriot: ... Anyway... What happened to all the kibitzes??> Wow, my comment from last night, along with others, disappeared without a trace. Did CG move their servers to China? Unnecessary censorship in action. FYI, they had the wrong diagram on the front page and instead of saying "oops, we goofed" and fixing the diagram they wiped out all relevant comments as if nothing happened. This is the way the problem was posted at first (black to move)
click for larger view |
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Mar-16-10
 | | chrisowen: King's not free, Mason lodges him in the corner. Stone the crows, rook and knight block his building a fortress thus 51..Bxh2 52.Kxh2 g3+ should seal it. Janowski looks to blanc white's action: the montage is a bleak landscape since black's attack sets off quicker..53.Kh1 Qh4+ 54.Nh3 Qxh3+ 55.Kg1 Qh2#. Hope the symbol's to square off the slide encompassing stonewall headlong. He crashes after 48.fxe4 thinking the jobs done, but the gate 48.b6 looks to be missed. |
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| Mar-16-10 | | TheaN: Tuesday 16 March 2010
<51....?>
Target: 1:25;000
Taken: >5m.
Material: Black up, 2♗ / 2♘
Candidates: Qh4, Bxh2, Bxg2†, <[Bxh2]> -ML-
Considerably a complex puzzle for Tuesday. Black has his Bishops and Queen pointed at the White Queen, but White has some insane promotion threats. As such 51....Qh4 52.axb8=Q removes any mate threat, 51....Bxg2† 52.Kxg2 Qd5† 53.Nf3 is not enough. So: <51....Bxh2> seems to be the only gaining move, as well as removing the Bishop from being en prise. /A\
<52.Kxh2 Qh4† 53.Nh3 g3† 54.Kh1 Qxh3† 55.Kg1 Qh2‡ 0-1> shows how fragile the White king side is. He may not capture. /B\
<52.a8=Q Rxa8 53.b7 Qh4!> the idea of the change of moves. <54.bxa8? Bg3† 55.Nh3 Qxh3† 56.Kg1 Qh2‡ 0-1> just as much. To be honest, I don't see any miracle saving move aside Rf7†, but that doesn't cut it. |
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Mar-16-10
 | | kevin86: Pretty complicated for Tuesday-looks like Friday speed. Didn't have a clue. |
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| Mar-16-10 | | DarthStapler: Got it |
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| Mar-16-10 | | dzechiel: So, does anyone know what happened to my post? It seems to be missing, but I see others that were posted earlier and later. |
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| Mar-16-10 | | YouRang: The black bishops bearing down on white's king position was a pretty strong clue, especially with the pawn and queen also pressing in on the poor white king. It seems like we need to crack open the white king's defense, and the DSB sac, 51...Bxh2 looks like the best choice, since it can only be captured by the king, and our LSB is already useful by pinning Pg2) So, if 52.Kxh2, then 52...g3+! (better than 52...Qh4+ 53.Nh3) and from there it's not hard to see the forced sequence that ends in mate: 53.Kh1 Qh4+ 54.Nh3 Qxh3+ (thanks to the LSB pin) 55.Kg1 Qh2#. It's a little less obvious if black doesn't capture, but it doesn't look like white has any good answer to ...Qh4. |
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| Mar-16-10 | | Patriot: <dzechiel> I think chessgames made a mistake in the original puzzle so they either intentionally or unintentionally removed all posts related to it. See <jhoro>'s post above. |
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Mar-16-10
 | | Once: A little recap for everyone who is bemused by today's episode of the twilight zone... First GC.com printed this diagram with the heading of "white to play":
click for larger viewOops. Cue the initial confusion as the first batch of kibitzers couldn't find a white win from here. Then they corrected it to the same diagram, but with black to play. This caused the second wave of confusion as several of us pointed out multiple black wins with moves like Qh4 and e2 all winning handily. Ooops. Then CG.com corrected it again to this diagram, with black to play: 
click for larger viewNow the diagram is correct, but in doing so, they seem to have wiped all of the comments from earlier. Cue the third wave of confusion as we all wonder where our posts went. And the latecomers wonder what all the fuss was about. An honest mistake (or two or three), but it's all fine now. Isn't there a chinese or Tibetan proverb that says something along the lines of "allow me to make a mistake today, so that I might learn"?? <ONCE presses the kibitz button with a degree of trepidation, wondering how long this post will survive :-)> |
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| Mar-16-10 | | Quentinc: <<ONCE presses the kibitz button with a degree of trepidation, wondering how long this post will survive :-)>> I know -- I feel as if part of my very existence was obliterated. Not only was their dzechiel's usual meticulously detailed and insightful post that was "disappeared," but there was my uncharacteristically brilliant analysis correcting(?) one of his lines. |
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| Mar-16-10 | | David2009: Thursday 16/03/2010 puzzle J Mason vs Janowski, 1900 Black 51...? I don't see a crisp win. The best I can find is 51...Bxh2 and White's Q side pawn promotion counter-play is too slow, so instead 52 Kxh2 Qh4+ 53 Nh3 e2 and Black gets there first. 52 Nf3 doesn't work either. Time to check:
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I missed 52 g3+! winning immediately in the main line. Nice finish, good game. Time to digest the other comments. POSTSCRIPT: I came very late to this puzzle returning from a ten-day trip so missed all the earlier shenanigans. |
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| Mar-16-10 | | whiteshark: I refer to my previous speaker... |
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| Mar-16-10 | | jackpawn: I found it almost immediately, but as is often the case I found I had a nagging feeling that maybe I wasn't finding the best line. |
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Mar-18-10
 | | Pawn and Two: <Catfriend> Instead of Fritz's recommendation 46...Qh4, you indicated 46...gxf3 47.gxf3 e4 48.fxe4 fxe4, would be a better continuation for black. Fritz indicates that after 46...gxf3? 47.gxf3 e4, white can play 48.Nb6!, with some advantage: (.29) (20 ply) 48...exd3 49.Nxd5 Rxd5 50.Qxd3 Re3 51.Qc4, or (.37) (20 ply) 48...e3 49.Qg2+ Kf8 50.Nxd5 Rxd5 51.Ne2. After additional review, Fritz 12 indicates 46...Qh4! is better than 46...gxf3. However, Fritz indicates white still has drawing chances after 46...Qh4! 47.g3 Qf6!: <not 47...gxf3? 48.Nb6, with a small advantage for white>, 48.Nb6 Bb7, (-.79) (22 ply) 49.a6!, <not (-2.00) (22 ply) 49.Na4? c4 50.dxc4 e4, as previously indicated by Fritz 11>, 49...Qxb6 50.axb7, (-1.17) (21 ply) 50...f4 51.Rfe1, (-.75) (21 ply) 51...Bd6 52.Re4 Qxb7 53.Qe2 Qd7 54.Ra1. |
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Mar-22-10
| | Pawn and Two: After 42.Ng1, Black had a very strong position:
click for larger viewIn this position, Fritz indicates that Black had a considerable advantage, but no clear winning line is apparent. Fritz 12 recommends (-2.07) (20 ply) 42...Bb4 43.Qf2 Rf8, or (-1.98) (20 ply) 42...Rc8 43.Qf2 Kg6. After Janowski's 42...Bd6?, Mason obtained some hope by obtaining two passed pawns: 43.c5 bxc5 44.Nxa5 Bd5 45.Nc4. 
click for larger viewFritz 11 & 12 indicate Black still had considerable advantage after 45.Nc4, and both programs preferred the continuation 45...Bxc4. In the game continuation, Fritz 11 indicated that after 45...Bb8 46.a5, Black had fair winning chances with the move, 46...Qh4 (see Fritz's analysis in my post on page 1). After 45...Bb8 46.a5 Qh4, analysis by Fritz 12, (see my last post), indicated White still had drawing chances. After Fritz's preferred move, 45...Bxc4, while White has some drawing chances, this move provides Black with good winning chances. Fritz 12 gives the following analysis for 45...Bxc4: (-1.15) (21 ply) 45...Bxc4 46.dxc4 e4 47.fxe4 Rxe4, (-1.11) (21 ply) 48.b6 Re3 49.Qf2, (-1.16) (21 ply) 49...Qe5 50.g3 Qe4+ 51.Qg2 Ra3, (-85) (22 ply) 52.Qxe4 fxe4 53.Rf5 Rxa4 54.b7 Rb8 55.Rb6 Be7 56.Re5, (-1.01) (23 ply) 56...Kf7 57.Rf5+ Ke8 58.Rxh5 Kd7 59.Rd5+ Kc7 60.Re6 Bf8 61.Rxe4 Rxc4 62.Rxg4 Rc1, (-1.52) (23 ply) 63.Kg2 Rc2+ 64.Kh3 Rf2 65.Rg6 Rxb7 66.Re6 Rb6 67.Re2 Rxe2 68.Nxe2, (-2.77) (23 ply) 68...Kc6 69.Rd8 Bd6, (-2.96) (20 ply) 70.Nf4 Rb3 71.Kg4 d3 72.Kf3 c4, and Black is winning. In this long line, after 45...Bxc4, additional analysis is needed to determine if White has a better drawing chance, or if the position is winning for Black. After 45...Bb8 46.a5, Janowski made a serious error with 46...Qg6?, and the position was then approximately equal. |
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Mar-23-10
| | Pawn and Two: After 46...Qg6?, the position was approximately equal:
click for larger viewJanowski's slips at moves 42...Bd6, 45...Bb8 and 46...Qg6, gave away all of his advantage. Mason had taken good advantage of these errors by obtaining, and then activating his passed pawns: 42...Bd6 43.c5 bxc5 44.Nxa5 Bd5 45.Nc4 Bb8 46.a5 Qg6 47.a6. After 46...Qg6?, Fritz indicates the position was equal: (.10) (22 ply) 47.a6 e4 48.b6 (or 47.b6 e4 48.a6) 48...gxf3 49.gxf3 e3, or (.03) (21 ply) 47.Nb6 Bf7 48.Ne2 e4 49.fxe4 fxe4 50.dxe4 Qxe4. After having playing several good moves, and reaching equality, Mason blundered with 48.fxe4, and his position from that point on was lost. Fritz indicates the position would have remained equal after: 48.b6! gxf3 49.gxf3 e3 50.Qg2, (or 50.Qa2=), Qxg2+ 51.Kxg2. After 48.fxe4?? fxe4 49.b6 e3, White was lost. If 50.Qe2, 50...Qg5 51.h3 Bxc4!, or 51.Nf3 gxf3, or 51.a7 Bxh2!. Mason played 50.Qb2, and after 50...Qg5, he made a final attempt to turn the tables with 51.a7!.
click for larger viewIn this position, (our puzzle position), Janowski had only one move that can win the game, and he played it, 51...Bxh2! One other move gives an approximately equal position: (.00) (20 ply) 51...Bg3 52.Ne2 Bf2 53.Nxe3 Qxe3, (-.16) (20 ply) 54.Nf4 Qxf4 55.Rxf2 Qe3 56.b7 Bxb7 57.Qxb7+. The next best try is: (1.22) (20 ply) 51...h4? 52.a8Q Bxa8 52.b7, and White has a considerable advantage. A neat ending to an interesting game. |
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Sep-08-17
 | | KEG: Janowski--working with two Bishops against two Knights (a scenario he cherished throughout his career)--triumphs over Mason, but only after a tense struggle in which Janowski missed several earlier opportunities to win and in which Mason, after bravely fighting back from the dead, lost on a blunder on move 48. There has been some fine commentary on this game on this site by agb2002, patzer2, and especially by Pawn and Two who has made several critical and amazing discoveries concerning what transpired during the last ten or eleven moves of the game. I will try to minimize repetition of the analysis these users have provided and merely cite their findings except where I disagree or have something to add. 1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bc4 Nf6
4. d3
Declining Janowski's invitation to play against the Two Knights' Defense with 4. Ng5. 4... Bc5
So we have a Giuoco Piano!
5. Nc3 d6
6. Be3
6. Bg5 is surely better (see e.g., MCO-13).
6... Bb6
Trading Bishops here may be theoretically best, but that is hardly what Janowski wants to do! 7. Qd2
Rosenthal in the Tournament Book prefers 7. Ne2, but that can hardly be right. Best is probably 7. 0-0 7... Bg4
8. Ng5
Pointless. He has to retreat this Knight two moves later. The "benefits" of being able to play f3 on his next move hardly justifies this ugly "development." 8... Bh5
9. f3 h6
10. Nh3 Nd4
11. BxN
Rosenthal in the Tournament Book says this move was "forced," but this is nonsense. Best was 11. 0-0-0. Mason is getting a bad game. 11... BxB
12. Nf2 c6
13. Ncd1
With this awful retreat, Mason has what looks like a strategically lost game. 13. Ne2 was surely preferable, though he would still suffer from his prior weak play. 13... d5
14. Bb3
Inferior to 14. exd5 (as played on his next move). 14... Qb6
Not the best way to pressure White's center. 14...a5 was best. 15. exd5 Nxd5
16. BxN
Probably as good as anything at Mason's disposal here, but now Janowski has his beloved two Bishops. 16... cxB
17. c3 Bc5
18. 0-0 0-0
19. Re1 Rfe8
20. b4 Bf8
21. Ne3
The Tournament Book calls this move "weak," but the proposed 21. a3 is not much better. Mason's problems stem from his prior poor play. 21... Rad8
As Rosenthal has demonstrated in the Tournament Book, 21...d4 was best and would probably have led to a won game for Janowski. If then: (A) 22. cxd4 Bxb4 wins the exchange; (B) 22. Nc4 then 22...dxc3' and if (C) 22. Nd5 (best) dxc3 23. Qxc3 {if 23. NxQ cxQ) Qd6 24. Nc7 (better than Rosenthal's 24. Qb3 Rad8) Rec8. 22. a3
Not yet necessary. Best was 22. Qc2
22... Bg6
Missing a likely winning 22...e4
23. Qa2 Qc6
24. Rac1 f5
25. c4 d4
Mason has fought back tenaciously and secured a playable game after his poor opening play, thanks in part to a few missed opportunities by Janowski. But Janowski still had much the better, although probably a winning, position. The real battle, however, lay ahead as I will discuss in my next post on this game. |
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Sep-08-17
| | KEG: Post II
After 25 moves, Janowski had two Bishops against two Knights, a dangerous initiative, and a strong pawn on d4. Could Mason survive this position against an attacking genius like Janowski? 26. Nf1?
This was not the road to holding the position for Mason. As Rosenthal pointed out in the Tournament Book, best was 26. c5+ followed by 27. Nc4. 26... Bf2
27. Qc2 a5
28. b5
Trying for counterplay on the Queen's side, but this is not the way to accomplish his goal. Mason should have played 28. Qd2 28... Qg6
29. Ra1 b6
30. Qe2 Bd6
31. Nd2 Be6
32. Kh1 Bc8
33. Rg1
This bottling up of his own King was to lead to defeat 19 moves later. Given his bad position, Mason should have fought back with 33. g4. 33... h5!
Janowski won't give him another chance to play an uncontested g4 34. a4 Bb7
Focusing the Bishop on the King's side. It is always a pleasure to watch Janowski wield the two Bishops to best advantage! 35. Nb3 Qg5
Better perhaps was 35...Bb4 (to stop any pawn advances by White on the Queenside) or 35...Rc8 to keep an eye on the crucial c-file. 36. Ra2?
Very weak. Now Janowski has a clear road to victory with Mason's Queen vulnerable on e2. Best was 36. Qa2 36... Qh4?
Missing the crushing 36...e4!
37. Nh3?
Worse than useless given the threat of 37...e4. His only hope lay in 37. Qd1 or perhaps a desperate 37. c5. 37... Qf6?
As Rosenthal demonstrates in the Tournament Book, Janowski could have won "immediately" with 37...e4. If then: (A) 38. dxe4 then 38...fxe4 39. fxe4 Bxe4; (B) 38. fxe4 fxe4 39. Nd4 (39. Qf2 is better but hardly sufficient for survival) exd3 40. Qxd3 Bc5 with a plethora of devastating pins; or (C) 38. Qf2 (relatively best but hopeless) Qg4 (or even 38...QxQ 39. NxQ e3). 38. Rf1 g4
38...e4, though no longer as potent as if played on the last move, was still best. Janowski still has a win here, but not the KO punch available to him one move earlier. 39. Qd2 Be7
40. Raa1
41. Qd1 was better, but also inadequate against best play. 40... Kg7
Rosenthal lauds this move as preparation for setting up an attacking formation with Rh8 and g4. 41. Rab1 g4!
Pursuing his attack and maneuvering Mason into stalemating his King. 42. Ng1
As Pawn and Two has noted, Janowski has a "very strong" position here, even if no immediate winning line presents itself. However, it was at this very point that Janowski floundered and over the course of his next few moves relinquished his entire advantage. The manner in which this occurred and the blunder by Mason that handed a win to Janowski will all be discussed in my next post on this game. |
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Sep-08-17
| | KEG: Post III
After 42. Ng1, Janowski had what was almost certainly a won position. But now, as happened in many a Janowski game, he gave a cornered opponent chances. 42...Bd6?
As Pawn and Two has explained, this gives Mason the chance to obtain two passed pawns on the Queen-side. Best and probably sufficient to win were either 42...Bb4 or 42...Rc8. Janowski perhaps still has a won game after 42...Bd6?, but now, to quote Pawn and Two, Mason has "hope." 43. c5!
Seizing his only chance.
43... bxc5
44. Nxa5
All of a sudden, Mason has two dangerous passed pawns. 44... Bd4
45. Nc4 Bb8?
Now Janowski's win is gone. As Pawn and Two has shown (see his exhaustive analysis) Janowski probably still had a win here with 45...BxN 46. a5 Qg6
As Pawn and Two explains in his posts on this game, Janowski's edge is now gone. Better is 46...Qh4 as recommended by Pawn and Two. Perhaps even better, but insufficient for any real winning chances, was 46...BxN. 47. a6
As Pawn and Two correctly notes, 47. b6 is equally good. 47... e4
48. fxe4?
As apparently only Pawn and Two has recognized, this is the move that lost the game for Mason. Correct was 48. b6! 48... fxe4
49. b6
Too late! As Pawn and Two correctly notes, Mason is now dead lost. Janowski gives him no further opportunities. 49... e3!
50. Qb2
50. Qe2 is perhaps "best", but would give little chance for survival after 50...BxN 50... Qg5
51. a7
It is too late for any tactical tricks by White here. 51... Bxh2!!
Janowski at his brilliant best. A full analysis of this move already appears on this site. 52. KxB
Walking into a forced mate in four as patzers has noted, but everything else is also hopeless. 52... g3+!
A pretty and problem-like finish by Janowski. |
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< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·
Later Kibitzing> |
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Kibitzing
sac: 51...Bxh2