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| Jul-03-09 | | patzer2: For today's Friday puzzle solution, Adams demolition of pawn structure (sham) sacrifice 20. Nxh6+!! decisively weakens Leko's King position and results in a quick pursuit mate. The unusual follow-up 21. Ng4! is a difficult but essential element of this combination. In the final position, it's mate-in- three after 25...Kf5 (26... Kg5 27. Qf6+ Kg4 28. Qf3+ Kg5 29. Bf6#)
27. Qf6+ Kg4 28. Qf3+ Kg5 29. Bf6#. |
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| Jul-03-09 | | UnsoundHero: White should not fall for the trap 20 Nxh6+ gxh6 21 Qxf6? Bg7 22 Rd7 Bxf6 23 Rxc7 Na6 winning a piece. |
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| Jul-03-09 | | tallinn: My idea was Nxh6 gxh Qxf6 Bg7 Rd7!?
Bxf6 Rxc7 no problem
Nxd7 Qxf7+ looks interesting
Qxd7 Nxd7 Bxf6 Nxf6+ looks also good
However, that is just a pawn more in a rook endgame at best so probably not winning at all. Ng4 I completely missed just for the reason that I do not want offer exchange of pieces when I am attacking. Rules are bad :-( |
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| Jul-03-09 | | agb2002: Material is even. The dark squares and some light squares around the black castle are weak. Therefore, 20.Nxh6+: A) 20... gxh6 21.Ng4 (21.Qxf6 Bg7 22.Nd7 Bxf6 23.Nxf6+ Kf8 (23... Kg7 24.Nxe8+) 24.Nh7+ Kg8 (24... Ke7 25.Rhe1+ Ne6 26.Bf6#) 25.Nf6+ draw) A.1) 21... Nxg4 22.Qxg4+ Kh7 23.Qf5+ Kg8 24.Qf6 Kh7 25.Qh8+ Kg6 26.h5+ A.1.a) 26... Kg5 27.Qf6+ Kg4 28.Qf3+ Kg5 29.Bf6#.
A.1.b) 26... Kf5 27.Qf6+ Ke4 (27... Kg4 transposes to A.1.a) 28.Rhe1#. A.2) 21... Nce4 (or 21... Ncd7) 22.Nxf6+ Nxf6 (otherwise 23.Nxe8+) 23.Qxf6 is similar to A.1. A.3) 21... Nfe4 (or 21... Nd5, etc.) 22.Nf6+ Nxf6 23.Qxf6 transposes to A.1. A.4) 21... Bg7 22.Nxf6+ Kf8 (22... Bxf6 23.Qxf6 Kf8 24.Qg7+ Ke7 25.Rhe1+ Ne6 26.Bf6#) 23.Nxe8 Rxe8 24.Bxg7+ Kxg7 25.Rhe1 + -. A.5) 21... Re6 22.Nxf6+ Rxf6 23.Qxf6 is similar to A.1. B) 20... Kh7 21.Nhxf7 + - (21.Qf5+ g6 (21... Kh8 22.Nexf7+) 22.Qxf6 Bxh6+ (22... Kxh6 23.Qh8#)). C) 20... Kh8 21.Nexf7+ Kh7 22.Qf5+ g6 23.Qxf6 Bxh6+ 24.Ng5+ Bxg5+ (24... Kh8 25.Qh8#) 25.hxg5+ Kg8 26.Rh8#. I've tried to take advantage of the fact that the black queen is not defended but I couldn't find how. |
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| Jul-03-09 | | jsheedy: I immediately saw 20. Nxh6+ but could find no forced win after that. The black-squared Black Bishop seemed to cover things, and even the threat of Qg3 and a discovered attack on the Black Queen with a Knight check didn't seem forced. I may have found a win over the board, but not today. |
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| Jul-03-09 | | PinnedPiece: Excellent puzzle. Adams wins my respect, for sure. |
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| Jul-03-09 | | percyblakeney: Very nice way to win a Linares game, even if it didn't help Adams to finish better than shared last with Svidler. Kasparov won the very strong tournament with a 2.5 point margin (and his +7 should be a better performance than 2817): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linare... |
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| Jul-03-09 | | remolino: 20. Nxh6! |
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| Jul-03-09 | | remolino: Needless to say, I got Nxh6 but not the follow up Ng4, which makes this a winning combination, rather than one that wins some material. What a great follow up, Ng4, opening the diagonal. |
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| Jul-03-09 | | goodevans: <JG27Pyth: Anyone else seduced by the splashy and unsound Queen sac?:
20.Nxh6+ gxh6
21.Qxf6 Bg7
22.Nd7?!>
Yep - although I looked at it in the context of 21 ... Ne4 22 Nd7. I managed to convince myself that white would end up a whole rook up (22 ... Nxf6 23 Nxf6+ Kh8 24 Nxe8+ winning back the queen). Another Friday failure. Too bad! |
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| Jul-03-09 | | smalldreams: Clever finish by Adams.
I found 20.Nxh6+ but somehow overlooked the need for 21.Ng4 to get Black's troublesome knight out of the way. |
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| Jul-03-09 | | patzer2: <UnsoundHero: White should not fall for the trap 20 Nxh6+ gxh6 21 Qxf6? Bg7 22 Rd7 Bxf6 23 Rxc7 Na6 winning a piece.> Actually 21. Qxf6!? is not without merit. At the end of your line, after 23...Na6, White has 24. Ng4! Nxc7 25. Nf6+  which wins back the exchange with a clear and likely decisive advantage. Your point that 21. Qxf6!? is not as clearly decisive as 21. Ng4! is correct. However, 21. Qxf6!? is not bad for a second best alternative. |
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| Jul-03-09 | | YouRang: I saw 20.Nxh6 gxh6, and I considered 21.Ng4, but I didn't see progress after black answered that with 21...Ne4. :-\ |
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| Jul-03-09 | | David2009: I lose a won game with 21 Qxf6? Bg7 22 Resigns?? (in shock) missing the very elegant save 22 Nd7!= posted by <JG27Pyth>. |
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| Jul-03-09 | | Samagonka: Just as I thought: 20Nxh6+ must be the key moveto get the combination started, the rest requires a bit more grey matter. |
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| Jul-03-09 | | cydmd: <dzechiel> didn't mentioned the line he got, but I suspect it is the same that I got because I made the same mistake. 20.Nxh6+ gxh6 21.Qxf6 Bg7 22.Nd7
click for larger viewThe black bishop's move gave a escape square for the king creating a hole in the conceived combination. Now White's chances resides on a perpetual check pointed out by <JG27Pyth>. Maybe next time that supposed brilliant combination could work ... |
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Jul-03-09
 | | Jimfromprovidence: Does anyone know what the losing move was? I don’t think it was on move 19. Both 19… Ne6 or Ne4 lose to 20 Rd7!
Both 19…h5 and 19…Rad8 lose to 20 Qg3.
However, on move 18...Rae8 is better than the text Rfe8.
click for larger viewI think it works generally because it brings another attacker/defender to the e file wihtout weakening the defense of the f file. I cannot figure out the specific reason it is better, though. |
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| Jul-03-09 | | WhiteRook48: I had the right idea (h4-h5) but didn't get the sequence.
I hate pawn moves |
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| Jul-03-09 | | johnlspouge: Friday (Difficult):
Adams vs Leko, 1999 (20.?) White to play and win.
Material: Even. The Black Kg8 has 2 legal moves. The Black Pg7 is overburdened, with defense of Nf6 and Ph6, suggesting the candidate 20.Nxh6+, exposing Kg8 to Qf3. The White Rd1 commands an open file, with the invasion point d7. The Black Qc7 is loose. The White Kc1 is secured from checks except for …Nb6+ and …Nd6+, both presently harmless. Candidates (20.): Nxh6+
20.Nxh6+ gxh6 [else, 21.Nhxf7 wins 2 important Ps]
21.<Qxf6> (threatening 22.Ng6 then 23.Qxg7# or 24.Qh8#) <[I missed the follow-up 21.Ng4, but found the variation guaranteeing a draw.]> 21…Bg7 [else, meekly drop a P, e.g., on 21…Re3]
22.Rd7 (threatening 23.Qxf7+ 24.Qxg7#)
(1) 22…Qxd7 23.Nxd7 Bxf6 24.Nxf6+
White is up a P after 25.Nxe8.
(2) 22…Nxd7 23.Qxf7+ Kh7 [Kh8 24.Ng6+ Kh7 25.Qxg7#]
24.Qg6+ ensures the draw
[24.Nxd7 Qg3 seems to give Black too much counter-play] White has promising moves like 24.Ng4 (threatening 25.Qxg7#) but I have timed out. The follow-up 21.Ng4 makes this a relatively deep puzzle for a Friday. |
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| Jul-03-09 | | lost in space: Haven't got it. Missed 21. Ng4 |
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| Jul-03-09 | | butilikefur: Hey <20. Nxh6 gxh6 21. Qxf6 Bg7 22. Rd7> is quite strong as well, as has been mentioned by others.. Black's best response seems to be <22...Bxf6 23. Rxc7 Bxe5 24. Rxc5 Bxc3 25. Rxc3 Re2> and White is up a pawn but Black has a tempo. An interesting variation is <22...Nxd7 23. Qxf7+ Kh7> (24. Nxd7 Qg3 25. Nf6+ Kh8 26. Nxe8 Bxc3 27. Qf8+ [27. bxc3 Qe3+ 28. Kb1 Rxe8] 27...Kh7 28. Nf6+ Bxf6 [28...Kg6 29. h5+ is winning] 29. Qxa8) <24. Nf3> stops Qg3 and pins the d7 N so Black has only one defense.
<24...Reg8 25. Ng5+ Kh8 26. Qg6 Nf6 27. Bxf6> and Black will be mated. |
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| Jul-03-09 | | Fezzik: What makes this position so difficult, and why Leko probably missed the key move, is that he was prepared for 20.♘h6 gh6 21.♕f6? ♗g7! He missed 21.♘g4!! and so did I. :( |
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| Jul-03-09 | | chillowack: While looking at the opening of this game, I was curious to know what might have happened had Leko captured the proffered d4-pawn with 9...Qxd4. In my analysis, I found the following interesting combination: 10.Nxf7! Bxd3 (10...Kxf7 11.Bg6+) 11.Nxh8 Qe5+ 12.Be3 Bh7 and now Black seems to be on top, but... 13.Qd8+! turns things around again.
I wonder if this variation might have been one reason Leko declined the pawn offer? |
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| Jul-03-09 | | RandomVisitor: 17...Nd5 18.Bd4 Rad8 19.Kb1 and black is okay. |
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| Jul-03-09 | | RandomVisitor: <chillowack>9...Qxd4 10.Nxf7 Rg8 might be best play but white still has the advantage. |
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Kibitzing
sac: 20.Nxh6+