| Jan-25-13 | | Marmot PFL: The obvious 22 cd7 Bxe3 23 dxe8(Q)+ Rxe8 does not seem to accomplish much, so I tried - 22 Rxd7
22...Bxe3 23 Qxe3 Rxe3 24 c7
22...Rxe3 23 Rxc5
22...Rxd7 23 cd7 Bxe3 24 Qxe3 Rxe3 25 Rc8+ |
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| Jan-25-13 | | rilkefan: Wasn't sure whether 24.c7 or Rxd8+ (and Bxa6) was right, but pushing the pieces around it's clear it's the former. |
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Jan-25-13
 | | al wazir: I got the first two moves right, and I think after 23...Rxe3 I would have played 24. c7. But OTB I wouldn't have had the guts to play this line. I would probably have played 22. Bxc5. |
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| Jan-25-13 | | Bartimaeus: A very interesting puzzle with nice possibilities.
Brute force try of 22. cxd7 fails to Bxe3. Alternately, 22. Bxc5 Nxc5 and the c-pawn will be hard to promote. Then saw 22. Rxd7 and this felt like hitting a gold mine :) 22. Rxd7 Bxe3 23. Qxe3 Rxe3 24. c7 Re8 25. cxb8=Q and we've got a won endgame with superior material. Qxe3 seems important to prevent the Bishop check and weaken the back rank. Looking this up, felt real nice to get a Friday in totality. |
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| Jan-25-13 | | M.Hassan: "Difficult"
White to play 22.?
Materials are equal.
22.Rxd7 Bxe3
23.Qxe3! Rxe3
24.c7 Ree8
25.cxb8=Q Rxb8
26.Bxa6
And White is now a whole piece ahead.
Let's check
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Right on! |
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| Jan-25-13 | | lost in space: Got this one up to move 25 |
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| Jan-25-13 | | Abdel Irada: <<•>Bonin the throat?<•>> I once asked in these forums: <If a knight on king six is like a bone in the throat, is a king on knight six like the throne in a boat?> And, if so, what is a pawn on queen's bishop seven when it forks a queen and a rook with back-rank mate threats? That would be an excellent question to address to Jay Bonin after the key move: <<•> 22. Rxd7! ...> Black has three plausible replies.
<<•> (1) 22. ...Bxe323. Qxe3, Rxe3
24. c7, Qxc7>
Awful, but what else is there?
(a) 24. ...Rxd7?? 25. cxb8=Q†, with mate in two.
(b) 24. ...Qc8?? 25. cxd8=Q†, Re8 26. Rxc8  .
(c) 24. ...Ree8 25. Rxd8, Rxd8 26. cxb8=Q .
(d) 24. ...Rde8 25. cxb8=Q .
<<•> 25. Rcxc7 > A femur in the trachea, anyone?
<(2) 22. ...Rxe3?
23. Rxc5 >
Not much meat on *this* bone.
<(3) 22. ...Rxd7
23. cxd7, Bxe3
24. Qxe3, Rxe3
25. Rc8† >
click for larger view[Femur in the trachea: The position after 25. Rc8†]
White mates after 25. ...Qxc8 26. dxc8=Q†, Re8 27. Qxe8#. Line (1) is relatively the best, but White wins a piece and there is no counterplay. Maybe it's time for a new maxim to describe situations like this, in which an advanced pawn becomes a monster choking the defender's airways. |
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| Jan-25-13 | | timur555: /felt real nice to get a Friday in totality/...feeling the same )))) |
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| Jan-25-13 | | Prosperus: Weakness of the 8th row in the full sense! |
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Jan-25-13
 | | HeMateMe: Lets hear if for Jay, a New York boy! |
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| Jan-25-13 | | morfishine: A purely tactical problem. White's past pawn is temporarily countered by Black's
double-attack on the DSB, pinning and winning the White Queen. But Black's position is tenuous at best for two reasons: (1) Once his Bishop moves, the pawn on c6 is protected and ready for pushing by the rook on c1 & (2) The Black Knight is ready to
to recapture 22...Nxc5 in the event of 22.Bxc5; The importance of the Knight requires its
elimination. If Black cannot maintain his Knight, he will lose. Once these aspects are realized, the problem becomes an exercise in
'counting the pieces' while maintaing a grip on the position. (1) <22.Rxd7 Bxe3> 22...Rxe3? is a blunder due to 23.Rxc5 <23.Qxe3 Rxe3 24.c7> Black is forced to surrender his Queen or be mated, and will end up down a piece; <24...Ree8 25.Rxd8> Simplest; 25.cxb8=Q also wins, but leaves an extra pair of rooks on <25...Rxd8 26.cxb8=Q Rxb8
27.Bxa6> White has won a piece and the game
click for larger view |
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| Jan-25-13 | | DarthStapler: I at least considered the first move |
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Jan-25-13
 | | patzer2: Igor Ivanov's 22. Rxd7! solves today's Friday puzzle because Black's pin on the White Queen following 22...Bxe3 proves insufficient after 23 Qxe3! Rxe3 24 c7 , when the resulting pawn fork wins decisive material. Black's weakened back rank and the possibility of pawn promotion with check help make the combination possible. The sham sacrifice of White's Rook and Queen are merely a means to an end -- a winning pawn fork! |
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| Jan-25-13 | | Patriot: Material is not even--white has the bishop pair. Black threatens 22...Bxe3 with a deadly pin. There are lot of captures here. But there is one that seems to go in a positive direction: 22.Rxd7; 22.cxd7 Bxe3 23.dxe8=Q+ Rxe8 and even if white simplifies with 24.Qxe3? Rxe3 white is the one down material. 22.Rxd7
22...Bxe3 23.Qxe3 Rxe3 24.c7 and white wins.
22...Rxe3 23.Rxc5 looks like it should win easily.
22...Rxd7 23.cxd7 Bxe3 24.Qxe3 Rxe3 25.Rc8+ Re8 26.dxe8=Q# 22...Rxd7 23.cxd7 Rxe3 24.Rxc5 |
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Jan-25-13
 | | kevin86: White allows the queen to be pinned and loss so that a solitary pawn can grab the game. |
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| Jan-25-13 | | crocodile27: And once more is nearly impossible for me to understand why Black resigned.... if Black plays 24....Ree8 after the piece exchange it's White with Rook and Bishop vs Black with Rook... Pawns don't go anywhere so it's actually a drawn game for me.... |
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Jan-25-13
| | patzer2: If 24...Ree8, then White wins decisive material (i.e. goes up an extra pice with the Bishop) after 25. cxb8(Q) Rxb8 26. Bxa6 or 25. Rxd8 Qxd8 26. cxd8 Rxd8 27. Bxa6 . |
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Jan-25-13
 | | agb2002: White has the bishop pair for a bishop and a knight. Black threatens 22... Bxe3.
The pawn on c6 suggests 22.Rxd7, threatening c7:
A) 22... Bxe3 23.Qxe3 (weakening Black's back rank, 23.c7 Bxf2+ 24.Kxf2 Qa8 25.Rxd8 Rxd8 26.cxd8=Q+ Qxd8 27.Bxa6 Qd4+ and 28... g6 -/ +) A.1) 23... Rxe3 24.c7 Qxc7 25.Rdxc7 + - [B vs P].
A.2) 23... Rxd7 24.cxd7 Rd8 (24... Rxe3 25.Rc8+ and mate in two) 25.Bxa6 + - [B+P]. B) 22... Rxd7 23.cxd7
B.1) 23... Bxe3 24.Qxe3 (or 24.dxe8=Q+ Qxe8 25.Bxa6 Bxf2+ 26.Kxf2 followed by Rc8 + -) transposes to A.2. B.2) 23... Rxe3 24.Rxc5 bxc5 25.Qxe3 wins. |
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| Jan-25-13 | | Jason Frost: Easy puzzle once you realize 22.cxd7 doesn't get you anywhere. |
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| Jan-25-13 | | James D Flynn: Candidates Bxc5, Rxc5, cxd7, Rxd7.
22.Bxc5 Nxc5 23.Rxd8 Qxd8 24.Rxc5 bxc5 25.Qxc5 Qc7 26.Bxa6 Re6 27.Bb7 Re1+ 28.Kf2 Ra1 29.Qa3 Qb6+ and Black has numerous checks and the position is unclear.
22.Rxc5 Nxc5 23.Rxd8(if Bxc5 Rxd1 24.Bxb6 Re1 wins )Rxd8 24.Bxc5 bxc5 25.Qxc5 Qc7 stops the pawn but 26.Bxa6 and the c6 pawn will be defended by Bb7 with an unclear position.
22.cxd7 Bxe3 (not Rxe3 23.Rxc5wins)23.dxe8+ Rxe8 24.Bxa6 Bxf2+ 25.Kxf2 and White has Only R and B for Q and some back rank threats which Black can defend by g6.
22.Rxd7 Bxe3 24.Qxe3 Rxe3 25.c7 Qc8(if Qxc7 26.R1xc7 Rf8 27.Bc4 and there is no defense to Bxf7+) 26.Rxd8+ Re1 27.Qxc8 Rxc8 28.Bxa6 wins |
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| Jan-25-13 | | crocodile27: Thats exactly what I can't get... how a Bishop more is a decisive material advantage in this endgame..... If Black has 1 Rook vs 1 Rook or 2 Rook vs 2 Rook, the Bishop can't seem to help a lot white, should be a draw then or not? |
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| Jan-25-13 | | shatranj7: I saw 22.Rxd7 immediately. I thought that 22...Rxe3 would have been a better continuation for black however, though I did see the continuation black used in the game. I think that this was more of a Tuesday puzzle. |
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| Jan-25-13 | | mistreaver: White to play. Friday. Difficult. 22?
Looking at this position, once wants to sacrifice the bishop, then the queen in order to get the c pawn to the
queening square and also take advantage of black's weakened back rank.
There is only once candidate that fits in with puzzle logic.
22. Rxd7!!
Now black can choose between two captures Rxe3 and Bxe3
a)22...Bxe3 - the more obvious.
23 Qxe3 Rxe3
and now i would say
24 c7 wins, as Qxc7
25 Rxc7 Rxd7 fails to Rc8 mate
b)22... Rxe3 wait, can't white play Rxc5 here?
I would say that it should be enoguh. time to check.
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Ahh, feeling proud, both lines correct and winning,(confirmed by Fritz 11).Altought it was straightforward, i managed without usual calculating mistakes. |
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Jan-25-13
| | patzer2: <crocodile27> The win after 24...Re8 25. cxb8(Q) Rxb8 26. Bxa6 with the extra Bishop is not automatic, but it's not especially difficult either. With the extra Bishop White can defend his a-pawn, while overloading pieces to win one of Black's pawns. After winning an extra Black pawn, you should find the win for White easier to calculate. Perhaps you could try it out against a computer program to get a feel for the technique. |
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Kibitzing
sac: 23.Qxe3