18. Rh3 (threat Rg3) Kh8 19. Ng5 Be3+ (if 19. ... fxg5 20. hxg5) 20. Kb1! (leave the rook on the H file) and it's over.

If 18. Rh3 Be3+ 19. Qxe3 Kh8 (if Ba8 20. Qh6 Kh8 21. Ng5) 20. Rxd5 wins a piece.

This game has gone so many full circles. In the morning when I saw it, I thought Ng5 settles it. Then, I realized (saw the kibitzing), I realized that bishop check and Re8 complicate the matter.

Now, it seems to me that Rh3 really does lead to a quick win.

As far as I can tell through testing the different variations with Fritz, the strongest move in the puzzle position is 18. Ng5. That's the move that first appealed to me when I tackled this unaided, and it is Fritz's top pick. It leads to a bigger advantage than the other winning moves (18. Rde1, 18. Rxd5, 18. exd5 and 18. Rh3).

But in order to make 18. Ng5 work you either need to trust your intuition or you need to calculate a fairly long variation.

By contrast, 18. Rh3 has more modest gains but is simpler to calculate. Fritz gives this as best: 18...Be4+ 19. Qxe3

click for larger view

Now material is level but the black Bd5 is en prise and white threatens to go back into the mating position with Qh6 and Ng5. Black doesn't have time to rescue his bishop and so will go a clear piece down. Fritzie defends against the mate by abandoning the bishop with moves like 19...Kh8 and 19...Bxe4.

I suppose the key feature about this puzzle is something that we haven't really spoken about up to now. As a reminder, this is our puzzle position:

click for larger view

White starts the position a minor piece down and black has a bishop en prise on d5. So we could reasonable deduce that the move before the position was for black to capture a minor piece on d5. And indeed, that was the previous move - 17...Bxd5.

So perhaps that's the real answer. In a game, when our opponent captures one of our pieces our natural instinct is to recapture. But in this position, the better move was to ignore the material and play for mate. Hence 18. Ng5 or 18. Rh3.

Unfortunately for this theory, Fritzie also insists that either recapture (18. Rxd5 or 18. exd5) also wins.

Black threatens 18... Bxe4.

The weak black castle invites to play 18.Ng5 (18.Rg3 Kh8 19.Rg3 Rg8), threatening mate in one:

A) 18... hxg5 19.f6 + -.

B) 18... Be3+ 19.Kb1 Bxg5 20.hxg5 Re8 21.gxf6 + -.

C) 18... Re8 19.exd5 (trying 20.Qxh7+ Kf8 21.Qxf7#)

C.1) 19... fxg5 20.f6 + -.

C.2) 19... Qc(d)7 20.Ne4 (20.Nxh7 Be3+ 21.Qxe3 Kxh7) + -.

No, <whiteshark>, that is not "it." It is far from being "it." What, precisely, is the point of reading your posts if they're going to consist of "<key move> and that's it"?

All White has to do is begin one! I saw right away that Ng5 was a serious threat because capturing it (and then White re-capturing it with the H-pawn) opens up the H-file - - for which there is *NO* defense of a Rook-supported mate on h7.

I've learned over the years that different people use this site in different ways. Some are highly competitive, some are more social. Some will spend a long time on comprehensive posts, some will just give the first key move.

On Mondays and Tuesdays in particular this can make for a lot of repetition. If the solution is fairly simple, we can get lots of posts saying more or less the same thing.

The trick, I think, is to try to be tolerant. There is no right way to post and as long as people stick by the four posting guidelines we generally allow all sorts of posts.

The idea was to show us how a strong player approached a position, what his thought processes were, which moves he analysed and which he discarded, how far he analysed, and so on.

I say it was a brilliant decision because <dzechiel> is both a strong player and a good writer. His posts were inspiring and informative. In fact, one of the main reasons that I started coming to this site was to read <dzechiel>'s posts. Whisper it quietly, I secretly wanted to <be> dzechiel.

The problem was that many people copied dzechiel's approach. I suspect that some people started to think that it was the only way we were supposed to write a post.

And - let's be honest here - it can get a bit boring if every post is saying exactly the same thing. Particularly early in the week when the solutions are <usually> only a few moves long. And - also while we are being honest - few people can do it as well as <dzechiel>.

That's why a few of us deliberately don't "do a dzechiel". We don't record all of our thought processes. Instead we try to add something new, find a new wrinkle, think about the principles underlying a position. <jimfromprovidence> and <phony benoni> are great at this. They find an obscure line or stubborn defence that more often than not has me thinking again about the position.

If you stand back and look at the way we kibitz over a long period of time, it seems that we are constantly changing and evolving. For me, that has to be a good thing. It means that the site offers something for everyone.

The trick is tolerance. If someone wants to tell the world that they solved a sunday for the first time ever, then why not? I know that feeling (although not as often as I would like!). And it's a great feeling. Why not tell the world about it? Ditto if someone wants to post their analysis, tell us that they solved 23 POTDs in a row or say that it took them 0.0001 nanoseconds.

Of course I also wonder if I'm right and seek validation or refutation from others. I'm not strong enough to be bored by the ensuing chatter.

There is one guy in this forum - I will not name him - who cheats; In a blatant fashion too, for that matter. I was compelled to address him personally some months back here on the daily puzzle and then moved on.

Again, I want to make clear that this is not a problem with whiteshark, as he is a thoroughly honest solver with his own style - Note that part and parcel of his solving style is the humour element of '<23. Bd2!> and that's it!'. If he wanted to bust out some lines, we would see that he's a strong solver.

To conclude, whiteshark doesn't get involved with these wars of words; furthermore, whiteshark is both a senior member of the site and one of the most helpful members on here as well.

So, you are free to express your opinion as you have; I just want you to know that whiteshark is a really good dude with an honest and humourous solving style.

With friendship,

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