|
< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·
Later Kibitzing> |
| Jun-15-08 | | znprdx: 2 deletes later and I'm on my way to Aerosvit.
707 (standing on my head LOL) loved your post <dzechiel:> I think you nailed it. Now that the dust has settled and all the hair-pulling subsided. ...Bc8 calmly threatens to begin the process of removing White's knights which Black unwittingly immediately aids and abets.
Actually quite ironic....but I agree the text does not seem forced. In fact 25. Nh6+ is a vainglorious attempt to appear in control whereas the simple 25. Ne7 + looks rather playble. Here beginneth the problem This is one of the rare occasions I would be curious to see what the Digital Demons find...I still think 23...Nd7 would be the ultimate choice, protecting the f6 bishop because it stops the desperado Nh6+ |
|
| Jun-15-08 | | euripides: 23...g6 is quite interesting e.g. 24.Nh6+ (or 24.Ng5 Ng4)
Kg7 when the white knight covers g4 but Black also has the idea of Nxf3+ followed by Bd4 (Bg5 could be met by Nf5+). One line then is 25.Nd2 Bg5 26.Qxg5 Nxd3 (unfortunately Nf3+ runs into 27.Nxf3 protecting the queen) 27.Nf5+ and White seems to be winning, so Black may have to play 25...Nd7. Another candidate for <dz>'s list might be 23...g5 though I don't think it's good. <ricardo> Black wins in the game as well. |
|
| Jun-15-08 | | hedgeh0g: Hm...missed it. I thought the fact that White had arranged his pieces into some sort of immobile block would make for some skewering/pinning/forking tactics, but couldn't find any that were quick enough. Bc8 threatens to win at least the exchange, threatening BxN and if QxB, QxR. If PxB, Ng4 QxN, followed, again, by QxR. Although I'm not too sure how Black proceeds if White simply moves one of the rooks... |
|
| Jun-15-08 | | cloybloy: Boy, I really have no idea how to go about this one. |
|
| Jun-15-08 | | TrueBlue: impossible for me :( |
|
| Jun-15-08 | | Woody Wood Pusher: I saw Ng4 but forgot that Nf5 was protecting the Rook...so partial credit i think. maybe : ) |
|
| Jun-15-08 | | Once: <vangogh228> 23. ... g6 is poor, but it isn't immediate mate. After 24. Kg7 white cannot recapture on f6. But it's too much of an advantage to white, which is why dzechiel was quite right to reject it. Fritz 11 rates 23... g6 as +0.8. 23. ... Nd7 drops the d6 pawn to 24. Qxd6. Fritz rates as +0.6. Fritzie gets very excited about 23. .. g5. After 24. Nxg5 white has an irrestible kingside attack - +19.7 after a few seconds. 25. Ne7? is rated as -3.62 by Fritz. After 25. ... Kh8, where is white going to put his queen to avoid the dreadful black bishops, whilst still defending the rook on e3? One line runs 26. Qf3 Bg4 27. Qxg4 Qxe3. Back to the starting position. Fritz instantly finds 23. ... Bc8 24. Ree2 <Hedgeh0g's suggestion> Nxf3. 25. Qxf3 Bxf5 26. ef Bd4 which it evaluates as -1.5. Second best was 23. ... Rae8 with a rating of -1.08. All in all, I think that the combination is sound. Fritz cannot find a defence and it leads to a gain of material. Apart from Rae8, there aren't any real alternatives. And that makes it a puzzle for me at least. |
|
| Jun-15-08 | | johnlspouge: Sunday (Insane): Black to play and win.
Material: B for N. With 10 of the 16 central squares occupied, the battle for the center is tense. The a7-g1 diagonal is the critical tactical motif, because Black Qc4 shares it with the White Re3, Rf2, and Kg1. The Black Nd4 is particularly mobile and can play (1) Nxf3+, (2) Ng4 forking the 2 Rs on the a7-g1 diagonal, and (3) Ng6 or Nxd3 attacking Qf4. The Nd4 can move to unblock the Black Bf6, which needs activation and could strengthen pressure on the a7-g1 diagonal at d4. The Black Ra8, Rf8, and Bb7 all need activation, but it is not immediately clear how to accomplish this. On the White side, the most active White piece is Nf5, which with Qf4 protects Re3. The White Kg1 alone protects Rf2. The White Qf4 has one escape square (g3), so it is overburdened with protection of Re3. Candidates (23...): Nxf3+, Nxd3, Ng6, d5, Bc8
23…Bc8 (threatening 24.Bxf5, then Bd4 after Nf3 is removed) To avoid the threat, without sacrificing at least Pe4 at f6 to avoid loss of the exchange, White seems forced to trade Nf3 for Ne4. 24.Nxe5 Bxe5 (threatening 25.Bxf4 and 25.Bxf5 26.Bd4) 25.Ne7+ Kh8
26.Qh4 (threatening at least to draw by perpetual check Ng6-Ne7) 26…Be6 (threatening 27.Qxe3 again)
27.Nd5 Bd4 28.e5 (threatening 29.Qxh7#)
Black now makes mincemeat of White too easily for a Sunday, so I knew I was off-track. I have not felt this confused about a candidate for a long time, at least since Friday's 30...Nb3 in G Agzamov vs Tal, 1981 :>O Once I found 23...Bc8, however, I would have played it, right or wrong, even though I was completely incapable of calculating exhaustive variations. The key to the position is the White Nf5. The Nf5 threatens Ne7+ and Nh6+ (the latter I did not take seriously) and defends the a7-g1 diagonal. In particular, it protects Re3 and the square d4. The tough puzzles have taught me to go for the threat that activates an inactive piece, here Bb7. True, the move 23...Bc8 has a temporary disadvantage, disconnecting the Black Rs, but to exchange a dead B for a live N and strengthen the move Bf6-d4 was a permanent advantage. I will analyze with Toga, but I initially thought that White was better developed than Black, and that Black had very few real resources. As our Sunday two-mover E Mortensen vs L Karlsson, 1988 showed for c2 in the French defense, however, proper aim on an Achilles heel (here the a7-g1 diagonal) can bring even the most well-developed opponent down. |
|
| Jun-15-08 | | blndrdrnk: in the final position, black has to sacrifice the dark bishop to avoid mate... can anyone explain why black resigned?? The only move I see is h6.. followed by f6Xg7 +, Qxg7, and white can try to play an inferior endgame |
|
| Jun-15-08 | | Once: <blndrdrnk> Er ... white resigned, not black. A small matter of being a rook down - the big guy sitting on a8. Don't see that black has to sac his bishop. If 33. f6 (unveiling the mate threat on h7) then simply 33. ... Qxf6+ Kg1 34. h6 and white has nothing to show for being a rook down. |
|
| Jun-15-08 | | johnlspouge: Toga II 1.3.1 confirms other programs in declaring the combination sound. The basic story is that either: (1) White submits to loss of the exchange and loses slowly; or (2) tries 25.Nh6+ or 25.Ne7+ and loses fast, in a premature attack. The most interesting undiscovered variation was the following. 25.Ne7+ Kh8 26.Qf3 (to maintain contact with Re3)
(Note that my try for the perpetual check
26.Qh4 Qxe3 27.Ng6+
fails, because of 27…fxg6: the Rf1 does not pin Pf7 to Rf8 with a mate threat, because Rf1 itself is pinned!) 26…Bg4 27.Qxg4 Qxe3
and White has lost the exchange. The amount of tension (near 0) in the variation shows how well Black targeted White's weakness. |
|
| Jun-15-08 | | whiteshark: Didn't get it. No surprise. With the wisdom of hindsight: Black's idea was to exchange ♘f5+♘f3 (only) to win the exchange with ...Bd4. |
|
| Jun-15-08 | | hedgeh0g: <Once> I was looking at 24. Ree2 Nxf3, but after 25. Rxf3 (instead of your suggested Qxf3), I didn't see how Black could proceed (the pin on the rook is no longer available). |
|
| Jun-15-08 | | Once: <hedgeh0g> In your line 25. Rxf3 is not possible because that rook is pinned against the white king. The black queen's pressure on the a7-g1 diagonal ensures that one of the rooks will stay pinned and so vulnerable to an eventual Bd4. 24. Rfe2 runs into the same problem. |
|
| Jun-15-08 | | hedgeh0g: <Once> Oops, forgot about the pin on the rook! Thanks, Once. |
|
| Jun-15-08 | | PinnedPiece: 28 Kf1
Anyone care to explain this move while the rook was en pris on g3? |
|
| Jun-15-08 | | PinnedPiece: Wait, I get the reason now. Bishop moves from e5, pawn moves up (29 Pe5) to clear the LSB, checkmate to come on H7. |
|
| Jun-15-08 | | Once: <PinnedPiece> 28. Kf1 belongs in the same category as 25. Nh6+. White is losing big-time, so he tries to complicate the position. By unpinning his f2 rook, he gives himself a chance of getting his pieces into play, possibly with the chance of a kingside attack. Fritz prefers 28. Rgf3 (-4.5), but 28. Kf1 is only marginally worse (-5.05). I suppose the idea is that when you are losing you might as well try bold moves - there is always a chance that your opponent will go wrong. |
|
| Jun-15-08 | | 234: Saturday puzzle <28. ?> Jun-14-08 Katalymov vs O Kaminsky, 1969 |
|
| Jun-15-08 | | Marmot PFL: Bc8 is normally not a move I would consider in a position like this, unless I could find nothing else. Of course black had a plan in mind with it which began with Bf6 and Qc5. By eliminating both white knights he gains control of d4 and with that wins material, an easy idea to overlook. |
|
| Jun-15-08 | | jovack: Not much to do but improve positionally...
Seeing this one through to the end is wishful thinking. |
|
| Jun-15-08 | | DarthStapler: How is this a puzzle? |
|
Jun-15-08
 | | al wazir: <juozas547v: 24. Nh6+ gxh6 25. Qxf6 Qxe3 26. Nxe5 dxe5 27. Bc4 Ra7 28. Qxe5 Ba6>. OK, I guess that does it. Thanks. |
|
| Jun-16-08 | | kevin86: The key to this one is that black "encourages white to attack" because black had the counter to it. |
|
| Jun-16-08 | | patzer2: For the difficult Sunday June 15, 2008 puzzle, Black plays the defensive move 23...Bc8! which leaves White's attack without any real bite and appears to yield Black a near decisive advantage. |
|
 |
|
< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·
Later Kibitzing> |
Kibitzing
