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Ivan Farago vs Kai Bjerring
Gausdal Int (1989), Gausdal NOR, Aug-??
Queen's Gambit Accepted: Gunsberg Defense. Prianishenmo Gambit (D24)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Apr-09-04  iron maiden: Black is finished no matter what; he either takes White's queen and gets mated or he loses his own.
Apr-12-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: Spitecheck's remarks about calculation
remind me of a game I lost in the 1988 US Open; I was in a somewhat worse position and had analysed various unpleasant lines, finding no good option, merely more or less unpalatable ones.........

So what did I do ?

In my muddled state, I returned to a line I'd already discarded in which I lose rook and two pieces for the queen. My 2050-rated opponent found it, of course, and I was left to ponder my foolishness at leisure.

Apr-12-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  OhioChessFan: Hello all. Been reading the boards for months, but new to posting. I am that rare person who is a fan of chess but doesn't play. I once called Tony Rook at ChessFM and floored him when I told him that. In any case, I had a thought regarding the end of the game. Everyone has heard of spite checks, and I even see the name here. I think Black's 30th move could be called a spite capture.
Apr-12-05  hintza: <OhioChessFan> Hi and welcome to <chessgames.com>! It's great that you decided to post! :-)
Oct-10-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  GrahamClayton: <Jack21221>When I am about to be mated, I go ahead and let him do it.

Jack21221,
I would be happy to let myself be mated if the checkmate was at the end of a King hunt. King hunts are pretty rare, so I would be happy to give my opponent the chance to finish such an attack off.

Jan-28-25  LivBlockade: Wow! An early <OhioChessFan> post from nearly 20 years ago!
Jan-28-25  mel gibson: That was a little bit tricky.

Stockfish 17 chooses a different ply and says mate in 23:

30. Qe3

(30. Qe3 (1.Qe3 Re8 2.Rxb6 Rxe3 3.Rxb7+ Ka8 4.fxe3 Ne5 5.Re7 f6 6.Rxh7 Kb8 7.Kh2 Kc8 8.Kg3 Kd8 9.h4 Ng6 10.Nb7+ Ke8 11.Nd6+ Kd8 12.h5 Nf8 13.Rf7 Nd7 14.h6 Kc7 15.Nc4 Kc6 16.h7 Nc5 17.h8Q Ne4+ 18.Kf4 Nd6 19.Qxf6 Kc5 20.Nxd6 Kb4 21.Qb2+ Kxa4 22.Rb7 a5 23.Qa1+) +M23/79 622)

White wins _ mate in 23.

If I force SF to play the game ply:

30. Qd4 Rc8

(30. .. Rc8 (1. ... Rc8 2.Rxb6 Nxb6 3.Kh2 Rc7 4.g4 Rc2 5.Qe3 Rc7 6.Nb3 a5 7.Qe5 Na8 8.Nd4 Kb8 9.Nb5 h6 10.Qd6 b6 11.Nxc7 Nxc7 12.Qxb6+ Kc8 13.Qxa5 Kd7 14.Qb4 Nd5 ) -84.27/43 1332)

score for Black -84.27 depth 43

Jan-28-25  stone free or die: (A little piece of history)
Jan-28-25  FM David H. Levin: I came up with the mundane 30. Qf5,


click for larger view

which seems to work also.

Jan-28-25  King.Arthur.Brazil: The king's move is 30. Qe3 Qxe3 31. Rxb7#> Therefore, B has no good reply. 30... Rc8 31. Rxb6 Nxb6 32. Nb3 a5 33. Nc5 with ♕x ♖ end-game.
Jan-28-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  An Englishman: Good Evening: Is today the almost-20th-anniversary of <OCF'S> first post?! My oh my--how time flies...

BTW, solved it, but Farago's quiet little killer is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen.

Jan-28-25  saturn2: Qe3 or Qd4 and black loses the queen due to the epaulette mate Rb7++
Jan-28-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  Teyss: Typical case of cross-pin, you just need to move the WQ away from the BN. Didn't know if <Qe3> or <Qd4> was best, picked Qe3 succumbing to the old defence instinct since the f2 Pawn supports the Queen, which in this case is silly.

It results being a Rook up after 30...Re8 31.Rxb6 Rxe3 32.Rxb7+ Ka8 33.fxe3 whilst 30.Qd4 results in Q vs R after 30...R~ 31.Rxb6 Nxb6. Didn't see 30...Re8 but if I had to choose again, would still go for 30.Qe3 as the endgame is simpler.

BTW <Qf5> (which I didn't consider) as per <FM David H. Levin> also ends with Q vs R after 30...Qxb1+ 31.Qxb1. So all three moves could be considered as solve. Nice original puzzle as cross-pins are rare and the WQ only moves a few squares without check or sac.

Jan-28-25  cocker: <Teyss> has said it all.
Jan-28-25  TheaN: Cross-pin! I assumed this position arose after White played Rb1 establishing the cross-pin, and Black played Nd7 in a last ditch effort to remove one.

<30.Qd4> and that effort's gone, the queen can no longer be attacked, and 30....QxQ was already impossible due to 31.Rxb7#. So Black will have to move the rook (knight allows Qxb6+ #1 and Kb8 Rxb6 +-): <30....Rc8> is surprisingly almost forced, as that prevents the knights from being traded straight away <31.Rxb6 Nxb6>:


click for larger view

Though it seems like Black has a somewhat stable position, there's also not a lot to do because the knight's absolutely pinned, the king can't move because of that and the a-pawn's stuck, so Black can really just use the rook. I'd probably play <32.Kf1 +-> for that reason and just bring my king up.

I don't think Qe3 or Qd4 differ much practically. 30.Qe3 actually allows 30....Re8?! where you do need to see the forced line 31.Rxb6 Rxe3 32.Rxb7+ Ka8 33.fxe3 +- and up a rook. I'd say 30.Qd4 Rc8 offers a bit more resistance, but Black's still completely stuck.

Jan-28-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  chrisowen: I don't it's wu good it's ebbs it's punchy it's q look it's jazz it's Qd4 go doh it's axiom juggle it's ebd Qd4 be it's y x
Jan-28-25  Tiggler: Ashamed about how long it took me to see this.
Jan-28-25  stone free or die: <Tiggler> no shame there, it's not such a common exploitation.

As for the problem, the alt 1.Qf5 (or rather 30.Qf5) spoils it a little, not involving the central theme.

For a puzzle set I'd "cook" (modern day usage) the position like this:


click for larger view

It's a trifecta now, as the top-3 candidate moves come in "win, place, or lose".

Jan-28-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  paulalbert: I went with Qe3 but thought Qd4 was also fine. Key: keep the pin in operation.
Jan-28-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  dorsnikov: That was NOT Easy!
Jan-28-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: Typical Tuesday POTD.

Hahahahaha!

Jan-28-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  al wazir: After 30. Qd4, black can postpone mate for a short time by playing 30...Nc5: 31. Rxb6 Kxb6 32. Nc4+ Ka7 33. Qxc5

My move was 30. Qf5: 30...Qc7 (30...Qxb1+ 31. Qxb1 Rb8 32. Qxh7, etc.) 31. Rxb7+ Qxb7 32. Nxb7 Kxb7 33. Qxd7+, etc.

Pretty much the same outcome as the line I gave above.

Jan-28-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  Rocket Ron: Very odd to see winning move
Jan-29-25  Halldor: I went for 30 Qf5!? and then stopped looking, so I didn't see the possibility of keeping the pin with Qd4 or Qe3.
May-14-25  Saniyat24: Lost my Bjerring...!
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