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Later Kibitzing> |
Sep-13-12
 | | Phony Benoni: After yesterday's puzzle, the first thing I did was check the position on move 37. Nothing special. Puzzle crazies see the knight on c8, and start looking for a way to get something to the 8th rank and unleash a destructive double check. So 38.Rxb2 Qxd3 39.Rb8 ... hmm. No mate threat of any kind. File that away for future reference. Obviously White doesn't want to trade the queens, so he probably moves his. How can she penetrate? Well, 38.Qd4 threatens to come in with 39.Qc5+ Kg8 40.Ne7+ and some Philidor's Legacy type of action without the Legacy. Hey, that's a double attack on the rook on b2, and 38...Rxe2 doesn't stop the threat. In fact, no rook move does, so after something like 38...g6 White is just winning a whole rook. Should be enough. The key is figuring out how to get the queen behind enemy lines. |
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| Sep-13-12 | | sfm: It seems like Black had to try 37.-,Qb4 instead of 37.-,Qb3?? |
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| Sep-13-12 | | sfm: I had BTW expected an immediate resignation after 38.Qd4. Sometimes the GMs plays on for the benefit of the spectators. Not a bad idea. |
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| Sep-13-12 | | newzild: Much easier than yesterday. 38. Qd4 wins on the spot because of the double attack on the Rb2 and the theat of 39. Qc5+ Kg8 40. Ne7+ Kf8 41. Ng6+ and mate to follow. |
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| Sep-13-12 | | newzild: ...I see the game followed my 39. Qc5+ line exactly. Black could have resigned earlier, of course, but I like it when GMs play through to the conclusion even when it is obvious. |
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Sep-13-12
 | | FSR: Shocker! Had I been Black, I would have thought it highly likely that I would win, and very unlikely that I would lose. But 38.Qd4! turns the tables. Then White threatens 39.Qxb2 or 39.Rxb2. 38...Qxc4 would be met by 39.Qxc4 dxc4 40.Rxb2, so Black evidently has nothing besides 38...Rxe2. Then 39.Qc5+ Kg8 (39...Ke8 40.Qe7#) 40.Ne7+ Kf8 (40...Kh8 41.Qc8+ and mate next) 41.Ng6+ and mate next move. |
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| Sep-13-12 | | Abdel Irada: <Your rook or your life> Most refreshingly, after a series of relatively inconclusive puzzles, we see here a clear and unencumbered path to victory via a simple double attack: <38. ♕d4!>. After this move, Black might as well resign on the spot. His rook is attacked twice, and he can't save it without submitting to some variant of the following "main" line: <38. ...♖xe2?
39. ♕c5†, ♔g8>
On 39. ...♔e8?; 40. ♕e7#.
<40. ♘e7†, ♔f8>
If 40. ...♔g8?; 41. ♕c8† and mate next move.
<41. ♘g6†, ♔g8>
Or 41. ...♔e8; 42. ♕e7#.
<42. ♕f8#>
In the immortal words of Porky Pig: "Th-th-th-that's all, folks!" (All the preceding notwithstanding, Black <can> play on for a while by declining the proffered rook, but only at the cost of his own. After, e.g., 38. ...♕xc4; 39. ♕xc4... (not 39. Qxb2?, when Black may have counterchances), 39. ...dxc4; 40. ♖xb2  , Black has no hope. Slightly better appears 38. ...♕b8, but here White doesn't take the rook and allow Black to recapture the knight. Rather, he first checks with 39. ♕c5†, and after the forced 39. ...♔g8, he <then> takes on b2, and Black can't recapture and defend against mate at the same time. All in all, this puzzle is far easier and more forthright than yesterday's.) |
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| Sep-13-12 | | Djoker: 38.Qd4 appears devastating.
Double attack on rook, and if rook captures then mate as in A.
A.
38.Qd4 Rxe2
39.Qc5+...mate in 4.
B. No good move here....Black simply loses a rook....and probably has to move
h6. There is just too big a threat.
Like. ....Qxc4 39.Qxc4(not QxR or RxR, otherwise QxN for partial recovery.)dxc4 40.Rxb2 with rook advantage. Game might continue 40...c3 41.Rc2 Nd5 42.Nd6....But I guess this is the best line for black.Takes care of mate threat at least |
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| Sep-13-12 | | Infohunter: Got it, but I had thought Black would have resigned when facing the choice of losing a Rook or getting mated. But as <sfm> pointed out, he may have played on for the benefit of the audience. |
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| Sep-13-12 | | Abdel Irada: Now, having examined the game, I'm left to wonder: Did Popov play into Bellon Lopez' "main" sacrificial line because he failed to see the consequences? Because he wanted to entertain the spectators? Or because he couldn't find a better defense, so fell into this line on autopilot? |
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Sep-13-12
 | | tarek1: Here, the Black king is in an uncomfortable position <38.Qd4!>
White sets up a double threat of Qc5+ and winning the b2 rook,
sacrificing his own rook in the process.
Clearly Black has to save his rook, not doing so amounts to resignation. <38...Rxe2> Black gets some material for his trouble. <39.Qc5+>
Now :
A. <39...Ke8> is easy : <40.Qe7#> B. <39...Kg8> Black lasts a little longer but not much : <40.Ne7+>
1) <40...Kh8 41.Qc8+ Ng8 42.Qxg8#> or <41...Ne8 42.Qxe8#> 2) <40...Kf8 41.Ng6+ Kg8 42.Qf8#> or <41...Ke8 42.Qe7#> There isn't even a way for Black to lose only the exchange, for example : <38...Qb7> Hoping for 39.Rxb2 Qxc8. But <39.Qc5+> Defending the knight <39...Ke8> for example, and now <40.Rxb2>
and Black can't take the rook back, without allowing Qe7#.
This is also true if <39...Kg8>. |
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| Sep-13-12 | | M.Hassan: "Medium" White to play 38.?
White is two pawns down.
38.Qd4!
Three lines may emerge:
A)
38............Rxe2
39.Qc5+ Kg8
40.Ne7+ Kh8
<if...Kf8 41.Ng6++ Kg8 42.Qf8#>
41.Qc8+ Ng8
42.Qxg8#
B)
38............Qb4
39.Rxb2 Qa3
40.Qa7 Qxb2?
41.Qe7+ Kg8
42.Qd8+ Ne8
43.Qxe8#
C)
38...........Qb4
40.Rxb2 Qa3
41.Qa7 Qa4
42.Qe7+ Kg8
43.Rb8 Qd7
44.Nd6+ Ne8
45.Rxe8+ Qxe8
46.Qxe8#
Let's see when Black resigned |
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Sep-13-12
 | | al wazir: Got it. Not check, not a ♕ sac, but that old reliable standby, the double threat. |
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| Sep-13-12 | | xthred: Got it. Don't normally (ever) get them this late in the week. |
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| Sep-13-12 | | rilkefan: Got this almost immediately, making it a very easy Thursday for me - normally I think the idea of forking a piece and a square would take me a while. I was surprised to see black didn't resign immediately - probably a case of mutual Zeitnot. |
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| Sep-13-12 | | TheBish: J M Bellon Lopez vs L Popov, 1977 White to play (38.?) "Medium"
I got this one much more easily than yesterday's. It helps to have a puzzle that wins easily in all variations! 38. Qd4!
This wins on the spot, because Black can't save his rook while stopping the deadly check on c5. 38...Qb8
Also losing is 38...Rxe2 39. Qc5+ Kg8 40. Ne7+ Kf8 (or Kh8 41. Qc8+ and mate next) 41. Ng6+ Kg8 42. Qf8#. 39. Qc5+! Kg8
White guards the knight with tempo, before proceeding with the kill. 40. Rxb2
Black should now resign (if he hasn't yet), to avoid enduring 40...Qxb2 41. Ne7+ Kf8 42. Ng6+ followed by mate, similar to the finish after 38...Rxe2. |
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| Sep-13-12 | | sevenseaman: It took me some time to think of the quiet move 38. Qd4. Seemingly it has the merit of attacking the Black R twice though that is a bit of a decoy. (Beside the point that the move also abandons the White R at e2). The real attraction to me was my Q's ability to check from c5 and, eying the N-covered 39. Qe7, to stop the Black K from venturing West to e8. Black cannot defend with his Q to a3 or b4 as he loses his R under the double attack. So he must resign or play the ineffectual 38...Rxe2. If the latter, the formality sequence runs out; 38. Qd4 Rxe2 39. Qc5+ Kg8▢ 40. Ne7+ Kf8▢
41. Ng6++ K~ 42. Qe7 or Qf8#
Let me hope no holes are picked in today's win like yesterday's. (Honestly even yesterday I did not foresee any weaknesses in the solution; but there are smarter chess players/engines). |
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Sep-13-12
 | | scormus: <sevenseaman: It took me some time to think of the quiet move 38. Qd4.>
Just what I was about to say!
A lovely elegant killer move, forced # after 38 ... Rxe2. I dont see any way for B to fight on by any other move. Such a relief after yesterday. Shall I run it on my engine just to make sure? No, that's being paranoid! |
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| Sep-13-12 | | sevenseaman: Hi <scormus>. No need to run your engine. The site is infested with good analysts and 'engineers'. You were on the mark yesterday. Real bloopers occur when your mind is occupied by 'other' thoughts. I didn't even suspect I'd be dragged over the coals(hot, I say but glad to learn people read). |
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| Sep-13-12 | | Once: How often do we see tactics between move 35 and move 40? That may be partly because the position has become ripe, but also because one or both of the players might be in time trouble. Incidentally, that could be why Popov played it out nearly to the end. If he had little time left he may not have been able to analyse that he was dead lost. Here's the position one move before the puzzle. White has just played the crafty 37. c4 
click for larger viewWhite is losing. He is two pawns down and black has a fairly solid position. But I'm guessing that black is in time trouble as we approach move 40. So white flicks in the c4 move to complicate the position. This is cunning because it gives black lots to think about. 37...dxc4 is obviously bad because of 38. Qd8+ or 38. Qd6+ Fritzie picks 37...Qb4 or Qb7, but both of these drop the prized a pawn after 38. Rxb2 Qxb2 39. cxd5 exd5 40. Qxa6. Black is still winning, but he's only one pawn ahead instead of two. Decisions, decisions. And all the while the clock is ticking away. In a pre digital age, you lean over uncomfortably trying to work out just how many seconds are left before the flag falls. 37...Qb3 looks eminently logical. Force the exchange of queens and liquidate into an easy pawn endgame. But when you are in time pressure it can be very hard to spot your opponent's sacrificial tactics. Hence 38. Qd4 and if black had a bit more time on his clock he might have resigned there and then. Good puzzle. |
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| Sep-13-12 | | abstract: Solved the puzzle in less than half a minute ! |
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| Sep-13-12 | | gofer: I made him an offer he couldn't refuse!
<38 Qd4! ...>
Poor old black, two passed pawns up and with real chances of
victory makes a slight mis-calculation and <BANG!>. Its all
over...
38 Rxe2 Qc5+
39 Kg1 Ne7+ (Ke1 Qe7#)
40 Kf1 Ng6++ (Kh1 Qc8+ mating)
41 Kh1 Qf8+ (Ke1 Qe7#)
42 Ng8 Qxg8#
So the white rook is immune and black must stop the queen
invading with 38 ... Qc5+. The problem for black is that
doing so (Qa3/Qb4/Nd7/Ne4) loses a rook! |
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| Sep-13-12 | | morfishine: <38.Qd4> pushes Black off the cliff. The White rook is immue due to 38...Rxe2 <39.Qc5+> mating The double-attack on Black's rook seals the deal: The attempt
to cover <c5> with 38...Ne4 is met with <39.Rxb2> |
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| Sep-13-12 | | agb2002: White is two pawns behind.
Black threatens 38... Qxd3.
The black rook is defenseless (1 attack - 1 defense = 0 support) and the a3-f8 diagonal is very weak, in particular, the c5 square. Hence, fork the rook and c5 with 38.Qd4: A) 38... Rxe2 39.Qc5+ Kg8 (39... Ke8 40.Qe7#) 40.Ne7+ Kf8 (40... Kh8 41.Qc8+ Ng8 42.Qxg8#) 41.Ng6+ and mate next. B) 38... Nd7(e4) 39.Rxb2 + -.
C) 38... Qxc4 39.Qxc4 dxc4 40.Rxb2 + -.
D) 38... Qb4 39.Rxb2 + -. |
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| Sep-13-12 | | dufferps: I thought black might have done better with a line like (after 38. Qd4!)
38. ... Qxc4
39. Qe5 Ne8
40. Rxb2 Qxc8
41. Rb8 Qd74
At this point black has a Queen, Knight and 6 pawns, vs white's Queen, Rook, and 3 pawns. Both have pretty good defenses set up.But then I saw that white should trade queens after 38. ... Qxc4:
39. Qxc4 dxc4
40. Rxb2
And now white has a real advantage. |
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Kibitzing
sac: 38.Qd4
