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| Apr-04-09 | | ILikeFruits: hmmm... |
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| Apr-04-09 | | UnsoundHero: Quite pleasing for all of the sportsfans is the finish 24 Nf6+ Kh8 25 Qh5 Nxf6 26 exf6 g6 27 Qh6 Rg8 28 Re3 Rxb4 29 Qxh7+ Kxh7 30 Rh3+ Rh4 31 Rxh4 mate |
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| Apr-04-09 | | zooter: Strange...I thought Bxh7+ would be the initial move with the queen creeping to the h rank....Off course, I didn't spend much time on this...so cannot really expect to get it |
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| Apr-04-09 | | TheBish: P Thipsay vs C Sandipan, 2004 White to play (24.?) "Very Difficult" (3.5 stars)
Material is even, but White is poised to strike against Black's king with all pieces ready for action, while Black's primary defender is the knight. The key is to break up the king's pawn shelter, and invade before a defense can be organized. 24. Nf6+! Now the knight must be accepted, since 24...Kh8? 25. Nxh7 Re8 26. Qh5 g6 27. Qh6 and 28. Nf6 mate, which means Black would have to surrender the exchange with 25...g6, which is pretty hopeless. So both captures must be analyzed. A) 24...gxf6 25. Bxh7+! The idea is to shatter Black's protection, so the heavy pieces can take over. Now: A1) 25...Kxh7 26. Qh5+ Kg7 (or Kg8) 27. Qg4+ Kh7 (or Kh8, Kh6) 28. Re3 and Rh3 mate is coming after a spite check or two (Bxg2+). A2) 25...Kh8 26. Qh5 Kg7 27. exf6+ Nxf6 28. Qg5+ Kh8 (or 28...Kxh7 29. Rxf6 and Rh6#) 29. Qxf6+ Kxh7 30. Re3 followed by Rh3+ and mate on h8. A3) 25...Kg7 26. Qg4+ and now 26...Kxh7 27. Re3 transposed to A1 and 26...Kh8 27. Qh5 transposes to A2. B) 24...Nxf6 25. exf6 trades off Black's best defender and brings another attacker (f6 pawn) near the king. Now White is threatening 26. Bxh7+! Kxh7 27. Qh5+ Kg8 28. Qg5 g6 29. Qh6 followed by Qg7 mate, as well as 26. Qg4 or simply 26. fxg7 with further destruction of Black's fortress. Now: B1) 25...g6 26. Qe3 Kh8 27. Qh6 Rg8 28. Re3 and Black has no answer for 29. Rh3 or 29. Qxh7+! Kxh7 30. Rh3 mate. B2) 25...h6 26. Qg4 g6 (or 26...g5 27. Qh5 followed by Qxh6 and Qg7#) 27. Bxg6! fxg6 28. Qxg6+ Kh8 29. Qxh6+ Kg8 (or 29...Qh7 30. Qxf8+) 30. Re3 and Rg3+ will be lethal. B3) 25...Rd8 26. Bxh7+! Kxh7 (if Black declines, White still has a crushing attack after 26...Kf8 27. fxg7+ Kxg7 28. Qg4+) 27. Qh5+ Kg8 28. Qg5 Kf8 29. fxg7+ Kg8 30. Rf6! (to prevent f7-f6 or f7-f5 after Qh6) and Black has no defense to 31. Qh6 followed by Qh8 mate. Enough variations already! Time to see how this went down. |
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| Apr-04-09 | | cyclon: 26. Bxh7+. |
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Apr-04-09
 | | Sneaky: I saw 24.Bxh7+ Kxh7 25.Nf6+ gxf6 26.Qh5+ Kg7 27.Re3  The flea in the ointment is that instead of 25...gxf6? Black can cooly play 25...Nxf6 without worries. Then if 26.exf6 g6 is good enough to defend. (27.Qg4 Rh8 etc.) I bet a lot of people will fall for the enticement of Bxh7+ today. We all know how these puzzles usually work out: you sacrifice to strip the Black king naked, then you get your queen in his face, then a rook lift ends the game. But in this position it's better to set up the threat of taking on h7 rather than just doing it off the bat. |
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| Apr-04-09 | | TheBish: Well, it seems with all my analysis, I failed to account for one of the most obvious tries, the game continuation with 25...Rxb4. I think in a game situation, I would look at that line a little more closely, and (hopefully) see that after 26. Bxh7+(?) Kxh7 27. Qh5+ Kg8 28. Qg5 (which is what I was planning), Black has the defense 28...Bxg2+! and now 29. Kxg2 Qxc2+ 30. Kh1 Qg6 or 29. Kg1 Qc5+ 30. Qxc5 bxc5 31. fxg7 Kxg7 32. Kxg2 and White is down a pawn in the endgame, but two connected passers for Black, probably dead lost for White. Oh well, I'll give myself an A for effort, but can't claim full credit. That'll teach me not to rush through a Saturday problem! Seems the difficulty level is justified here. |
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| Apr-04-09 | | SamAtoms1980: Well, I have to say I made this harder than it had to be. I ordered 24 Nf6+ Nxf6 25 Rxf6?! gxf6 26 Qh5 Rd8 27 Qxh7+ Kf8 28 exf6 Ke8 29 Qg8+ Kd7 30 Qxf7+ Kc8 31 Qxe6+ Kb8 32 Qe7. White has 4 pawns for the rook, he is forcing a trade of Queens and his other kingside pawns will be rolling up to help the advanced f6-pawn real soon. How soon White converts this into a win is unclear, but the game line is certainly a cleaner finish. |
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| Apr-04-09 | | dzechiel: White to move (24?). Material even. "Very Difficult." One of the first moves I considered was 24 Nh6+, and I wrote up a pretty good line, only to find that I don't think it works at the end. Next I concentrated on
24 Nf6+
Black pretty much has to capture the knight, as after 24...Kh8 25 Qh5 threatens all manner of nastiness. After 25...Nxf6 (the only move to stop the immediate mate) 26 exf6 (putting the mate threat on again) 26...g6 27 Qh6 followed by 28 Qg7# puts it away. So... 24...Nxf6
If instead 24...gxf6 then I think white can play 25 Bxh7+ Kh8 (25...Kxh7 26 Qh5+ Kg7 27 Qg5+ Kh8 28 Re3 and the end is near; on 25...Kg7 26 Qg4+ transposing to above or to the main line) 26 Qh5 with a killer discovered check coming. 25 exf6
Threatening 26 Qh5.
25...g6
On 25...gxf6 we transpose into the note above with 26 Bxh7+. 26 Qd2
Holding on the b4-pawn and aiming the queen at h6.
This looks good to me, but perhaps too easy. I suspect I have overlooked something obvious. Time to check. |
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| Apr-04-09 | | RobertLangdon: Just look at the knight tour : c3-d1-f2-g4-f6! But he avoided the short cut c3-e4-f6 because he didn't want to trade it.So i am feeling that white had planned all these long ago.... |
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| Apr-04-09 | | incompetentAmateur: Sorry again for another very stupid question, but what about 26. ... Bxg2+? |
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| Apr-04-09 | | RandomVisitor: Notice that the winning move cannot be played one move earlier: on 23.Nf6+ Nxf6 24.exf6 black has the saving move 24...Ra5, denying the queen the ability to move to h5. The move 23.axb4 (as played in the game) effectively blocks black from playing Ra5, allows a future Qh5, and permits the combination as played in the game to happen. |
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| Apr-04-09 | | RandomVisitor: <incompetentAmateur>24.Nf6+ Nxf6 25.exf6 Rxb4 26.Qh5 Bxg2+ 27.Kxg2 h6 28.fxg7 and then 29.Qxh6. Black cannot stop whites attack. |
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| Apr-04-09 | | backyard pawn: It seems that Black never got desperate enough to try some nuisance checking to disrupt the threat, beginning with something like 26 ..., Bxg2. Desperate, I know, but it seems like Black didn't recognize the dire straights. |
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Apr-04-09
 | | Jimfromprovidence: It looks as though if black had played the simple 23...Kh8 instead of 23...Ra4 to avoid Nf6+, white has no attack.
click for larger viewFor example, if white were to continue with 24 Nf6, then after 24...gxf6 25 exf6, black has 25...Rg8!, threatening Bxg2+. 
click for larger view |
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Apr-04-09
 | | agb2002: The obvious 24.Bxh7+ seems to fail after 24... Kxh7 25.Nf6+ Nxf6 (25... Kg6(h6 or h8) 26.Qh5#; 25... gxf6 26.Qh5+ Kg7(8) 27.Qg4+ Kh6(7,8) 28.Re3 Qxe5 29.Rh3+ winning) 26.exf6 g6 27.Qg4 Rh8 and White doesn't have enough compensation for the bishop. The other option, 24.Nf6+, looks more promising:
A) 24... Kh8 25.Nxh7, threatening 26.Nxf8 and 26.Qh5. B) 24... Nxf6 25.exf6 (threatens 26.Qg4 g6 27.Qg5, 26.Bxh7+ Kxh7 (26... Kh8 27.Qh5) 27.Qh5+ Kg8 28.Qg5 g6 29.Qh6 and 26.Qh5 h6 27.fxg7) B.1) 25... exf6 26.Bxh7+
B.1.a) 26... Kxh7 27.Qh5+ Kg7(8) 28.Qg4+ Kh6(7,8) 29.Re3 + -. B.1.b) 26... Kh8 27.Qh5
B.1.b.i) 27... Bxg2+ 28.Kxg2 followed by Re3 winning. B.1.b.ii) 27... Rc8 28.Bg6+ Kg7(8) 29.Qh7+ Kf8 30.Rxe6 fxe6 (30... Bxg2+ 31.Kg1) 31.Rxf6+ wins. B.1.b.iii) 27... Kg7 28.Qg4+ Kh8 (28... Kxh7 transposes to B.1.a) 29.Qh4 threatening 30.Qxf6+, 30.Rxf6 and 30.Bg6+. B.1.c) 26... Kg7 27.Qg4+ transposes to B.1.b.iii.
B.2) 25... g6 26.Qe3 Kh8 27.Qh6 Rg8 28.Re3 followed by Rh3 winning. B.3) 25... Rxb4 26.Qh5 h6 27.fxg7 Kxg7 28.Rxe6
B.3.a) 28... fxe6 29.Qg6+ Kh8 30.Rxf8#.
B.3.b) 28... f6 29.Qg6+ Kh8 30.Qxh6+ Kg8 31.Rexf6 Rxf6 32.Qxf6 winning. B.3.c) 28... Rh8 29.Rxc6 wins (29... Qxc6 30.Qxf7#).
B.4) 25... Rfa8 26.Qh5 (26.Qg4 g6 27.Qg5 Qd6) h6 (26... g6 27.Qh6) 27.fxg7 Kxg7 (27... f5 28.Qxh6 Qxg7 29.Qxe6+ and 30.Qxc6) 28.Qg4+ Kf8 (28... Kh6 29.Rf6) 29.Qxe6 Kg7 30.Qg4+ Kf8 31.Bh7 wins. C) 24... gxf6 25.Bxh7+ is similar to B.1).
I suspect that I have missed some intermediate ... Bxg2+ but Black probably cannot take any advantage of it because his forces are poorly placed. |
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| Apr-04-09 | | TheChessGuy: Positions like this one are so fun for me to play. A technique that I use is drawing a vertical line down the center of the board, a Kasparov motif. Almost all of Black's pieces are on the queenside, leaving the king more vulnerable. Using this factor, plus the multiple sacrifices available, and the potential rook lifts, the position demands immediate action. Fate must be seized! |
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| Apr-04-09 | | muralman: Sundays are my favorite. I can move brashly on the easy puzzles and miss them, earning a winning position despite. I win most of the Sunday puzzles. I think that is because of the answer often is intuitive. In school I was always getting yelled at for day dreaming. In chess day dreaming is a good thing. Black saw the danger too late, and had it's pieces locked out of action. |
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| Apr-04-09 | | WhiteRook48: I guessed 24 Nf6+ but can't imagine what white does after 24...gxf6. Maybe 25 exf6? or 25 Rxf6 |
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| Apr-04-09 | | cyclon: To <The Bish>. Not quite. 26.Bxh7+ Kxh7 (Kh8 27.Qh5 and for example -Bxg2+ 28.Kxg2 Qc6+ 29.Be4+) 27.Qh5+ Kg8 28.fxg7 (NOT Qg5?) -Kxg7 (tai -Bxg2+) 29.Qg5+ Kh8 30.Rf6 Bxg2+ 31.Kxg2 Qxc2+ (Qc6+ 31.Kh3 wins) 32.Kh3 Rb3+ (what else?) 33.Re3 Rxe3+ 34.Qxe3 entails win for White. |
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| Apr-04-09 | | tivrfoa: very nice attack! |
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| Apr-04-09 | | johnlspouge: Saturday (Very Difficult)
P Thipsay vs C Sandipan, 2004 (24.?) White to play and win.
Material: Even, although Black threatens 24…Rxb4, winning a P. The Black Kg8 has 1 legal move. The White Ng4 and Pe5 control dark squares around Kg8, to complement Bd3 controlling light squares. The White Rf8 has a semi-open file to support an attack on f6. White also has a battery Re1 and Qe2 overprotecting Pe5. White has a local superiority around Kg8, indicating the possibility of a sacrificial strike. The White Kh1 is secure except for …Bxg2+. Throughout the following, …Bxg2+ is infeasible. Candidates (24.): Nf6+, Bxh7+
24.Nf6+
Black might passively refuse the sacrifice:
(1) 24…Kh8 25.Qh5 h6 [else, Qxh7#]
26.Nxh7 Rf1-moves [else, 26.Nxf8 wins the exchange]
27.Qxf7
Black loses material in a bad position.
Black can accept the sacrifice in 2 ways.
(2) 24,,,Nxf6 25.exf6 (threatening 26.Qh5 and mate soon) 25…g6 26.Qg4 (threatening 27.Qh4 28.Qh6 29.Qg7#)
26...h5 27.Qg5 Kh7 28.Qxh5+
The pin on Pg6 ensures that Black needed to make an infeasible move earlier to avoid mate. (3) 24…gxf6 25.exf6 (threatening 26.Qh5 27.Qxh7#)
25…Nxf6 26.Rxf6
The Black defense has fallen apart without material compensation. |
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| Apr-04-09 | | FlashinthePan: After 28. ... Rh8, is 29. Ref6 the the best continuation for white? (I don't seem to be able to find anything better.) |
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| Apr-04-09 | | Dmaster995: I thought Bxh7 followed by a Qh5+. |
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| Apr-06-09 | | patzer2: For the Saturday April 4, 2009 puzzle solution, White plays the winning demolition poisoned piece offer 24. Nf6+! |
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