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| Sep-12-16 | | drollere: damned if you do, damned if you don't.
after 19. Rxh5, then
19. ... gxh5, Qh7# or
19. ... Nf6, Qh8# |
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| Sep-12-16 | | patzer2: Our Monday solution results in a quick mate after 19. Rxh5 (19...gxh5 20. Qh8+) 19...Nf6 20. Qh8+#. Although Black's opening play was a bit passive in this French defense, it wasn't the primary cause of the loss. The decisive mistake was 16...Bd7? allowing 17. Qd2  (+4.00 @ 20 depth, Deep Fritz 15). Instead, 16...Bxe5 17. Nxe5 Qd4  (0.63 @ 19 depth, Deep Fritz 15) gives Black a fighting chance. Early in the opening, I prefer the popular move 3...c5 over 3...exd4?! |
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| Sep-12-16 | | agb2002: White is one bishop down.
Black threatens Bg7.
White forces mate in three with 19.Rxh5:
A) 19... gxh4 (or 19... f5(6)) 20.Qh7#.
B) 19... Nf6 20.Qh8#.
C) 19... Bxh2+ 20.Kh1 (or 20.Kf1 or 20.Nxh2) and mate next. |
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| Sep-12-16 | | Aunt Jemima: I got it! Judging by the comments, the puzzle apparently gets harder every day? I saw ...Rxh5 and there was no way out. Let's see what tomorrow's puzzle brings. |
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| Sep-12-16 | | AlicesKnight: 19.Rxh5 does the trick, threatening Qh7. If 19....gxh5 the White B diagonal is opened to allow 20.Qh7#. If 19....Nf6 the Black B diagonal is blocked (a nice piece of symmetry for problemists) allowing 20.Qh8#. |
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| Sep-12-16 | | leRevenant: I didn't think past 19. Ng5.
Not the correct solution, but is it enough to win the game? |
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| Sep-12-16 | | Cheapo by the Dozen: For a moment I thought this might be tricky, until I realized that ... Nf6 allows Qh8#. |
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| Sep-12-16 | | Cheapo by the Dozen: Checking the comments above, I feel a little better about how quickly I solved it. :) |
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| Sep-12-16 | | Oxspawn: I found it damned hard to find a quick win for black. After a few minutes I realised it was white to play and the game got easier.
The laws of chess defeated me: "The player controlling the white pieces is named "White"; the player controlling the black pieces is named "Black". White moves first, then players alternate moves." Complicated! |
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| Sep-12-16 | | dfcx: The g6 pawn is overloaded with protecting the b1-h7 diagonal and the h5 pawn. <19.Rxh5> threatens Qh7# if black responds with
19...gxh5 20.Qh7#
19...Nf6 20.Qh8#
19...any other 20.Qh7# |
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| Sep-12-16 | | sfm: It's Monday - queensac time!
The shocker 19.Qg7+!! decides the game in a beautiful way, with no less than three pieces being able to capture her, but with the same end.
Unfortunately it does not win, but hey, there are other things than just "winning". |
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| Sep-12-16 | | morfishine: <19.Rxh5> ends this game |
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| Sep-12-16 | | erixn: I got 19.Rxh5 easily enough, but it does seem like 19.Ng5 wins easily too: Black has only 19..Nf6 and then, after 20.Bxg6 he is unable to defend against all the threats against h7, e.g.: 20..fxg6 21.Qxg6+ Kh8 22.Rxh5, or 20..Bc6/Bd4/Qc7 21.Rxh5 |
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| Sep-12-16 | | thegoodanarchist: 19.Ng5 threatens Qh7#, but gives time for the Black knight to come to f6 for the defense of h7. Therefore White must act now. Since the White Bishop is on the h7 diagonal, the sacrifice 19.Rxh5 is the way to go CG.com enthusiasts! It is long past time to accept that there has been a paradigm shift in the Monday puzzle philosophy. Gone are the days when Mondays were not puzzle days at all, just obvious 1-move winning shots. I expect from now on, Mondays will require a little tiny bit of thought. |
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Sep-12-16
 | | Jimfromprovidence: <good anarchist> <19.Ng5 threatens Qh7#, but gives time for the Black knight to come to f6 for the defense of h7.> Here is the above position.
click for larger view White to play. |
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Sep-12-16
 | | keypusher: <jimfromprovidence> 20.Bxg6 looks crushing, i.e. 20....fxg6 21.Qxg6+ Kh8 22.Rxh5+. Of course 19.Rxh5 is still better than 19.Ng5. |
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| Sep-12-16 | | kevin86: The rook sac enables the queen to mate at h7. If the knight stops that, he will block the defense of h8.White will mate!! |
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Sep-12-16
| | Jimfromprovidence: <keypusher> <20.Bxg6 looks crushing, i.e. 20....fxg6 21.Qxg6+ Kh8 22.Rxh5+.> Yes, 20 Bxg6 is a forced mate.
<Of course 19.Rxh5 is still better than 19.Ng5.> Yes, black's best is probably 19...Qxg5, seeing 20 Qxg5 Bxb2, which gives him a pulse. 
click for larger view |
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| Sep-12-16 | | YouRang: Easy Monday 19.?
click for larger view
A good Monday puzzle. As is often the case on Monday, one side (white in this case) has massive forces aimed at the opposing king, suggesting that we can afford to lose one attacker in order to create a door for the other attackers. Given the menacing position of the queen and the mating potential of Qh7# if we could remove either Pg6 (thanks to Be3) or Ph5 (thanks to Rh3), the natural door opener is <19.Rxh5!>
click for larger view
White will have Qh7# whether supported by the rook or LSB: - 19...gxh6 20.Qh7#
- 19...other 20.Qh7# |
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| Sep-12-16 | | YouRang: It seems that 19.Ng5 qualifies as the "worst move that still wins". |
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| Sep-12-16 | | beenthere240: I dunno. 19. Nxe5 (restoring material equality) probably wins and is pretty bad. |
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Sep-12-16
 | | gawain: I'd settled on 19 Ng5, but it didn't feel conclusive enough. The right move is vastly better! |
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| Sep-12-16 | | YouRang: <beenthere240: I dunno. 19. Nxe5 (restoring material equality) probably wins and is pretty bad.> That's a fair assessment. <19.Nxe5> definitely wins, but that's mainly because white's Rxh5 threat remains, and black has to surrender copious material to avoid it.
click for larger view
Probably best is <19...Qf6 20.Nxd7 Qg7>, and white can forcibly simplify to <21.Qxg7 Kxg7 22.Nxf8 Kxf8>
click for larger view
By having first taken the bishop (move 20) and then the exchange (move 22), white goes into the endgame up a full rook So, 19.Bxe8 is "bad" in the sense that the Rxh5 tactic produced "only" a winning endgame, instead of a mate-in-2. |
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| Sep-12-16 | | thegoodanarchist: < keypusher: <jimfromprovidence> 20.Bxg6 looks crushing,>
But starting from move 19, it is not a Monday puzzle. |
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Sep-12-16
 | | PawnSac: wow this WAS an easy one... but still fun B<) |
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Kibitzing
sac: 18.Qh6