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| Dec-02-08 | | whiteshark: 64...Nf3+ to win the unprotected ♕c6 subsequently. |
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| Dec-02-08 | | agb2002: <zooter: I had the same line as your B and don't find it any bad...the pawn on c4 does the job quite well...and both lines end at move 67...> It is not bad, of course, but the game line is preferable because is simpler. |
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| Dec-02-08 | | jahhaj: <Shams: can someone pleeeease explain 17...Rh7 to me?> Black wanted to play g5 but needs to protect f7 (otherwise fxg5 followed by Qxf7). Rh7 is obviously one way of doing that. After the more 'obvious' Rf8 I guess black was worried about something like 17...Rf8 18.Nd4 g5 19.fxg5 hxg5 20.h4 when gxh4 allows Bh6 and Qxf7 will follow soon. Just my quick view. Haven't really analyzed anything so might not be correct. |
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| Dec-02-08 | | Civhai: First, I tried to play for a mate and began with Nd3, because this is the only possibility to get the f2 square and if the king goes there, it would be difficult to mate him. After not having found a mate after one minute, I thought about winning that queen. If I could get the king to f3, that would be nice. First thought was Nf3, wich worked straight away after (Kf2 Qe1) (Kg2 Qg1) Kxf3 Qh8+. |
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| Dec-02-08 | | zb2cr: Nothing to add to what <zooter>, <dzechiel>, <johnlspouge>, <Gilmoy> and others have written. |
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| Dec-02-08 | | goodevans: Thought just for a millisecond I'd got it wrong, but 65 ... Qe1+ and 65 ... Qg1+ amount to the same thing. A quick scan through the other postings shows a slight leaning towards the move played, but there's not much in it. |
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Dec-02-08
 | | gawain: An interesting solution which I did see (with the help of a board) after some false starts. The only completely forcing move is 64...Nd3+ so I tried that first. There is a cute mate in the 64...Nd3+ line if white errs (64...Nd3+ 65 Kg2 Qd2+ 66 Kg3?? Qe3#, 
click for larger view but there is nothing if white plays the correct 66 Kg1. So the other, almost-forcing, move 64...Nf3+ must be right. And it works out. |
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| Dec-02-08 | | JG27Pyth: <Goodevans: Thought just for a millisecond I'd got it wrong, but 65 ... Qe1+ and 65 ... Qg1+ amount to the same thing. > You're right, not a bit of difference. Interesting mirrored position, the crucial flight squares, h3 and d3, blocked serendipitously on each side. |
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| Dec-02-08 | | Patriot: <Gilmoy:
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2. Smite again: <65..Nf4+ 66.Kf2/g3/h2>. (Note: You go through this very quickly. Don't worry about being thorough -- your goal is just to highlight some nuggets to constrain your further searches, so that your later board-staring phase is not entirely clueless.)>Great advice!! I agree with everything else you said as well, but I thought #2 was especially profound. Everyone should make a mental note of this! I briefly looked at Nd3+ looking for a possible mate and even Qf3+ to see if it's a winning endgame for black but ruled that out quickly. It didn't take long to realize that 64...Nf3+ 65.Kg2 Qg1+ 66.Kxf3 Qh1+ wins the queen. And 65.Kf2 Qe1+ 66.Kg2 Qg1+ transposes into the previous line. |
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| Dec-02-08 | | TrueBlue: is it just me, or is this a really difficult week? |
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Dec-02-08
 | | sleepyirv: <TrueBlue> Kinda, but it's odd to see a puzzle with so few pieces left on the board. You just have to find the best knight move here. Though the pattern being set is not good for patzers like me. |
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| Dec-02-08 | | dukesterdog2: Knowing that this was a tactical puzzle, I was eventually able to see two things: 1. The discovered check with Nd3+ seemed not to be sufficient to win, and 2. If I could steer the white king onto the h1-a8 diagonal I could skewer with my queen on h1. So finally after several minutes, I decided to try Nf3+ to create the poison knight and then force the white king to capture it. I'm glad that, unlike yesterday when I was too focused on trying to promote the pawn on the 7th rank missing the decisive tactical pattern, I was able to look past the distraction today and find the solution. |
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Dec-02-08
 | | Domdaniel: <sleepyirv> But they're not true puzzles - as in problems and studies and compositions. They're actual games where a player found a neat win. The difference is important, I think, in terms of how one approaches such positions. That said, the Nf3 idea leaped out at me at once, with the aim of skewering the enemy queen -- and the fact that there are two ways of doing it is just further proof that games can be haphazard. |
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| Dec-02-08 | | kevin86: This game is great symbolism for a western movie. The cowboy and his horse round up the outlaw. Sadly,the horse had to be sacrificed,but the outlaw's freedom (white queen) is captured. |
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Dec-02-08
 | | GoldenKnight: Got this one almost immediately. |
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| Dec-02-08 | | YouRang: Looking at this position, black obviously has a nice discovered check in store, but how do we best make use of it? One idea is that black must put together a Q+N mating attack, but this seems unlikely since the white king has some room to roam and the main diagonal (especially e4, f3, g2, h1) is guarded by white's queen. A little further observation introduces another idea: That main diagonal controlled by the white queen is also a skewer liability since the queen is unguarded. The white king cannot go to f3 or e4 since ...Qh1+ wins for black. Of course, this second idea immediately brings 64...Nf3+ to mind. At f3, it controls e1 and g1 -- squares near the king that our queen can attack, and it cannot be captured due to the skewer. But a little analysis shows that black can force the king to either capture the knight (and face the skewer), or be mated. |
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| Dec-02-08 | | Woody Wood Pusher: < Domdaniel: <sleepyirv> But they're not true puzzles - as in problems and studies and compositions. They're actual games where a player found a neat win. The difference is important, I think, in terms of how one approaches such positions.> I agree <Dom>, but probably a study a day would be too much. Maybe one a week on top of the puzzles, with the study posted Monday and the solution on Sunday. |
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| Dec-02-08 | | chopbox: Interesting game. Pretty moves all through it that are worth seeing and puzzling over.
It looks to me like White missed a real big opportunity by playing 39.Rxc4 instead of 39.Nxc4. |
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| Dec-02-08 | | JG27Pyth: jahhaj (in re: 17...Rh7!?) <Black wanted to play g5 but needs to protect f7 (otherwise fxg5 followed by Qxf7). Rh7 is obviously one way of doing that. After the more 'obvious' Rf8 I guess black was worried about something like 17...Rf8 18.Nd4 g5 19.fxg5 hxg5 20.h4 when gxh4 allows Bh6 and Qxf7 will follow soon. Just my quick view. Haven't really analyzed anything so might not be correct.> jeez... so basically, Black is hell bent on g5 ( and thus, not castling) and f7 is weak, so what's the best square for the rook... h7 or f8? h7 because after some kingside lines get cleared we see that Rh7 takes away the h6 attack on f8 from White's bishop... a) wow, you see like that... quickly?
b) now that you point it out, it actually that does seem rather logical/plausible... I too found Rh7 a baffling move and there had to be <some> reason for it. It just looks sooo unnatural. I would never make that move... indeed, any plan of mine that called for Rh7 like that, I'd throw out as "must be an incorrect plan." Instructive, but probably not a lesson I'm ready for. thanks though.
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| Dec-02-08 | | Marco77: for the first time I've missed a Tuesday puzzle, it's not impossible but... it's more a Thursday quiz in my opinion |
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| Dec-02-08 | | beenthere240: 64.Qd6 (instead of 64.Bd6? allowing today's combination) offers a trade of queens, avoids the skewer, and leaves white a pawn ahead -- but not for long. The knight is much stronger than the bishop and the endgame looks lost for white IMO. |
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| Dec-02-08 | | TheaN: 2/2
Checked once again, once again seeing this as being completely forced, albeit two variations (and I also considered 65.Qxf3 a possibility in the first place until my brother notified me that that is quite illegal: quite losing even without a check though). <64....?>
White: b2, c3, e5, h3, Bd6, Qc6, Kf1
Black: c4, e6, f5, Ne1, Qd1, Ke7
Material: +♙ (+♗/♘)
Candidates: <[Nf3†]> -ML-
Going against popular solving here, however, I spotted this Tuesday immediately for once. Through other 'step' mechanisms (although each step only took ~2 seconds) I found: 1) A discovered check.
2) A powerful attack by White.
3) Checks needed.
4) Mating net impossible.
5) Unprotected ♕c6.
6) Skewer on the long diagonal.
7) Nf3† setting up a potential skewer
8) 64....Nf3† 65.Kg2 Qg1† 66.Kxf3 Qh1†
9) 64....Nf3† 65.Qxf3 (illegal) Qxf3†
10) 64....Nf3† 65.Kf2 Qe1† Kg2 Qg1† 66.Kxf3 Qh1†
So, about 20 seconds. Ok, that's a bit too soon, but I was certainly not looking for a mating net. <64....Nf3†>
/A\
<65.Kg2 Qg1† 66.Kxf3 Qh1†  > /B\
<65.Kf2 Qe1† 66.Kg2 Qg1† 67.Kxf3 Qh1† > most of the details are in the step list. |
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| Dec-02-08 | | njchess: I had two candidate moves, Nd3+ and Nf3+. Given White's impending attack, Black needs to keep the initiative. Nd3+ leads to a draw by perpetual check since Kg3 leads to mate. Nf3+ leads to a material win for Black. |
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| Dec-02-08 | | soberknight: Didn't see it. |
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| Dec-03-08 | | patzer2: For the Tuesday Dec 2, 2008 puzzle solution, Black initiates a winning skewer combination with 64...Nf3+! |
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