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Kevin Spraggett vs Bradley Willis
Canadian Open (1999), Richmond, Vancouver CAN, rd 1
Benoni Defense: Knight's Tour Variation (A61)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

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Kibitzer's Corner
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Jul-07-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  agb2002: Material is even but bishops have different colors. White can weaken Black's castle with 34.Bxf7+:

A) 34... Kxf7 35.Qd7+

A.1) 35... Kf8 36.f7

A.1.a) 36... Ra8 37.Qd6+ Kg7 38.f8=Q+ Rxf8 39.Qxf8#.

A.1.b) 36... Re(1-7) 37.Qd8+ and mate in two.

A.2) 35... Kg8 36.f7+ (36.Qxe8+ Qf8 37.f7+ Kg7 38.Qxf8+ Kxf8 39.g4 also wins but it's much slower) and mate in two.

B) 34... Kf8 35.Bxe8 Kxe7 36.Qc8+ Kf7 37.Qd7+

B.1) 37... Kf8 38.Qe7+ Kg8 39.f7+ and mate in two.

B.2) 37... Kg8 38.Qe6+ Kh8 (38... Kf8 39.Qe7+ transposes to B.1) 39.Qe8+ Qf8 40.Qxf8#.

C) 34... Kh8 35.Bxe8 + -.

Jul-07-09  CHESSTTCAMPS: Material is even, but white's advanced f-pawn and black's passive queen position allow a winning combination. White exploits black's weakness on f7 and forces a pawn promotion with 34.Bxf7+ Kxf7 35.Qd7+ Kf8 36.f7 and now:

A) 36...Ra8/b8 37.Qd6+ Kg7 38.f8/Q+ Rxf8 39.Qxf8#

B) 36...R(e-file) 37.Qd8+ Kg7 38.f8/Q#

Another illustration of the importance of mobility: the king cuts off the defense of f8 from the decentralized queen, allowing the final blow.

Jul-07-09  nekthen: Fritz says 33 Bxf7 wins and 33 ...Qh6 was a blunder and 33 ... Rd8 would hold, getting away from the Bxf7 trick
Jul-07-09  remolino: Bxf7, king takes, Qd7, time to check
Jul-07-09  JG27Pyth: samagonka<I would have really loved to see the continuation of this game. I'm sure black can still try a thing or two. Am I wrong?>

Depends on how you define "trying a thing or two" There's a forced mate from the final position but it's not a super obvious mate. There's nothing for Black to try -- except to hope the White player blunders. If I had Black here against a 1300 player I'd certainly play on. Against a titled player -- there's no real point continuing.

34. ...Kxf7
35. Qd7+ Kf8
36. f7 Ra8
37. Qd6+ Kg7
38. f8=Q+ Rxf8
39. Qxf8#

Jul-07-09  levelzx: For me, this puzzle is perfect for Tuesday. First move is the only sensible one here, and all variations are easy to work out, because you feel that there is nothing that could stop 'f' pawn.
Jul-07-09  Hongkonger: Curiously everybody else has 36.f7 and 37.Qd6+ whereas I had them the other way round, which works also but I think is not technically quite as good as black can postpone the mate one move (I think).
Jul-07-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  gawain: The obvious move Bxf7+ proves to be the right move. The followup requires some thinking but not too much. Good Tuesday puzzle.
Jul-07-09  chesskidnate: zooter <34.Bxf7+ wins immediately for white as 34...Kxf7 (only move to avoid loss of material) 35.Qd7+ Kf8 (35...Kg8 36.f7+ ) 36.f7 Ra8/b8 (36...R moves out of back rank 37.Qd8+ ) 37.Re1 and black has to lose Time to check. Pretty involved line for a tuesday I think> on this line i believe black has 37...Qe3!. Of course you later posted that Qd6 was the simple mate line which you are correct with
Jul-07-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  kevin86: I nailed this problem from the start,though 35...♔f8 seemed a snag. Of course,the replay 36 f7 wins by force.
Jul-07-09  YouRang: There wasn't much to look at besides 34.Bxf7+. And after 34...Kxf7, there wasn't much to look at besides 35.Qd7+.

Then, 35...Kf8 seems forced and there isn't much to do besides 36.f7 Ra8 37.Qd6+ Kg7 38.f8=Q+ Rxf8 39.Qxf8#.

It would be a more difficult problem if it didn't solve itself. :-)

Jul-07-09  unsound: The theme here is vaguely reminiscent of the way that Leko finished off Bacrot yesterday (I suppose the reverse is probably the better way to put it), although of course there are important differences: Leko vs Bacrot, 2009
Jul-07-09  chesskidnate: by the way 37...Qe3 only works if the black rook moves to a8 i put the position on a chess computer for if the black rook moves to b8 and on that line the computer suggested that black plays be5
Jul-07-09  sataranj: 2/2 this week
Jul-07-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  playground player: I won't reveal the embarassingly stupid alternative I "found" in lieu of Bxf7+. Sometimes the bleedin' obvious is bleedin' obvious for a reason.
Jul-07-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Kasputin: 34. Bxf7+ looks like the right way to break up black's position and get at the king.

34 ...Kxf7 - it doesn't take long to see that there is no other real choice

35. Qd7+ Kf8
36. f7 R (any)
37. Qd6+

Assuming on 36... that the black rook doesn't move to a square where it can be immediately captured, it looks like the Qd6 check will do it for white. Black has to move the king over to h8 or g7 - either way the pawn queens (with check) and at best black will have two attacking pieces versus the new queen. White will have 2 defending pieces (Q and R) and will win.

Only other thing to mention is 36 ...Re7 - then white answers 37. Qd8+ and black is sunk.

Jul-07-09  StevieB: Easiest puzzle in history. Even my sheltie got the answer.
Jul-07-09  WhiteRook48: remarkably easy even for a 1200
:-)
34 Bxf7+ Kxf7 35 Qd7+ wins the exchange
Jul-07-09  Patriot: This seemed tougher for a Tuesday even though everything can be forced.

34.Bxf7+ Kxf7 35.Qd7+ Kf8

What else? 35...Kg8 is giving white an easy win so it's silly to analyze that line.

36.f7 Ra8

If the rook moves off the 1st rank, 37.Qd8+ forces mate in two moves at most.

37.Qd6+ Kg7 38.f8/Q+ Rxf8 39.Qxf8#

Jul-07-09  goodevans: Easy peasy. I did however spend some time pondering whether black could have safely played 33 ... Bxf6 instead of the disasterous 33 ... Qh6.

<Samagonka: I hate it when loosing players resign!> Much more fun when players inadvertantly resign won positions, isn't it! ;)

Jul-07-09  Slurpeeman: Didn't get it. I looked at Bxf7 (weakest square on the board, blah-blah), but thought 34. Qd7 was better and didn't see the best defence until much later
Jul-07-09  TheBish: K Spraggett vs B Willis, 1999

White to play (34.?) "Easy"

I found this to be fairly easy, but not as easy as many Tuesday problems of the past.

34. Bxf7+! Kxf7 (or 34...Kf8 35. Bxe8 Kxe8 36. Qc8+ Kf7 37. Qd7+ Kg8 38. f7+ and wins) 35. Qd7+ Kf8 36. f7

The first several moves have all been forced, or White simply wins the exchange and has an easy win. Now:

A) 36...Re3 (or other moves on the e-file) 37. Qd8+ Kg7 38. f8=Q#.

B) 36...Ra8 37. Qd6+ Kg7 38. f8=Q+ Rxf8 39. Qxf8#.

Jul-07-09  Castleinthesky: Nice little puzzle.
Jul-07-09  onesax: Hmm ... 33. ... Qh6? was a blunder, but I can understand it from Black. White is threatening 34. Qd7 which looks strong, and black's move allows for the defence 34. ... Qf8! which holds (and thus defeats anyone who had Qd7 as a solution).

It did take me a minute or two to solve. I of course saw 34. Bxf7+ Kxf7 35. Qd7+ easily and practically instantly, but anybody who thinks they've solved it after this hasn't got it. 35. ... Kf8 and now what? <34 Bxf7+ Kxf7 35 Qd7+ wins the exchange> no it doesn't. <Curiously everybody else has 36.f7 and 37.Qd6+ whereas I had them the other way round, which works also> again, no. After 36. Qd6+ Kf7 white has to undo his 36th with 37. Qd7+ to get back to the winning move on his 38th (instead of 36th) - f7! Once I saw the point of the f-pawn promoting with the queen pushing the king out of the way with 37. Qd6+, only then did I know I had it :)

Jul-10-09  whiteshark: <cizio2: <I am not sure "Schallop - Metger 1877" is an opposite Bishops game>>

That's right and thank you for pointing it out, <cizio2>! E Schallopp vs Metger, 1877 It would have gotten only after <24...Be4>:


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and I'm gonna remove it from the game collection.
:D

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