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| Mar-01-11 | | Akavall: I didn't see 20. Rc7 at all. This looks like a tactical shot that could come up quite often, so I should add it to my arsenal. |
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| Mar-01-11 | | alachabre: Nothing jumps out of this one as an obvious trait to be exploited. Black's well-posted kinigit is an annoyance, but can be dealt with. There is no immediate threat of a back-rank mate, as Black's pieces are well coordinated. Hmm, but the kingside looks rather undefended. So what happens after... 19. Nxe4 dxe4
20. Rxc8+ Rxc8
21. Rxc8+ Qxc8 (Bxc8 allows Bxe4)
22. Qg4 g6 (or Qf8)
23. Bxe4
The winning of a humble center pawn, and the germ of a kingside assault. Is that it? How about the more brutal
19. Bxg7 Kxg7 (always examine the most obvious reply first)
20. Qg4+ Kh8
And I'm not seeing a follow-up. The exchanges on e4 don't have the same impact now, because the sac demands immediate action against the Black king. I see 21. Nxd5 but Bxd5 seems sufficient defense. So how about the immediate 19. Qg4
19. ... Nf6
20. Bxf6 Bxf6
21. Nxd5 Bxd5
22. Bxd5
and Black can't recapture because of the back-rank mate threat. But: 19. ... Bf6
20. Nxd5 Bxd5
Seems like an adequate defense. Or is it?
20. Nxe4 dxe4
21. Bxf6 appears to win a piece.
Seems like a complex analysis for a Tuesday, but that's what I've got. |
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| Mar-01-11 | | alachabre: I guess it's all about how one evaluates the position. I did not get that the queen was overloaded in defense of both bishops. |
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| Mar-01-11 | | gofer: Is it just me or are these getting more difficult than usual? This looks like a Thursday level puzzle.
I think this is an "overworked" queen position. Qd7 is protecting both Bb7 and Be7, so all we need to
do is get a rook to c7 and we will win a bishop for nothing, but getting it there seems to be quite
difficult!
<19 Nxe4 ...>
(19 ... dxe4 20 Rc7 gets the rook to Rc7 too easily!) <19 ... Rxc2>
<20 Rxc2 ...>
(20 ... Rc8 21 Nc5! winning a piece!)
(20 ... f6 21 Nc5! Qc6 (Qc8 22 Bh3! f5 23 Nxb7 Qxb7 24 Rc7 winning two pieces) 22 Nxb7 Qxb7 23 Rc7 winning a piece <20 ... dxe4>
<21 Rc7 Qd8>
<22 Rxb7 f6>
(23 Bxe4! Rc8 (fxe5 24 Rxe7!) 25 Qh5 h6 (f5 26 Bxf5 exf5 27 Qxf5 winning or fxe5 Bxh7+ Kf8 Bg6 winning or g6 26 Bxg6 hxg6
27 Qxg6+ Kf8 28 Bxf6 Rc1+ 29 Kg2 Qd5+ 30 e4 Qxb7 31 Bg7+ mating) 26 Bf4 winning easily as Bxh6 cannot be protected against) <23 Bc7 Qd5!>
(23 ... Qc8 24 Bxe4 winning easily)
<24 Rb8+ Rxb8>
<25 Bxb8 ...>
click for larger viewWhite is a full bishop up and black has a difficult choice of whether to protect Pe4 or take Pa2, both look very difficult
for black to draw from, black's best bet is probably to swap off queens and try to blockade white's LSB, but really it looks
impossible...
Time to check... |
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| Mar-01-11 | | 1.e4effort: There is a lot going on here, and I'm leaning toward an attack on the kingside. Then again, I got the two rooks lined up on the c file, but as I look at black's poition there, that just looks like a hot mess. Either way, I've gotta get rid of the knight at e4 - and even there - do I do it with the knight or bishop?!?! This is pretty hard for Tuesday... |
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Mar-01-11
 | | kevin86: 0/2 I'm looking liking LeBrick James in the last two minutes of a close game. With the text move,white forces the win of a bishop. |
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| Mar-01-11 | | SpoiltVictorianChild: I agree: difficult for a Tuesday. I think what made it more difficult was that Qg4 is such an attractive move. I took some time trying to get it to work. It threatens mate, pins the pawn to the queen, and lends support to an attack on e4. I couldn't make anything work, so I took another look my DSB and saw that it was also pointed at c7, at which point getting a rook there became an obvious goal. The idea of looking for weak squares is one I consider slightly advanced (I didn't consciously do it until I was around 1600). The strategic component takes this puzzle away from being pure tactics, so I think it's better suited as a Wednesday. |
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| Mar-01-11 | | MaczynskiPratten: I missed it too. Only consolation seems to be that lots of other people did as well, including the near-2500 in the game. Yet it's only 2 moves deep; why is the basic Rc7 idea so difficult to spot? Maybe because c7 seems visually to be well defended, with Black's adjacent Rook and Queen very obvious and White's faraway Bishop and concealed Rooks less obvious. |
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| Mar-01-11 | | YouRang: Very tricky for a Tuesday. I figured it would be 19.Nxe4 just to open up the rook battery, and I figured that Qg4 would figure into this at some point. Still, it still leaves a bunch of variations that need to be checked out, and even the Rc7! idea doesn't exactly jump out. |
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| Mar-01-11 | | Grilo: Grilo: I've grown afraid of catalan-like positions ever since the Anand-Topalov match - not because of intricacies generated by the opening, but specially because of the lack of a clear plan. I'm one dragon-sicilian stubborn guy, and am aware of the importance of counterplay down the c-file in such opening. 
click for larger viewBut as White, as simple as it may be, this position is enigmatically challenging... will I be rewarded if I bet my nickles on shooting down such file? One can only try in order to find out... 
click for larger viewAnd the answer is a big loud YES! Open files should be captured and forced on, no matter where they are. |
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Mar-01-11
 | | Penguincw: < YouRang: Very tricky for a Tuesday. > Then I guess this week is going to be a tough one. |
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| Mar-01-11 | | BOSTER: Honestly, I have to recognize that idea of the puzzle is not very obvious, and I even caught the thought that this is not a puzzle.
And after many attempts to play 19.Bxe4 I finally "discovered" that such position when three black pieces Bb7,Qd7 and Be7 are on the same rank can be used by white playing their rook on c7, taking the advantage of reinforcing control of "c" file by doubling the rooks.
So, 19.Nxe4 dxe4 (or Rxc2) 20.Rc7 Rxc7 21.Rc7 and white wins a piece. |
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| Mar-01-11 | | pawntrip: I saw R-c7 before Nxe4,and it suddenly made sense. |
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| Mar-01-11 | | YouRang: <Penguincw: < YouRang: Very tricky for a Tuesday. > Then I guess this week is going to be a tough one.> Either that, or we can expect a Tuesday puzzle on Thursday. ;-) |
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| Mar-01-11 | | wals: Rybka 4 x 64
Black's losing move:-
d 18 : 3 min :
18...Ne4, +3.93.
Best,
1. = (-0.02): 18...Ne8 19.h4 f6 20.Bf4[] b4 21.Ne2 Nd6 22.Bxd6 Bxd6 23.Nf4 Rxc2 24.Rxc2 Rc8 25.Rxc8+ Qxc8 26.Bh3 f5 27.Bf1 g6 28.h5 g5 29.Nd3 Kg7 30.Qd2 a5 31.Ne5 Bxe5 2. = (0.03): 18...Qd8 19.h4 Nd7 20.Bf4 h6 21.Qg4 Nf6 22.Qe2 Nd7 23.Qd3 b4 24.Na4 Rxc2 25.Qxc2 Rc8 26.Bc7 Qe8 27.Qd1 Kh8 28.Kh2 Kg8 29.b3 Kh8 30.Nb6 |
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| Mar-01-11 | | WhiteRook48: ah, why did I try 19 Bxe4 and 20 Qg4 instead? I fail at puzzles... |
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Mar-01-11
 | | OhioChessFan: Not a big deal, but I am surprised nobody tried 19. Nxe4 Rxc2 for Black. |
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Mar-01-11
| | OhioChessFan: Oh, I see <Phony> and <David> mentioned 19...Rxc2. By the way, I blame <Calar> for the hard Tuesday since it was his original post: <Tuesday puzzle at white's 19th move?> that apparently planted the idea in CG.C's mind. |
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| Mar-01-11 | | cjgone: Took me a while. Moves that attack two pieces seems to take me forever (I missed a puzzle elsewhere with a double bishop attack with a rook). I caught this one though. |
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Mar-01-11
 | | Phony Benoni: I think today's puzzle was difficult because it was so easy. It was more of a common game situation, and the solution was really quite obvious. However, when you're in Puzzle Mode it's easy to overlook the simple. We often get the comment that "I never would have found that in a game." I venture to say that most of us would have found today's solution in a game. You just have to trade a piece and execute a one-move double attack. We do that sort of thing in games all the time; in fact, it's often the first thing we look for. Sure, there were a few details to be taken into account, but then our games are usually a bit sloppy tactically as well. This doesn't explain why Black not only missed it, but actually walked into it with 18...Ne4. Sometimes, I think we take ourselves (and our ratings) too seriously, and try to play beyond our capabilities or the possibilities of the position. I wouldn't be surprised if Black just got wrapped up in some deep positional/tactical bling, and got fancy when he should have just been playing chess. |
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| Mar-01-11 | | stst: very late, full day's work, bed time...
just one more glimpse....
normally if no follow-up on direct attacks or sacs, the other approach is to win material...
this tuesday puz appears to be one of such...
then the double rook gives the initial clue... also B on e5 eyeing, not g7 but actually on c7 ==> a N move to expose the double R ==> NxN, any (PxN will be most natural) then right there Rc7... forgive my old notation (I somewhat like those things...NxN, etc.) OK, this one deserves two * since it's a concealed material win!
Now, bed time!! |
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| Mar-02-11 | | consul: I agree with <Phony Benoni>, even if i missed the solution. |
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Mar-03-11
| | Penguincw: < YouRang: <Penguincw: < YouRang: Very tricky for a Tuesday. > Then I guess this week is going to be a tough one.>
Either that, or we can expect a Tuesday puzzle on Thursday. ;-) > Well,not really.Today's (Thursday) puzzle.
27...
click for larger view |
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| Mar-03-11 | | YouRang: <Penguincw> Well, it turns out that I was off by one day. We got the Tuesday puzzle on Wednesday (mate in 3) instead of Thursday. |
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Mar-07-11
| | Penguincw: < YouRang: <Penguincw> Well, it turns out that I was off by one day. We got the Tuesday puzzle on Wednesday (mate in 3) instead of Thursday. > Well that week was pretty confusing. |
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