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Later Kibitzing> |
| Jan-14-15 | | cocker: Don't think anyone has found Black's best try: 24 Rg1 Qxh3 25 Rh1 Qg3 26 Rcg1 hxg4! limits White's advantage. Instead White should play 25 Bf1. |
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| Jan-14-15 | | ndg2: ^this! |
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| Jan-14-15 | | zb2cr: Missed this. Got hung up after 24. Rg1, Qxh3. |
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| Jan-14-15 | | gars: Good morning! A beautiful finish and more interesting because I solved it! |
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| Jan-14-15 | | wooden nickel: like already posted: 24. ... Qxh3 25. Bf1! ... Black's queen is trapped like a rat, (the ♘ on f3 is still poisoned!).
click for larger view
even the desperate attempt trading off ♕ against ♖ + ♘ fails:
click for larger view. ... Qxg1 25. Nxg1!, if 25. ... cxNb5 then 26. Qc7+ |
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| Jan-14-15 | | Sally Simpson: Good one - Got it (eventually).
click for larger viewThe thought process went. As always I go for the King. 1.Nxa7 Kxa7 2.Qc5. 
click for larger viewQa5+ threats plus Rc3-a3+ threats and the Ne5 sac plan to stop the Black Queen from scurrying to defend her King. All ideas I can work with and all going nowhere. Too many defences, not enough bits in the attack. I hit one block after another and my gut was telling me I was on the wrong track. Scrap that one.
click for larger viewThe Black Queen is short of squares, d6 and c7 are covered - can I trap her. 1.Rg1 Qxf3 2.Qh2+ and Rg3 do it. 
click for larger view....wait a minute...that was a CHECK!! (not to mention a very expensive Queen) The Black pieces have the dark disease. The are all covering light squares. It's Philidors Ugly Legacy. (the mate without the Queen sac.) 
click for larger viewI'd have spotted it sooner if that Bishop was not on c8. That Bishop was playing havoc with my mating patterns. So the stem idea is to kick the Queen off of the h2-b8 diagonal and Qh2+. Solved. 
click for larger view |
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Jan-14-15
 | | patzer2: A first look at today's Wednesday puzzle position (24. ?) showed the White Queen unprotected and with few move options. This initially suggested the possibility of a Queen trap. However, a closer examination revealed the trap was not a good option, and the best White plan was deflecting the Queen off the long diagonal for a quick mate (e.g. 24. Rg1! Qxf3 25. Qh2+! Ka8 26. Nc7+ Ka8 27. Nc7+ Kb8 28. Na6 + Ka8 29. Qb7#). We continue the theme of double discovered check and mate from yesterday's I Nei vs Petrosian, 1960. Didn't look in depth at the game yet, but it would seem the combination started at least one move earlier with 23. Nb5!! |
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Jan-14-15
 | | Penguincw: Wow. I got 24.Rg1 Qxf3, but was planning to follow up with some knight d6 sacrifice, and Bb5, looking to crash through on c6, although that plan seems too slow. |
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| Jan-14-15 | | TheaN: Wednesday 14 January 2015 <24.?> In this Wednesday puzzle an attack on the black king is not immediately apparant. Enough pieces defend the king, not allowing white to launch a frontal attack. Meanwhile, both the knights are en prise. When the king slips from the mind, the queen is next. And the black queen is definitely in a tough position, suggesting that we trap the black queen. The white knights cover crucial escape squares (d6 and h4), and as they are both en prise the position suggests the attack starts now. <24.Rg1> is the only reasonable attack on the black queen. After <24....Qxf3> I was lost for a while, however. The queen just got e3 in her scope and there is not much white can do to defend against all the undefended squares. Moreso, a silent move would allow 25....cxb5, followed by the queen capturing a rook if required and white is down in material queen vs rook and two knights. However, after Qxf3, suddenly the black king comes in view again. In fact, after <25.Qh2+!> white abuses the uncovered b8-h2 diagonal and the knight on b5 optimally. Interposing has no use, after <25....Ka8 26.Nc7+ Kb8 27.Na6++ Ka8 28.Qb8# 1-0> white doesn't even have smother mate because b8 is only defended by the king. Alternatives for black don't change the situation. After <24....Qxh3 25.Rh1 Qg3 26.Rcg1 Qxg1+ 27.Rxg1 cxb5 28.Bxb5  <>> black only has rook and knight for the queen, which is a fairly easy technical win for white. |
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| Jan-14-15 | | CHESSTTCAMPS: Material is even, but white is more mobile, in particular, the active Nb5 versus Nf8 which is preventing connection of the black rooks. Black has opened a path to the king (h2->b8), which should spur white to sense an opportunity. 24.Rg1! is the way to exploit it - the BQ is the lone guardian of the diagonal, so white seeks to displace it. There is no good defense: A) 24...Qxf3 25.Qh2+ (a sibling of Philidor's Legacy) Ka8 (or black can insert meaningless queen and rook interpositions here) 26.Nc7+ Kb8 28.Na6+ Ka8 29.Qb8# B) 24... Qxh3 25.Bf1! (better than Rh1) Qxf3 (or Qxf1 or Qxg4) 26.Qh2+ forces mate as in A. B.1) 25...cxb4 26.Bxh3 (Q for a N)
C) 24... Qxg1 25.Nxg1! cxb5 26.Qc7+ Ka8 27.Qxd8 cleans up. D) 24... cxb4 25.Rxg3 (Q for a N)
Time for review... |
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| Jan-14-15 | | TheaN: <cocker: Don't think anyone has found Black's best try: 24 Rg1 Qxh3 25 Rh1 Qg3 26 Rcg1 hxg4! limits White's advantage. Instead White should play 25 Bf1. ndg2: ^this!>
Although I'd agree 25.Bf1 gets the job done without losing rook and knight for the queen, <24.Rg1 Qxh3 25.Rh1 Qg3 26.Rcg1 hxg4!>: 
click for larger viewBlack hopes White falls into 27.Rxh8? Qxf3!, as now 28.Qh2+ g3. So white is only up the exchange after 28.Nc3  ; sadly for black, probably still lost. However, after 27.Rxg3!? Rxh1+ 28.Rg1 Rxg1+ 29.Nxg1 cxb5 30.Qh2+ black has two pawns alongside the rook and knight, and white will not pick up the g4-pawn immediately, but it's still won regardless. |
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Jan-14-15
| | patzer2: Black's decisive mistake initially appears to have been 22...Bc8?, allowing 23. Nb5!! . However, even after the computer best move 22...Bf7, Fritz 12 indicates White wins a pawn and secures a decisive advantage after 22... Bf7 23. Nb5 Qe7 24. Qh2+ Ka8 25. Nc7+ Kb8 26. Nxd5+ Qd6 27. Qxd6+ Rxd6 28. Nf4 Nd5 29. Nxd5 hxg4 30. hxg4 cxd5 31. Rh1 Rxh1 32. Rxh1 Rd8 33. g5 Kc7 34. Kc2 Be8 35. Kd2 Bc6 36. b3 (+2.26 @ 20 depth) Instead, Fritz indicates the decisive error was 21...h5? and recommends 21...Bf7  or 21...a6 instead. P.S.: Of course there are "decisive advantages" for computers and strong GMs, which are lesser advantages for most amateur Chess players. Against most club players, I suspect 22...Bf7 (instead of 21...Bc8?), probably has a good chance of holding the draw. |
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Jan-14-15
| | patzer2: <TheaN><Coker> After <24. Rg1 Qxh3> both 25. Rh1 and 25. Bf1! win. However, the advantage is much greater with 24. Qxh3 25. Bf1! Fritz 12 @ 22/47 depth analysis:
Manuel Palacios Perez - Gerardo Gonzalez Intelangelo, Las Palmas op 1995
click for larger view1. (6.34): 25.Bf1 hxg4 26.Bxh3 Rxh3 27.Rxg4 g5 28.Ka1 a6 29.Qg2 Rxf3 30.Qxf3 axb5 31.b3 Nfd7 32.Qg3+ Ka8 33.Rh1 Re8 34.Kb2 b4 35.Qf3 Ka7 2. (1.87): 25.Rh1 Qg3 26.Rcg1 hxg4 27.Rxg3 Rxh1+ 28.Rg1 Rxg1+ 29.Nxg1 cxb5 30.Qg2 Re8 31.Qxg4 g5 32.Qg3+ Ka8 33.Ne2 b4 34.Kc1 Nfd7 35.Kc2 |
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| Jan-14-15 | | YetAnotherAmateur: It took me a while to notice, but eventually I realized that once black's queen left off covering h2 white was going to be having a really bad day, because of 1. Qh2+ Ka8 2. Nc7+ Kb8 3. Na6+ Ka8 4. Qb8#. At that point, the goal was to force the queen away. As others pointed out, there are some significant counters by black, none of which really help his position. I didn't expect black to walk right into the trap. |
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| Jan-14-15 | | TheaN: <patzer2> I noticed that earlier myself, I'm also not denying that Bf1 is better, and hxg4! is an interesting defensive try. Just saying that even after the 25.Rh1?! white will still have a relatively easy win. Just less easy. |
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| Jan-14-15 | | TheaN: Personally, my analysis is that Black saw 25.Bf1! and discarded 24....Qxh3, but was completely oblivious to 24....Qxf3 25.Qh2+ and the mate. Hence the immediately resign after 25.Qh2+, at that point he did see it. |
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| Jan-14-15 | | Coriolis: I thought this puzzle was definitely on the medium side of medium/easy; especially because I didn't get it. |
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Jan-14-15
 | | Phony Benoni: The Barbarians eschew the gates and sneak in through the back door. |
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| Jan-14-15 | | Longview: Ditto <diagonalley>. Excellent foresight by Manuel Palacios Perez. Beyond my vision. Another "look at the whole board" lesson (hopefully I am learning). Congrats to <Sally Simpson> and <morfishine> and thanks <patzer2> for the clue to what is going on this week. Maybe we can see more tomorrow! and maybe recognize it? |
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| Jan-14-15 | | CHESSTTCAMPS: <patzer2: <TheaN><Coker> After <24. Rg1 Qxh3> both 25. Rh1 and 25. Bf1! win. However, the advantage is much greater with 24. Qxh3 25. Bf1!> I only found 25.Bf1! in my analysis after trying 25.Rh1 first (the apparent logical continuation) and then finding a line or two where black could get some material compensation for the queen and also stave off the mate threat. |
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Jan-14-15
 | | gawain: Easy? Not for me. Wasted a few minutes on trying to trap the queen, then the right answer gradually emerged as I noted the weakness of the b8-h2 diagonal and saw what that well-posted white knight might accomplish. A good puzzle. |
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| Jan-14-15 | | Edeltalent: 24.? White to play
Material is even, but both white knights are hanging. However, White is a lot better coordinated (especially the Nf8 looks quite horrible), and the winning motive is not hard to spot: If the black queen can be forced to give up control of the weak h2-b8 diagonal, White will mate in a typical way, beginning with Qh2+. However, this is a real game and not just a sample position to show the pattern of smothered mate (in this case it wouldn't even be smothered, as the queen will give mate before the knight), so there might be unexpected obstacles. The obvious move to challenge the queen is 24.Rg1. Now 24...Qxf3 25.Qh2+ works like a charm. If Black tries to bail out with 24...Qxg1, 25.Nxg1 is way more convincing than taking with the rook, because it allows 25...cxb5 26.Qc7+. So 24...Qxh3 is Black's only hope. Now I bet that in a blitz game, an overwhelming majority of players would go for the very natural 25.Rh1 Qg3 26.Rcg1 Qxg1+ 27.Rxg1 cxb5, where White still has work to do, although it's advantageous for sure. Instead, the exact 25.Bf1 immediately ends the game, as the queen will just be lost for nothing. |
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| Jan-14-15 | | Mendrys: <Longview:.... Another "look at the whole board" lesson....> Exactly and a good reason why I completely missed the puzzle. It's easy to see that after 23. Nb5 cxb5 24. Qxc2+ it's curtains for black so you know that black is not going to fall for the easy trap. You then may want to try to figure out a way to kick the door down via some action on the a-c files as you have a Knight, Bishop and a Q+R battery with pressure on the kingside not realizing that his side door is partially open and would be wide open if only the queen can be coaxed off of the h2-b8 diagonal. Getting that last epiphany is not always that easy. |
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| Jan-14-15 | | 1stboard: Black's 14th move, I would play O-O and not O-O-O |
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| Mar-13-15 | | offramp: < Phony Benoni: The Barbarians eschew the gates and sneak in through the back door> In Europe the easiest way to invade a castle is through its gift shop. |
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Kibitzing
sac: 24.Rg1