Chess Puzzle

Sorry for the delay in posts - I was away on holiday's for two weeks and the Irish Chess Journal was my priority before that.



Came across the above position recently: White to play and win with a beautiful combination. 

Solution to last position:
Karpov - Taimanov
Leningrad, 1977
1...Ng3+!! 2.hxg3 Ra8! 0-1 
This game is justly famous for its brilliant Knight sacrifice, sometimes referred to as the "Taimanov" sacrifice, and the planned follow-up with the Rook. The final combination is indeed beautiful however, Karpov had blundered to reach the position.

Chess Puzzle

This week's position:



The above position is quite famous - so if it is familiar to some I am sorry. However, I think it's a brilliant position - Black to play and win.



Solution to last position:
Penrose - Jones
1979 British Championship
1.Qd8! Nb6 (1...Rxd8 2.cxd8+ Qxd8 3.Nc7+) 2.Ba5 the game ended 2...Bf6 3.Qxf8+ Qxf8 4.Bxb6 Qc8 5.Nc7+ 1-0

Weekly Puzzle:

This weeks puzzle:



Another nice position. It's White to play and win!

Solution to last puzzle:
Samisch, F - Schieferdecker
Mainz, 1953
1...Rdg8! 2.Kf1 Rg1+ 3.Kxg1 Qg8+ 4.Kf1 (4.Kh1 Qg2#) 4...Qc4+ 5.Kg1 Rg8+ 6.Kh1 Qf1#

Weekly puzzle:

This week's puzzle:



I like this position. As you may have noticed White threatens mate on a8 and it seems that Black can't avoid it. However, it is Black to play and win!



Solution to last puzzle:
Dolgisch - Gilesetdinov
USSR, 1978
1.Rg7! Bxg7 2.f7+ Kh8 3.Re8#

Chess Puzzle

Today's puzzle:



Another position which shouldn't be too taxing!? White to play and win.

Solution to last puzzle:
Quinteros - Sunye
San Pedro 1981
1.Rxf8! (if 1...Rxf8 2.Nd6+ wins) if 1...Kxf8 2.Rd8+ Ke7 3.Qxg5+! wins) 1-0

Chess Puzzle

 Today's puzzle:




Nothing to complicated this time, it's just White to play and win.

Solution to last puzzle:
Tal - Bilek
Miskolc 1963
1.Rxf6 Rxf6 2.Qxe5 axb3 3.axb3
This is the really beautiful move behind the combination. White is a rook down but the pin against f6 is so powerful that there is no need to rush.
3...b6 4. b4
Preventing 4...Ra5, which would complicate matters. Now there is no stopping 5.Rf1 so Black resigned.

Chess Puzzle

Today's puzzle:


Opposite coloured bishop endings have a frustrating tendency to end in a draw. White could play 1.Kc5, but is there a way to bring about a speedier conclusion?

Solution to last puzzle:
Roneat - Reicher
Germany 1950
1.Qe6+ Black is obliged to capture the queen by 1...Nxe6 or 1...Bxe6. Either way it makes no difference; White plays 2.Nh6#. Note that e6 was the only good square on which to give up the queen; anywhere else would have broken the mating net around the black king.

Chess Puzzle

Today's puzzle:

White, to move, has already sacrificed two pieces. What move would he like to play and how does he get to play it?

Solution to last puzzle:
Paul McVeigh - Simon Wilson
Marlwood Trophy, Bristol 1987
20.Qxe7!! Kg8 If 20...Kxe7 21.Bc5 Kf6 22.g5# or in this line 21...Qd6 22.Bxd6+ Kd7 23.Be5+ wins.
21.Bxa7 Rxa7 22.Qxa7 Qc8 23.e5 1-0

Sorry Sean but you know the saying: "never let the truth get in the way of a good story!"

Chess Puzzle

Today's puzzle:


Not too difficult but a nice position and a nice move by one of our own. Can you find it?


Solution to last puzzle:
JJ. Walsh - G.J. Boyd
Irish Ch, 1952
J.J. Walsh wrote: I was quite pleased with this coup until several years later I found that after 1.Bh3?? Qxh3 2.Qxd5 black can turn the game in his favour by 2...Rxf2!! Now white is faced with mate on the move and 3.Rxf2 allows 3...cxd5 and 3.Kxf2 is answered by 3...Rf8+: followed by cxd5.

What do you have to do the trick some people? I thought I had done a fine job of giving the barest information in the last puzzle. So imagine my surprise when I got an email from Sean Coffey giving me the solution and also telling me that it was by J.J Walsh - I was gobsmacked. It's bad enough he solves all the problems but he also knows all the sources! I definitely wouldn't fancy facing him across the chessboard.

Chess Puzzle

Today's puzzle is a beauty, it's source is very close to home.


White had an extra pawn in this position but the well-placed black knight was a nuisance. In the game White solved this difficulty by 1.Bh3! Qxh3 2.Qxd5 Qe6 3.Qxe6 Rxe6 4.d5 and black soon resigned. Years later White discovered a flaw in this sequence which would have turned the game in Black's favour. Can you spot it?


Solution to the last puzzle:
Ivkov - Duric
Yugoslavia 1983
1.Ng5! 1-0 for if 1...hxg5 2.Rh3. 1...g6 2.Qg6.

Chess Puzzle

Well yesterday was a good day - I learned something new! David McAlister solved the problem of the problems.(Sorry about that!) Check the comments under the last post to see for yourself. It seems Fritz isn't the best choice for solving chess problems! I find this strange as you'd think mate is the goal of any game. How could Fritz after 5 minutes of analysis not find a mate in two? I downloaded MateMaster (Freeware), a chess problem solving program,  instead and it found the solution in less than 5 seconds. I also ran the problems through Rybka 2.2 and it also failed to find the solution. It got me thinking so I played the first move of the solution into Fritz and instantly it announced mate in one. I'm just curious but I thought the strength of chess engines was the ability to calculate long variations. If they can not find mate in two and three, it questions our reliance - or more specifically our faith in them.

Well that's my thought for today out of the way.

Here's a puzzle to keep you distracted:


A simple one for the weekend. White to play and win.

Solution to the last puzzle:

Lentze - Thornton
Hastings Challengers 1994

1.Bxh7+ Kxh7 2.Qh5+ Kg8 3.Rh3 f6 4.Qh8+ Kf7 5.Ncd6+ Bxd6 6.Nxd6+, or 1...Kf8 2.Rh3 e5 3.Bf5 Resigns as in the game.

Chess Puzzle

Isn't it great to see the Irish team representing us in Russia. Sam Collins had a great result yesterday, and thankfully everyone performed today to get a 4-0 score against Papua New Guinea. If we can just win against the weaker teams and get the odd unexpected point against the stronger teams: I for one will be very happy.

Today's puzzle:

I decided to stick to the K.I.S.S. formula this time. Just a simple White to play and win.

The last puzzle I presented again caused problems for me. I took the article directly from the BCM of 1866 where the problems were presented without solutions. On running the positions through fritz I discovered that the first and last problem were faulty. The positions must have been given incorrectly. 

Solutions:
Problem 1:
1.Na3+ Kd4 2.Bg7+ f6 3.Bxf6#
1.Bg8 Nd3 2.Bf7+ Kc3 3.Bg7#

Problem 2:
1.Ne4 Rxe4 2.Qc5#

Problem 3:
1.Rc7 h6 2.Nxe6 Kxd5 3.Qf5#

Problem 4:
1.Qc1+ Kb5 2.Ba3 d4 3.Qc5+ Ka4 4.Rxa6#
1.Rc7+ Kb5 2.Qd5+ Ka4 3.Qb3+ Ka5 4.Bc3#

David McAlister may be able to shed some light on the issue!

Chess Puzzle

Today's puzzle:


Just a simple White to move and win!

Solution to last puzzle:
Howell - Levitt
Staunton Memorial, London, 2005
Black begins a spectacular King hunt with 1...Rxa3+ 2.Kxa3 Qa1+ 3.Kb4 Qa4+ 4.Kc5 Bd4+ 5.Kd6 Qb4+ 6.Kc6 Qc5+ 7.Kd7 Qa7+ 8.Kd6 (or 8.Kc6 Be5 9.Qxf7+ Qxf7 10.Rxf7+ Kxf7 11.Kb6 Bxb2 12.Kxa6 b4 13.Kb5 Bc3 14.h4 Kg6, or 8.Kc8 Bc5) 8...Qe7+ 9.Kc6 Ke8 0-1

Chess Puzzle

Today's puzzle:


Black appears to be in a bit of bother, what should he do?

Solution to the last puzzle:
Polugayevsky - Parma
USSR - Yugoslavia 1965
Black missed that after 4.h6 Kg6! is a defence. It is curious that a strong grandmaster like Parma resigned in a drawn position.

Well done to Pat Twomey for spotting the solution. If only all our own games had white to play and win at the correct moment!

Chess Puzzle

Today's exercise:


Here Black resigned! He explained that after 1...Ra4! comes 2.Ra8+ Kf7 3.a7 Ra1 4.h6! gxh6 5.Rh8 winning. However, Black missed something in this sequence, can you do better?

Solution to last puzzle:
Hegde - Palatnik
Calicut 1988
Incredibly, the position contains the saving resource 1...Bg7!! 2.Rh4 (2.Rxg7 stalemate!) Bd4! threatening 3...Bxa7 and the game is drawn. In fact the defence was found by endgame composer I. Vancura in 1924.

Chess Puzzle

Just to say sorry for the gap in posts, I have been busy on other matters.

Today's puzzle:


In this position Black resigned. But incredibly, the position contains a saving resource. Can you see it?

Solution given to last puzzle:
D. Morschel - A.N. Rubinsztein
Cape Town Championship 1965
Rubinsztein played 1...Nf7! and White resigned. He cannot capture the knight because of 2.Kxf7 h5 and the pawn queens, while if 2.Kf5 Black first sets about capturing White's a-pawn then returns with his king to help his own pawn to promotion.

Well to be honest Sean Coffey (who else?) busted the above puzzle. Showing that many routes lead to a win. Not just one way as stated in the puzzle. Actually 1...Ne8! is the quickest win (that's what Nalimov endgame tables says!). Here's my excuse: I was in a hurry selecting the puzzle, and didn't check it. That's pretty feeble, but I think anyone spotting the flaw got more out of the puzzle than they would have usually gotten.

Chess Puzzle

Here is today's puzzle:


Can Black still win? Yes: Black found the one move which secures the full point for him. Can you?

Solution to last puzzle:
A.A. Ponelis - B. Kerr
Inter-Union Congress, Randburg 1978
White played 1.Rh3+! and Black resigned because of 1...Kxh3 2.Qf3+ Kh4 3.Qg3 mates.

Chess Puzzle

Today's puzzle:


White found a neat way to exploit the insecure situation of Black's king in this position, bringing the game to a quick end. How did he do so?


Solution to the last puzzle:
R.F. Griffiths - J. Wolpert
SA Championship, Pretoria 1963
Griffiths came out with 2.Rc3! Now if 2...a2 there follows 3.Qxe5+ Ka7 4.Qc5+ Kb8 5.Qf8+ Ka7 6.Ra3+ Kb6 7.Qd6+ Kb5 8.Qa6+ followed by 9.Rxa2 and wins. So Black played 2...Qb1+ 3.Kh2 Qf5 4.Rxa3 Rb2 5.Qa7+ Kc8 6.Rf3! and resigned. A fine piece of adjournment analysis by Griffiths. Going back to the diagram, any move by White's queen allows 2...Qxc1+ 3.Qxc1 a2 and the pawn queens, while any other move, other than 2.Rc3, allows 2...a2. Hence White's optimism!

Chess Puzzle

Today task:


In the above ending Black sealed the forced 1...Kb8 and confidently declared he would win. But White was equally confident of victory! On resumption he produced a problem-like move which validated his optimism. What was it?

Solution to the last puzzle:
Ivanov - Vitolinsh
URS-FL Frunze 1979
At first sight it seem that Black can hold on, but the strike 83.Rg5+!! clarifies the situation: 83...Kxg5 84.h7 Re1 (84...Rf6+ 85.Ke7 Kg6 86.h8Q Rxf7+ 87.Ke6) 85.Kd7 Rd1+ 86.Ke8 Re1+ 87.Kf8 Rh1 88.Kg7 1-0

Sean Coffey came up trumps again and provided the composer and solution to the query in the last post. Readers should look at the comments to see Sean's brilliant explanation of the strategy required for White to win. It makes the whole problem!

Chess Puzzle

Today's chess exercise:


At first sight is seems that Black can hold on, but White finds a surprising resource. Can you find it?

Solution to the last puzzle:
Szabo - Hort
Wijk aan Zee 1972
Black played the correct 1...Ke5, and White, after thinking for 55 minutes, resigned. He considered these possibilities: 2.Ke2 Rd3! 3.Re7+ (or 3.Ra3 Kd5 followed by Kc4) 3...Kf5 (not 3...Kd5? because of 4.Rd7+ Kc4 5.Rxd3 exd3+ 6.Kd2! with a draw) 4.Rf7+ Ke6 and Black wins the pawn and the game. After 2.Kc2 Black can quite simply push the passed e-pawn-try it yourself! The poor position of White's Rook on the 7th rank makes Black's win easy because the Rook, as in the first variation, has little scope. If the Rook stood on its best square, a8, Black could not have made progress. It's not for nothing that Rook endgames are considered among the most difficult ones!

That puzzle's solution required quite a lot of quotation from the source so I think it's only fair that I should name my references! It was taken from "the Best Move" by Vlastimil Hort and Vlastimil Jansa, 1980. Quite an interesting book, very difficult as the positions aren't really puzzles in the usual meaning of the word.

Stephen Short presented a very interesting position in the Cork Chess Club last night. He wouldn't tell us the solution - he has an evil side!! I have seen it before, but can't find it at the moment.



I'm sure Sean Coffey will give me the composer and solution!