Category: Chess puzzle

Sacrifices in the Kings Indian

Michel HoetmerLeave a comment

Simon Williams is one of the best (if not the best) trainers on PlayChess. His shows are always very entertaining and I learn a lot from them. Simon has a knack for the attack on the king.  

Tonight he showed some great Nakamura games. The diagram is one of the positions we looked at. This was not from a Nakamura game but Simon showed it to us because it was relevant for what was to follow.

There are some neat tactics involved. The position is quite complicated. As usual in the Kings Indian white attacks on the Queen side and black tries to force matters on the Kings side.

Question: who is better?

  • White or black?
  • What would you play as white?

Hint: there are several games in the database. It was black who won most of the times, but not always! Solution…

Chess puzzle #35: only move to win

Michel HoetmerLeave a comment

Last weekend I played in the Malmö Open. I was pleased with my result. The strange thing is that I scored most of my points out of very difficult situations. In three games I was objectively lost. But tenacious defence saved the day for me.

The diagram position is not one of these games. Although I had to defend myself again. White attacked fiercely and finally invested a piece in order to keep the attack going. But to no avail. I gained the upper hand.

See the diagram position after 22. Bb6. White came with one more problematic move. Black is winning, but he has to find the (only) correct move. Do you see it? I did and went on to win the game! Solution…

Wish you luck?

Michel HoetmerLeave a comment

This August I played a tournament in the Göteborg chess week. For me it was ages ago since I played a single Round Robin with nine other combatants.

There were a lot of ups and downs. In the end I shared third price with some others. Maybe not bad for a start, but I was not happy with the qualitiy of my play (or better to say ‘the lack off quality’). Far form it. 

One thing strikes me as odd. Before the start of the game it is of course normal to shake your opponents hands. Most of them said ‘I wish you luck!’ Luck? Wasn’t it Viktor Korchnoi who once wrote:Read More »

I want to sacrifice something, but what?

Michel HoetmerLeave a comment

Chess puzzles can sometimes be…? Well eh, very puzzling.

The problem with these puzzles is that it is always something like ‘white to play and win’.

And winning most of the time means: you have to throw some material at your opponents mercy, preferably a queen or at least a rook.

Sorry, I was just joking. It doesn’t have to be the queen or a rook of course. Any piece or even pawn will do. As long as it is a sacrifice. The idea is clear:

A sacrifice seems to be the logic consequence of the statement ‘white (or black) to play and win’. Or is it?Read More »