I found this position on the website ChessMastery.co.uk.
It is a mind boggling position. The white threat is quite obvious:
1. Qxh6 Kxh6 2. Ng4#
It all looks forced. Is black fighting for a lost cause or does he have one last trick up his sleeve? (If one asks a question like this, the answer must be a resounding ‘yes’). Solution…
In the foreword of his excellent book ‘Recognizing your opponent’s resources’ the author, Mark Dvoretsky’ writes:
‘Your opponent also has a right to exist – Savielly Tartakower remarked with his characteristic irony. Absorbed in our own thoughts, we sometimes forget this, for which we have to pay dearly.
As Viktor Korchnoi wrote, Well, if you do not check what your opponent is doing, you will end up complaining about bad luck after every game.’
Korchnoi’s statement is the reason why I stopped ‘wishing my opponent luck’. It implies that I wish myself to blunder. I hate making big mistakes! Nowadays I wish them a nice game and think ‘I hope my game will just be a bit more nice then yours!’
It’s great advice to take your opponent’s resources into account. It will net you a lot of extra points. We allways have to take care and ask ourselves:
‘Are there any threats’ and ‘What if I do…. how might my opponent react?’
Even the simplest positions sometimes hide unexpected tactical tricks. See the diagram*. At first glance it seems that white is completely winning. He simply queens his pawn (c7xb8Q) and will be a queen and a rook up. Also taking with the rook on b8 gives white more then enough material to win the game.
Or is this a bit too cheerful? Well see for yourself. White to play and win (yes, he has a win)! But it is no so easy as it looks. Solution…
*Source: Chessbites.com
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…
When I looked for the first time at this position the strange fianchettoed position of the white queen struck me. But there is more.
The coordination between the white pieces is poor. But how can black make use of this?
It took me a while (6:43) to figure this out. Can you do better than me? Of course you can …!!
Chess can be a very complicated game. This is no news. And sometimes we over complicate things without knowing it. We get distracted and don’t see what’s the leading motif in a position.
See the diagram. It is black’s turn. The position is quite messy. There are a lot of possibilities. Do you see the correct solution?
I found this problem on Chess Tempo (number 738). It’s from a game between Franz Jittenmeier and Ludger Grewe (2234) played in 1998. Black found the correct solution and won.
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 »
See the diagram on the right. White has serious problems. His bishop on f4 is attacked by the knight and with it the pawn on e5. To make matters worse, black has a well supported passed pawn on d4. So what to do?
White decided in favor of drastic measures and played 1. Be3. His idea is: if you take my pawn on e5, I will retaliate with the capture on d4. If this exchange would materialize, it is a certain draw.
The problem is: white overlooked a tiny detail. Do you see this ‘detail’?
Does it ever happen to you? You study a position. It seems quite simple. But for some kind of silly reason you can’t find the correct sequence of moves.
It happened to me. See the diagram. It took me quite some time. I tried everything. At least so I thought. But couldn’t come up with a convincing solution because I missed a move in one variation. So in the end I failed. For sure you can do better than me! White to play and win.
I found this position on Chess Tempo…
In this position black, with a piece down, played the obvious 1. … Rxd4. He seems okay after 2. Qxf4 Rxd1+ What’s wrong with this line of thought? See solution…
Puzzle found on Chess Tempo
The black king is in mortal danger. With his last move black tried to escape his fate by giving a check on c1. He hopes for a perpetual check.
How can white dash black’s hopes? See solution…
Puzzle found on Chess Tempo
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