8/1p6/8/2P1B3/8/8/p2K4/1k6 w - - 0 1

Lovely Dresses, Goofy Hats

This week, I grabbed some photos from this link to the Queen's carriage parade at the Royal Ascot racing meet in England. Lots of fancy clothes, lots of dresses, and some are pretty outlandish. And hats. Click on that link to see the photos I didn't include. All of the men have to wear the Ascot hat as is traditional, but the women are free to indulge themselves as they see fit. I have never seen such ridiculous, goofy-looking hats that some of the women were wearing.

But enough about hats. On to the dress pr0n:

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Solutions Update

Problem 1 - White To Play

rbb2r1k/p3qp1p/1p2pp2/8/3P2Q1/P2B4/1P3PPP/R4RK1 w - - 0 1

Black doesn't have much of an answer to:

1.Qh4!

Note that there are three squares White could have moved his queen to, h3, h4 or h5. But h5 is the only destination square that will enable White to force the issue. If 1.Qh3 or 1.Qh5, then 1...f5 stops the attack. Black can't move f5 after Qh4 because of the immediate Qxe7.

1...Bxh2+

Black really has nothing better. He should probably just resign at this point.

2.Kh1 f5
3.Qxe7 and wins

Problem 2 - Black To Play

8/4R1R1/7k/7p/7P/2q3P1/5P1K/8 b - - 0 1

Black is in deep kimchi here, so he pretty much has to go for the draw. A simplification would be disastrous: 1...Qxg7 2.Rxg7 Kxg7 and the 2-pawn advantage pretty much seals the deal for White.

Black's king is kind of in a restricted position, so Black tries to force a stalemate with

1...Qxg3+!

Any of the recapture moves Kxg3, Rxg3, or fxg3 results in stalemate.

White's only recourse is

2.Kh1

But then
2...Qg1+

3.Rxg1

Forced. And there's the stalemate.

Problem 3 - White To Play

3k4/ppqbr3/2r1PQ2/8/8/P7/1P3PPP/3RR1K1 w - - 0 1

1. Qxe7+ Kxe7
2. exd7+ Kf6

Not 2...Kd8 3.Re8#. If 2...Kf7 then 3.d8=Q Qxd8 4.Rxd8

3.d8=Q+ Qxd8
4.Rxd8 and the rook advantage is enough for a win.

An alternate line that will get you to the same place is:

1.Qh8+ Re8
2.Qxe8+ Kxe8
3.exd7+ Kf7
4.d8=Q Qxd8
5.Rxd8 and wins

Problem 4 - White To Play

1r1q3k/1bp1n1pp/3p4/4n3/4Nr2/1P1Q3R/P1P2PPP/5RK1 w - - 0 1

1.Nf6 Nf3+

There are a number of early missteps that will cause Black to lose early:

1...gxf6 2.Qxh7#
1...Rxf6 2.Qxh7#
1...g6 2.Rxh7#
1...h6 2.Qh7#
1...Qg8 2.Rxh7+ Qxh7 3.Qxh7#

2.gxf3

And now it gets a bit complicated:

If 2.Kh1 then Rh4 3.Qxh7+ (3.Rxh4 Ng5 (3...Nxh4 4.Qxh7#) 4.Rxh7+ Nxh7 5.Qxh7#) 3...Rxh7 4.Rxh7#

Back to the main line, which is:

2...Rg4+
3.fxg4 Be4 (3...Qg8 4.Rxh7+ Qxh7 5.Qxh7#)
4.Rxh7+ (4.Qxe4 Ng6 5.Rxh7#)
4...Bxh7
5.Qxh7# 1-0

Endgame of the Week

8/1p6/8/2P1B3/8/8/p2K4/1k6 w - - 0 1

1.Ba1! Kxa1

No other choice.

2. Kc2 b5
3. c6 b4
4. c7 b3+
5. Kxb3 Kb1
6. c8=Q a1=N+!

If 6...a1=Q then 7.Qc2#

7.Kc3 Nc2

If 7...Ka2 then 8.Qb8 Nb3 9.Qxb3+ Ka1 10.Qb2# is an alternate line.

8.Qf5 Ka2
9.Qxc2+ Ka1
10.Qb2#

Hope to see you all next week!

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Note: that cryptic line of letters and numbers you see underneath each board diagram is a representation of the position in what is known as "Forsyth-Edwards Notation", or F.E.N. It's actually readable by humans. Most computer applications nowadays can read FEN, so those of you who may want to study the position, you can copy the line of FEN and paste into your chess app and it should automatically recreate the position on its display board. Or, Windows users can just "triple click" on it and the entire line will be highlighted so you can copy and past it into your chess app.

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So that about wraps it up for this week. Chess thread tips, suggestions, bribes, rumors, threats, and insults may be sent to my yahoo address: OregonMuse little-a-in-a-circle yahoo dott com.

posted by OregonMuse at 05:15 PM

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