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Solutions Update

Problem 1 - White To Play

2r3k1/pb3p1p/1p3Bp1/2bN4/q7/4P2Q/P2R1PPP/5BK1 w - - 0 1

1.Qh6!

Threatens Qg7#

1...Bf8

The only response. But it falls short:

2.Ne7+ Bxe7
3.Qg7#

Problem 2 - White To Play

r1bqkb1r/p3pp1p/2pp1np1/4P3/2B5/2N5/PPP2PPP/R1BQK2R b KQkq - 0 8

8...dxe5? is a horrifically bad move because now White can hit him with this zinger:

9.Bxf7+! Kxf7

The capture is forced.

10.Qxd8

And Black is now down the exchange bigly and is in a resignable position.

Problem 3 - White To Play

r1q1r3/8/k1p5/1pK5/7R/1P6/8/4QB2 w - - 0 1

Straightforward from here:

1.Qa5+ Kxa5
2.Ra4+ bxa4
3.b4#

Problem 4 - Black To Play (BWTC 200)

r4rk1/ppRn1p2/6pb/1P2pq1p/3N4/P1QPn1Pb/1B1NPP1P/4R1KB b - - 0 1

1...Qxf2+
2.Kxf2 Ng4+
3.Kf3

Not 3.Kg1 because of Be3#

3...e4+
4.Kxe4

If 4.dxe4 then 4...Nde5#

4...Ngf6+
5.Kf3 Ne5+
6.Kf2 Nfg4+
7.Kg1 Be3#

Tricksy knights.

Endgame of the Week (563)

1B2B2k/3P4/4PK2/8/6q1/8/8/8 w - - 0 1

I was actually able to work through this problem myself without looking at the answer, so now my head is all swelled up like an overripe melon.

Looking at the position, I estimated that the best Black could do was a draw. Toward that end, I could see that Black's queen could run wild all over the board, giving checks and threatening pieces. So White would be premature if he tried an immediate 1.Be5 to set up a discovered check because of 1...Kh7 2.Bf7 Qg5+ 3.Kxg5 stalemate.

So I thought that White's first task had to be to neutralize the queen. He can do this by

1. d8=Q!

Now Black needs to do something about that queen.

1...Qh4+
2.Kg6 Qxd8

Black may think he can prolong the game indefinitely by harassing White's king, but it won't work. For example, 2...Qg4+ 3.Qg5 Qe4+ 4.Kf7 Qf3+ 5.Bf4 Qb7+ 6.Bd7 and Black has run out of checks. So he really needs to take the new queen.

And now with Black's queen out of the way:

3.Be5+ Kg8
4.Bf7+ Kf8
5.Bg7+ Ke7
6.Bf6+ Kf8

At this point, my stupid chess app decided it didn't like the looks of things coming up and decided to make a run for it:

6...Kd6

Heh. "See you later, toots, you're on your own!"

7. Bxd8 and wins.

Now, back to the main line. Black has just played 6...Kf8 and now there's a mate in 2:

7.e7+! Qxe7
8.Bg7#

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 05:10 PM

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