q3r1k1/r7/pp1p1p2/6pQ/P2Nb1R1/7R/1P4PP/6K1 w - - 0 1

Dress Pr0n For The 'Ettes:

Apparently it was world embroidery day yesterday which I missed, so here a lavishly stitched 1957 cocktail dress from the House of @LANVINofficial in shades of purple silk and chenille that scroll around the fitted bodice @V_and_A #1950sWomen #fashionhistory pic.twitter.com/pPvKmdsuex

— Dr Kate Strasdin (@kateStrasdin) July 31, 2018

Greetings from Bosnia

___________

Solutions Update

Easier Problem - Black To Play

r4rk1/pp3p2/3P2pp/Q1P1qp2/N2b4/4nP2/PP2B2P/2R1R2K b - - 0 1

1...Ng4!

Black threatens Qxh2#

2.fxg4 Qe4+
3.Bf3 Qxf3#

There is one other line wherein White ignores the knight sac and tries to block the queen, but it fails in exactly the same way:

2.f4 Qe4+
3.Bf3 Qxf3#

More Challenging Problem - White To Play

q3r1k1/r7/pp1p1p2/6pQ/P2Nb1R1/7R/1P4PP/6K1 w - - 0 1

The decision tree for this is quite complicated, but it starts out with

1. Rxe4!

What's the point of this move? With the elimination of the bishop, White is threatening a mating attack. To see this, pretend Black is oblivious, and moves, say, 1...a5. And now White mops up quickly with

2.Rxe8+ Qxe8
3.Qxe8+ Kg7
4.Ne6#

So Black has to try to come up with a better solution. There are several plausible Black replies. He could recapture with his rook, but that leads to mate:

1... Rxe4
2.Qh8+ Kf7
3.Rh7+ Kg6
4.Rh6+ Kf7
5.Qxf6+ Ke8
6.Rh8+ Kd7
7.Rh7+ Re7 ( or 7...Kc8 8.Qf8+ Re8 9.Qxe8#)
8.Qxe7+ Kc8
9.Rh8#

Or Black could try a desperation counterattack, 1...Rh7, but then

2.Qxh7+ Kf8
3.Qh8+ Kf7
4.Rh7+ Kg6
5.Qg7#

The last alternative is to recapture with the queen, 1...Qxe4, which brings about:

2.Qh8+ Kf7
3.Rh7+ Qxh7 (not 3...Kg6? 4.Rh6+ Kf7 5.Qxf6+ Kg8 6.Rh8#)
4.Qxh7+ Kf8
5.Qxa7

Not out-and-out mate, but White has such a material advantage that Black should just resign.

Hope to see you all next week!

___________

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 paste it into your chess app.

___________

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

| Access Comments