r2q1rk1/1pp1n1p1/1b1p1p2/1B1N2BQ/p2pP3/PnP3P1/1P3P2/1R4K1 w - - 0 1

Dress Pr0n For The 'Ettes:

Startling peacock blue plays off against bronze satin, such a vivid cloth from which to make this late #1860s dress. Additional trimmings in blue frame the rest of the garment, you can almost hear the rustle of that silk...@metmuseum #fashionhistory pic.twitter.com/BnwMchABtI

— Dr Kate Strasdin (@kateStrasdin) February 15, 2019

Greetings From Slovakia

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Solutions Update

Easier Problem - Black To Play

4b1rk/6rp/4p3/1p1pPp2/3NnP2/P1P2B1R/1P5P/3R1K2 b - - 0 1

1...Rg1+
2.Ke2 Rxd1
3.Kxd1 (or 3.Ke3, which gives up the rook outright)
3... Nf2+
4.Kd2 Nxh3 0-1

More Challenging Problem - White To Play

r2q1rk1/1pp1n1p1/1b1p1p2/1B1N2BQ/p2pP3/PnP3P1/1P3P2/1R4K1 w - - 0 1

1.Nxf6+ looks tempting, especially after 1...Rxf6 2.Bc4+ (hoping for 2...Kf8 3.Qh8+
Ng8 4.Qxg8+ Ke7 5.Qxg7+ Ke8 6.Qh8+ Ke7 7.Qxf6+ Kd7 8.Qf5+ Kc6 9.Qb5#), but Black can spoil the party with 2...e5 3.exd5 Rf5 and now White is two pieces down and nowhere to go.

The better move is 1.Bc4!, which really ties Black up. Now there are basically 4 lines, all of which lead to mate in, at the most, 4 moves:

#1:
1...Rf7
2.Nxf6+ gxf6
3.Qxf7+ Kh8
4. Bxf6#

#2:
1... fxg5
2.Nxe7#

#3:
1...g6
2.Nxe7+ Kg7
3.Qh6#

#4:
1...Nxd5
2.Bxd5+ Rf7
3.Qxf7+ Kh8 (3...Kh7 4.Qh5#)
4.Qh5#

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 paste 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 05:19 PM

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