1bkr3r/pp4pp/8/2p1q3/2P3b1/1PNn3P/P1QP1PK1/R1B4R b - - 0 1

Dress Pr0n For The 'Ettes:

A jewelled c1912 dress rich in both colour and decoration. Folds of satin shadow around the legs and on the bodice geometric embellishments dash in lines of gold and coral.....I wonder who dazzled in this? @CostumeHeritage #1910s #fashionhistory pic.twitter.com/2H536b6B8E

— Dr Kate Strasdin (@kateStrasdin) March 2, 2019

Here are a couple of pics of Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge. She is just as stylish as Melania and I could easily post 2-3 pics of her each week for a year and not run out. Thanks to the lurking 'ette (you know who you are!) who brought her to my attention:

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Solutions Update

Easier Problem - White To Play

rr2R3/3P1pp1/3k3p/6PP/5P2/1P5B/1K6/8 w - - 0 1

1.Rxb8 Rxb8 and 1.d8=Q+ Rxd8 2.Rxd8+ Rxd8 clearly aren't good enough, so White needa some way to bring the bishop into the game. Like this:

1. Rc8!

And now the pawn will queen on a square the bishop can cover.

1...Rxc8
2.dxc8=Q Rxc8
3.Bxc8 Kd5

Black's forlorn hope is to strike at the vulnerable pawn on f4. But White is prepared even for that:

4.Kc3 Ke4
5.gxh6 gxh6

or if 5...Kxf4? then 6.h7

6.f5 and wins

More Challenging Problem - Black To Play

1bkr3r/pp4pp/8/2p1q3/2P3b1/1PNn3P/P1QP1PK1/R1B4R b - - 0 1

The main line be like:

1...Bf3+
2. Kxf3 Rdf8+

or (2...Qf4+ 3.Ke2 Rhe8+ 4.Kf1 (4.Kd1 Qf3+ 5.Ne2 Qxe2#) 4...Qxf2#)

3.Kg4 h5+
4.Kh4 g5#

1...Bxh3+ is also serviceable, but not as efficient.

2.Rxh3 is White's best response. Not 2.Kf3 Rhf8# or 2.Kg1 Qe1#.

2.Rxh3, at best, leads to a mate in 8:

2...Rhf8 (or 2...Ne1+, picking up the queen and the eventual win)

3.f3 Rxf3
4.Qxd3 Rdxd3
5.Rxf3 Qh2+
6.Kf1 Rxf3+
7.Ke1 Qg1+
8.Ke2 Qf1#

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 05:23 PM

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