White to move. How should White proceed?
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Attack or defend?
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White to move. How should White proceed?
1. Qa6+ Kb8 (defending the a pawn)
2. Rxb6+ ab
3. Qxb6+ Kc8 (or Ka8)
4. Qc6+ Kb8
5. Rb1+ followed by mate.
if after Qa6+ Kd7 then Qb5+ forces the king back and after Qc6+ white again has the rook sac.
I’d play Rxb6 , it’s prettier , but with the same plan as anonymous , as it is a forced mate for white .
After Rxb6 , if Black doesn’t recapture immediately with axb6 , it is mate in 2 with Qa6+ followed by Qb7++ .
So 1-Rxb6 , axb6
2- Qa6+ , Kc7(or Kb8 but it doesn’t change anything )
3-Qa7+ , Kc8
4-Qa8+ , Kc7
5-Qc6+ , Kb8
6-Rb1+ , Ka7
7-Qa7++
Sorry , i forgot a line after move Qc6+ in my commentary , it’s not 6-Rb1+ but Qxb6+ , then the King goes either to c8 or a8 , you check him again with the Queen , and plays Rb1+ then mate him
Black can hold out for 7 moves maximum.
1. Qa6+ Kd7
2. Qb5+ Kc7
3. Qc6+ Kb8
4. Rxb6+ axb6
5. Qxb6+ Kc8
6. Qc6+ Kb8
7. Rb1+ Ka7
8. Qb7#
There’s no improvement with 5. … Ka8
6. Qa6+ Kb8
7. Rb1+ Kc7
8. Qb7# or Qc6#
jean’s suggestion of 1. Rxb6 will work, but in a slightly different way:
1. Rxb6 Nxf1 (for instance)
2. Qa6+ Kd7 (now it’s not Qb7#, but White still has one)
3. Qb5+ Kc7
4. Qc6#
Or, Black holds out longer with
1. … axb6
2. Qa6+ Kc7
3. Qa7+ Kc8
4. Qa8+ Kc7
5. Qc6+ Kb8
6. Qxb6+ Kc8 (6. … Ka8 7. Qa6+ Kb8 8. Rb1+ Kc7 9. Qb7# or Qc6#)
7. Qc6+ Kb8
8. Rb1+ Ka7
9. Qb7#
However, 6. Rb1 (in jean’s line) is not actually check because the b6 pawn is still on the board, and Black has a save with 6. … Nc4.
jcheyne
Sorry, jean; my browser didn’t update with your correction until after I posted.
jcheyne
No problem , thanks mate for the line with Nxf1 , to be honest i overlooked Kd7 answer after Qa6+ , so it’s a good thing that you posted and as you pointed , Qb5+ will work fine , cheers Jcheyne 🙂
hehehe…
after
1.rxb6? c4!
is a real spoiler of the party, isn’t it? no mate, no nothing, the best white can achieve is a perpetual after
2.qb2 axb6
3.qxb6 nxf1
…
do you guys only look for attacking moves? be sure, defense wins games!
greetings
Oh yea! Right Vohaul , c4 is a real nightmare if we playRxb6 , spot on !
i didn’t see it , how silly i am , well done Vohaul , so Qa6+ is the best move for sure with a forced mate
It appears that Qa6+ is a forced mate for all Black’s responses.