White to move. How should White proceed?
5k1r/1p2q2p/2p1prp1/2PpN1Q1/pn1P1P1R/4P3/7P/6RK w – – 0 1
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White to move. How should White proceed?
5k1r/1p2q2p/2p1prp1/2PpN1Q1/pn1P1P1R/4P3/7P/6RK w – – 0 1
The obvious move is Nd7+ and white wins the rook for his knight. Black pawns can then be picked up one by one by white’s rooks. Pawn’s on a4, b7 and h7 are especially vulnerable. White’s e3 pawn is kinda weak though.
Another move that’s worth looking into is Qh6+ threatening a take on black’s g6 pawn with either his knight or rook … need to analyze this further.
The immediate 1. Ng6+ move loses for white, btw … e.g.,
1. Ng6+ Rxg6
2. Qxe7+ Kxe7
3. Rxg6 Kf7!
4. Rg1 a3
5. Ra1 a2
and Kg7, Ra8, and Nf2 moves are coming for black.
I analysed Qh6+ quickly and came up with:
1. Qh6+ Ke8
2. Nxg6 RxN
3. RxR hxR
4. QxR+ Qf8
5. QxQ+ KxQ
6. Rh8+
and White will take black’s a-pawn. Is there a better continuation that I’ve missed?
The immediate 1. Ng6+ move loses for white, btw … e.g.,
1. Ng6+ Rxg6
2. Qxe7+ Kxe7
3. Rxg6 Kf7!
4. Rg1 a3
5. Ra1 a2
and Kg7, Ra8, and Nf2 moves are coming for black.
A pity Black doesn’t get to make all those moves on one turn 🙂
Leaving aside an earlier improvement for White (4.Rgh6), where’s Black’s win after:
1.Ng6+ Rxg6
2.Qxe7+ Kxe7
3.Rxg6 Kf7
4.Rg1 a3
5.Ra1 a2
6.Rg4
… ?
(BTW, I don’t necessarily disagree that White may have something better than 1.Nxg6+!?)
I analysed Qh6+ quickly and came up with:
1. Qh6+ Ke8
2. Nxg6 RxN
3. RxR hxR
4. QxR+ Qf8
5. QxQ+ KxQ
6. Rh8+
and White will take black’s a-pawn. Is there a better continuation that I’ve missed?
Improvements for both sides:
2…Rg8 3.Nxe7 Rxg1+ 4.Kxg1 Rxh6 5.Rxh6 a3 looks fine for Black.
3…hxg6 is just a give-up move, although by then Black is in a bad way. 3…Qf8 is “better,” relatively speaking.
4.Qxg6+ Qf7 5.Rxh8+ wins in a walk without any endgame drudgery.
5.Qe5 is much cleaner.
I do agree that White wins your final position, but not that Black has to let him reach it (2…Rg8).
Anon@3:41, Yup, ‘missed that Rg4+ move :). White would then be able to protect his second rank with Rg2 — preventing black’s Nf2 move and then later threaten the knight with the Rb2 move. Indeed, this line doesn’t look very good for black :).
However, I just found a much better line for black after white’s 3. Rxg6. To wit,
1. Nxg6 Rxg6
2. Qxe7 Kxe7
3. Rxg6 hxg6!
4. Rxh8 Kd7!
i.)
5. Ra8 Na6
6. Ra7 Kc7 and black’s pawn can’t be stopped.
ii.)
5. Rh7+ Kc8
6. Rh8+ Kc7
7. Rh7+ Kb8 and black’s pawn can’t be stopped.
So yeah. I still hold that 1. Nxg6 doesn’t bode well for white.
1. Qh6+ Ke8
2. Rxg6!
i.)
2. … Rxg6
3. Nxg6 Qf8
4. Nxh8 Qxh8
5. Qxe6+ is fine for white
ii.)
2. … Rh8-f8
3. Rxf6 Rxf6
4. Qxh7 again, looks good for white
So … it looks like 1. Qh6+ and 2. Rxg6 is the line that I’m favoring.
1.Qh6+ Kg8(b)(c)
2.Nxg6 RxN (2….Qg7 3.Ne7+ wins)
3.RxR+ wins
b) 1……….Ke8
2.Nxg6 RxN
3.RxR PxR (3….a3 4.Rex6 a2 5.RxQ+ KxR 6.Qd6+ Kf7 7.Qd7+ Kf8 (7…Kg8 8.Rg4+ wins) 8.Qd8+ Kf7 9.Qa5 wins for white)
4.QxR+ Qf8
5.QxQ+ KxQ
6.Ra8+ Kf7
7.Rb8! (not 7.Ra8 Na6!) a3
8.Rxb7+ and white wins
c)1………..Qg7
2.Nd7+ Kf7
3.QxQ+ kxQ
4.Rb1! Rf7 (4…Ra8 5.RxN wins)
5.Ne5! wins for white.
I’m not sure if the whole combination is all correct…but I’m pretty certain that 1.Qh6+ is the right way to go.
1. Nxg6 Rxg6
2. Qxe7 Kxe7
3. Rxg6 hxg6!
4. Rxh8 Kd7!
i.)
5. Ra8 Na6
6. Ra7 Kc7 and black’s pawn can’t be stopped.
Not that way it can’t, but 6.Rg8 gets back in time. Can White win from there? I don’t know.
ii.)
5. Rh7+ Kc8
6. Rh8+ Kc7
7. Rh7+ Kb8 and black’s pawn can’t be stopped.
White shouldn’t go in for this line (because he chases Black’s king and knight to better positions), but he can still get back to the first rank fast enough with 7.Rg8.
Does anybody see a clear White win after 5.Ra8 and 6.Rg8?
I think Rb1 is a better move attacking knight and b7 pawn.
Henry –
After:
1.Qh6+ Ke8
2.Nxg6
… Black has:
2…Rg8
3.Nxe7 Rxg1+
4.Kxg1 Rxh6
5.Rxh6 a3
… and White’s struggling for the draw.
1.Rb1 +-
Attacking the Knight and x-rayed attack on b7.
I confess to wanting 1.Nxg6+!? to be the right answer, notwithstanding the uncertainty at the ends of some of the lines we’ve looked at. Who can resist a flashy piece sac?
chandra and pharaoh’s unassuming 1.Rb1 looks awfully tough, though.
If all this is true, then why not 1.Ra1, attacking the a-pawn and planning to penetrate through the a-file?
Kamalakanta
An alternative is
1 QxR+ QxQ (anything else is awful)
2 Nd7+ Kg7 (anything else is awful)
3 NxQ KxN
So as in the immediate Nd7+, White exchanges N for R, but also trades Qs.
Mark
How about Rxh7!
If Rxh7, then bxg6 takes the queen with extra pawns and vulnerable black rooks. If Qxg7, then white plays Qxf6 with strong attack.
Chandra is right, the simple Rb1 (with the indirect threat to b7) is devastating to black. The black rook on f6 would be hanging after white plays Rxb7.
No need for any brilliant sac :).
why not 1.Ra1
…
1 QxR+
There’s nothing really wrong with either of these moves. They certainly don’t lose. Either one might be as good as 1.Nxg6+.
But the quiet 1.Rb1 is a crusher. Black simply has no good answer.
How about Rxh7!
If Rxh7, then bxg6
This looks like a typo. Do you mean:
1.Rxh7 Rxh7
2.Nxg6+
…? After:
2…Rxg6
3.Qxg6 Qf7
… Black’s got a safe king, an extra piece, and an ominous a-pawn.
If Qxg7, then white plays Qxf6 with strong attack.
Another typo? Are you suggesting that Black loses after:
1.Rxh7 Qxh7
2.Qxf6+
…? That I can heartily concur with 🙂
Rb1 is the correct idea.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
http://www.ChessDiscussion.com