A reader of this blog, James Hymas, just sent in an actual position from his game. It is black to move. How should black proceed?
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No clue.
1. Re1+ Rxe1 (1. … Kd2 2. Qxg5+ Rxg5 3. Rxf1 and black wins a rook)
2. Rxe1+ Kd2 (2. … Rxe1 3. Qxg5+ and black wins the Queen)
3. Re1+ Kd2 (3. … Rxe1 4. Qxg5+ and black wins the Queen)
4. Rd1+! Ke3
5. Qe5+ Kf2
6. Qe2+ Kg3
7. Rxg1+ 1-0
I think Re1+ is a little TOO easy don’t you think?
Well, I’m glad James Hymas sent in this position. It has some exciting rook moves.
Who would believe when first looking at it that the White rook on the g1-square is overloaded?
1. .. Re1+ 2. Rxe1
(2. Kd2 [This is the best White can do, but it loses the exchange, followed by some pawns.] Qxg5+ 3. Rxg5 Rxf1 4. Rxh5 Re5)
2. .. Rxe1+ 3. Kd2
(3. Rxe1 Qxg5+ [Black has won a Queen for a Rook, and crucially, White is now in check. Otherwise White would deliver checkmate on the back rank with the remaining rook.])
3. .. Rd1+ [This is a beautiful move, and it proves the the White rook on g1-square was overloaded.
When this move dawned on me, I was delighted.] 4. Rxd1 Qxg5+
1…Re1+
2.Kd2 Qxg5+ 3.Rxg5 Rxc1 4.Rxh5 Re5
2.Rxe1 Rxe1+
3.Kd2 Re2+ 4.Kd3 Qxg5 5.Rxg5 Rxh2
2.Rxe1 Rxe1+
3.Rxe1 Qxg5+ 4.Kb1 Kf8
I didn’t find out other better moves.
1. Re2-e1+
–br
… Rd8
Rd8
1.Re1+!! RxR 2.RxR+ (The Rook on g1 cannot take the Rook now. Because it should defend the Queen.) So,
2…Kd2 3.Rd1+ (The black Rook is still immune to capture.) So,
3…Ke3 4.Qe5+ Kf2(No other way to go)
5.Qe2+ Kg3 6.RxR wins the Queen.
Beautiful finish James!!
1.Re1+!! RxR (Suppose the Rook don’t make this capture-2…QxQ+ 3.RxQ RxR, and black is one Rook up) So
2…RxR+ (The Rook on g1 cannot take the Rook now. Because it should defend the Queen.) So,
2.Kd2 Rd1+ (The black Rook is still immune to capture.) So,
3.Ke3 Qe5+ 4Kf2(No other way to go)
4…Qe2+ 5.Kg3 RxR wins the Queen.
Beautiful finish James!!
My own idea to attack the white c-file and b-file pawns, upon exploration, turned out to be unproductive. Lacking any better ideas and having dismissed Re1+ prematurely, I let Fritz 13 hack away at it in infinite analysis mode. Fritz came up with this winning combination:
[FEN “4r1k1/1p3ppp/p2p1q2/3P1PQb/8/1N6/PPP1r2P/2K2RR1 b – – 0 0”]
1… Re1+
2. Kd2 Qxg5+
3. Rxg5 R8e2+
4. Kd3 Rxf1
5. Rxh5 Rff2
6. Nd4 Rxh2
7. Nxe2 Rxh5
From here, black easily can exploit his rook and massive passed pawn advantage eventually to promote a pawn and win.
This works especially well if black keeps his rook on the f-file to prevent the white king from interfering with promotion. The white knight is no match for blacks h and g-file pawns supported by the king and the rook.
Knowing that it is black to play and win, the first move is fairly obvious 🙂
1. … Rd8+!!
2. Rxd8 Rxd8+
3. Ke7
(3. Rxd8? Qxb4 0-1)
3. … Re8+
4. Kd6 Qd4+
5. Kc7 Qd7+
6. Kb6 Rxb8+ and checkmate soon follows 0-1
If
2. Ke7 Qxg4+!
3. Rxg4 Rxc8 0-1
Re1, Rxe1 Rxe1, Kd2 Rd1 and winning.
Re1, Rxe1 Rxe1, Kd2 Rd1 and winning.
… Re8.
(Of course then
Rxe1 Rxe1
Rxe1 Qxg5+
wins the queen.)
So I guess we have
Kd2 Qxg5
Rxg5 Rxf1
Rxh5 followed by something like Re5 to cash the d5 pawn.
Black wins the exchange with a winning position.
Pretty uninspiring problem imo, I went to computer check it since I really thought I had missed something big (like a forced line winning the queen or mating after Kd2)
A Classic
At first glance white has a huge threat and to avoid it, enforced looks:
1. … Qxg5
2. Rxg5
with the continuation:
2. … Be2
3. Rf2 Bc4/Bb5
with pretty equal situation.
But here must be another alternative for black:
1. … Re1+
2. Rxe1
(2. Kd2? Qxg5+! 3. Rxg5 Rxf1 drops rook)
2. … Rxe1+
3. Kd2
(3. Rxe1 Qxg5 drops queen for rook)
3. … Rxg1
(white’s counter threat gone now)
4. Qxg1
(4. Qxf6? gxf6 drops rook now)
Now I must admit I’m a little unsure about where this leads to, e.g.
4. … Qxf5
5. Qa7 (threats mate) Qc8
6. Na5
looks not too good.
Perhaps:
4. … g6
5. Qa7 Qxb2
6. Qxb7 Qxa2
is the one I should go for?
Let’s try 1… Re1+
Then if:
2. Rxe1 Rxe1+
If 3. Rxe1, then 3… Qxg5+
If 2. Kd2 Qxg5+
3. Rxg5 Rxf1 winning the rook,
even at the expense of losing the bishop on h5.
If 3. Kd2 Rd1+
If 4. Rxd1 Qxg5
If 4. Kf3 Qe5+
5. Kf2 Qe2+
6. Kg3 Rxg1+
If 7. Kh3 Rxg5 winning
If 7. Kh4 Qxh2++
Re1 should win quickly:
1. …..Re1
2. Kd2
Or [2.Re1 Re1 3.Re1 Qg5-+]. Continuing:
2. …..Qg5 (also, R8e2 wins)
3. Rg5 Rf1 wins.
@Oleg, @Lucymarie, @hitsujyun, @anand, @arthur, @pht, @mesilah, @yancey, @craig
I must confess that the Fritz line
1… Re1+
2. Kd2 Qxg5+
3. Rxg5 R8e2+
4. Kd3 Rxf1
5. Rxh5 Rff2
6. Nd4 Rxh2
7. Nxe2 Rxh5
was not what I had in mind at all!
The line I saw at game-time after 2. Kd2 was
2 … R8e2+
3. Kd3 Q:b2
with threats that I thought were overwhelming, but which I have subsequently determined are extinguished by 4. Nd4
Hopefully I would have found 4. Nd4 before playing 3 … Q:b2
The game continuation was
1 … Re1+
2 R:e1 R:e1+
3 Kd2 Rd1+
0-1
I liked the finish because it was a nice thematic piece overload problem, using every black piece and with three branches (white takes 0, 1, or 2 rooks on e1). The game continuation was fun because I offered my R twice!
Doing these daily puzzles is sharpening my tactics quite a bit … but, alas, I see these things only some of the time, not all of the time!