White to move. How should white proceed?
Source: ChessToday.net
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White to move. How should white proceed?
Source: ChessToday.net
1. Bf4!
I feel that white has to bring in his bishop. Tne only way seems to be by redirecting the bishop into the h6 – f8 diagonal.
1. Bf4! Qf7
( 1……. Nxf4
2. Re8+! Qxe8
3. Qg7# )
( 1……. Bxe2
2. Bh6+ Ng7
3. Bxg7+ Kg8
4. Bh6+ Kh8
5. f7 and it is curtains )
2. Bd6+!
( I find some resistance with
2. Bh6+ Ng7
and I am not sure how white has to continue )
2……… Ke8
3. Rxe6+ Kd7
4. Qxf7+ +-
1-0
1.f7 Qxf7
2.Bd6+ Ke8
3.Rxe6+
Deflect black queen to allow Bd6#, seems to be one possible motive here. To use Bd6 as deflection is also a possibility:-)
But white’s rook is hanging, must do something about this first of all. Black knight seeems nice to get rid of!
But can I allow black to check me in 2nd rank? I find Rxe6 the most enforcing looking here, so after all this loud thinking I try it:
1. Rxe6! Ra2+ (black must try this)
2. Kg1 Ra1+
3. Kg2 Ra2+
4. Bf2 Qxe6 (what else?)
5. Bd6+!
Perhaps an unexpected place to insert this sack, but this should gain white an extra queen.
5. … Qxd6 (enforced)
6. Qg7+ Ke8
7. f7+ Kd7
8. f8=Q+ Kc6
9. Qxd6+ Kxd6
This is up with queen for rook
10. Kg3
And white bishop will come into play, making this game very pleasant for white.
difficult!
this looks good:
1. Dh6+ – Ke8
2. Dh8+ – Kf7
3. Dh7+ – Ke8
4. Dg8#
but this doesn’t:
1. Dh6+ Kg8
2. f7+ – Dxf7
3. Rxe6 – Ra2+
4. Kh3 – Df5#
Something went wrong in my first solution.
After Bf2 to protect my king, I no longer have Bd6+ of course.
The basic idea here is actually quite easy to see:
If black had not his knight (can be traded off by Rxe6) and his queen wasn’t in 7th rank (can be deflected with Bd6+) then Qg7+, f7+ and f8=Q are 3 obvious moves, and it is up with Q for R, winning.
The problem is black’s R checks following Rxe6 before he takes back with queen.
White can’t play Kh3? Qxe6+ and also not Bf2? since he then hasn’t Bd6.
How to get out of the checks, then?
1. Rxe6 Ra2+
2. Re2?
Would have been brilliant if it wasn’t for the fact that black gets Re6 to stop Bd6.
Few, but still different solutions here.
I think I have to give up the interesting idea Rxe6.
Beside of the problem with many checks, there is also the fact that if taking my rook with check, black should at least have the nice Qf7 killing the Bd6 threat.
So I guess Bf4 is right.
I didn’t see that Nxf4 was impossible.