White to move. How should white proceed?
Source: ChessToday.net
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Bronstein chess tactic
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White to move. How should white proceed?
Source: ChessToday.net
This is way too hard. Let’s go occupy the USCF and FIDE instead.
Qb8+! is a double attack that wins the enemy queen.
Qa5, but I’m not sure. Seems, black has nothing in the right corner, if queen is busy.
No time for me to go through full analysis right now.1Qa5 is the key move. I pondered over 1Qa7 for some time but 1 Qa5 followed by Qxd5+seems correct.
1Qa5 Rxg3+
2Kh2 Rh3+
3Kg2 Qe8
4Qxd5+ Kh7
5Rf8 wins
Qa5
1. Qa7 Rxg3+
2. Ka2 Ra3+
3. Kb2 Qd8
4. Rb1 Rb3+
5. Kxb3 Ne4+
6. Ka2
now black has no more checks, and there is no defence for Rb8
1-0
not 6. Kf3?? Qf6+
7. Ke2 Qf2+
8. Kd1 Qd2#
Let’s dispense with the obvious:
1. Rf8?! Qf8
2. Nf8 Rg3!
Here, black will surely lose if he takes the knight too hastily: [2. …Kf8? 3.Qd8 Kf7 4.Qd7 forks the king and rook. Continuing:
3. Kf1 Rf3
4. Ke2 Rf8 and I would guess this is about even Q vs R+N+1 or 2P.
My very first thought was that what white would like to do is to deflect the black queen from the eighth rank so that he can play Rf8+ followed by Rh8#. White can attack the black queen with his queen, but he runs into the problem that the black queen doesn’t have to take the bait. I stumbled onto the answer, and it is quite mind-blowing:
1. Qa5!
I think Qa7 will win, too, but haven’t looked at all the variations in that line. It isn’t easy to see the effect of this double attack on the queen and the d5 pawn, but it is deadly:
1. …..Qb8 (Qc8 2.Ne7; Qe8 2.Qd5)
2. Rf8!
White will likely win with an immediate Qd5, but I did find some issues in that line that make me just a bit unsure that it is a win. Continuing:
2. …..Qf8
3. Qd5!!
This I simply stumbled my way into while trying everything. Continuing:
3. …..Nf7
If black plays Qf7, white wins the queen with 4.Qd8+ since Kh7 leads to Qh8#. Continuing:
4. Nf8 Rg3 (Ke8/g8 3.Qc8 forks g4)
5. Kf2 and white will retain his knight in this line and should have a win, though not a trivial one.
Qb7 and white win
1.Qa5 Rxg3+ (Qa5 blocks the Queen’s ability to counterattack; the Queen cannot be taken due to Rf8+, Kh7 and Rh8#)
2.Kh2 Rh3+
3.Kg2 Qb8 (the Queen has to avoid the other queen and protect the f8)
4.Rf8+ Qxf8
5.Qxd5+ (the move that saves teh White knight) Nf7
6.Nxf8 Rxh5
Now White has better forces to win
Qb7 If QxQ then
Rf8 Kh7
Rh8 mate
If Q any where in the first rank then
Qxd5 followed by Rf8 /Nf8 and wins
Since Rf8+ leads to material balance and probably unclear situation, black gets rook, knight and pawn for the queen, that can’t be the right solution.
Here must be some difficult-to-see improvement.
Could it be that a defensive move unexpectedly gains a tempo here?
E.g.
1. Kh2 Qa2+
2. Kh1 Qa8 (otherwise Rf8+ mates)
seems to gain a tempo since black is deprived of the option Rxg3+.
I must stick to the profylaxis Kh2.
Black has no way to prevent the coming Rf8+ with queen gain (or mate), and white has more active play since black is out of counter checks.
Neither Kh7 or Qa2+ Kh1 helps black.
E.g.
1. Kh2 Qa2+
2. Kh1 Rxg3??
3. Rf8+ Kh7
4. Rh8#
1Qa5 My first instinct was 1… Qa7 but after 1… Qd8 white has to contend with taking Q for R and N.
1… Rxg3+
2Kh2 Rh3+
3Kg2 Qb8
4Rf8+
4Qxd5+ Kh7 white has no forcing continuation.
1…. Qxf8
5Qxd5+ Nf7
5… Qf7 6Qd8+ with either
6… Qf8 7Qxf8+ Kh7 8Qh8# or
(6… Kh7 7Qh8#)
6Nxf8 black can not save R and take N too.
On 1st move black may try directly
1…. Qb8
2Rf8+ Qxf8
3Qxd5+ Nf7
4Nxf8+ Kxf8
5Qc5+ Ke7
6Qxg4 wins.
1.Rf8 wins the queen for rook and knight, but maybe black can survive that.
Basically White has two options:
– let the queen get access to f8
– give acheck from d5 and win the queen for a rook only
1. Qd6/Qb4 first option
The question is whether Black has a perpetual:
1. … Rxg3+
2. Kh2 Rh3+
3. Kg1
Kg2/h1 is answered by d4+! and White can resign.
3. … Rg3+ and no problems for Black.
Conclusion: White must find a way to push the black queen away from a8 and get access to f8 after that:
A) 1. Qb7! Rxg3+(?)
2. Kh2 Rh3+
3. Kg2 Qd8 The queen must stay on the 8th rank and protect d5 (second option).
4. Qb4! Black is out of checks : +-
B) 1. Qb7! Qd8(!) Now the black rook still protects the 4th rank and Qb4 is impossible.
2. Qd7! attacking the rook; this enforces
2. … Rg3+
3. Kh2 Rh3+
4. Kg2 Qa8 What else?
5. Qb7 Qd8
6. Qb4 and it’s over
Mixed up the a-b files with the g-h files in my solution.
Should be:
1. Qa7 Rxg3+
2. Ka2 Ra3+
3. Kb2 Qd8
4. Rb1 Rg3+
5. Kxg3 Ne4+
6. Kh2
now black has no more checks, and there is no defence for Rb8
1-0
not 6. Kf3?? Qf6+
7. Ke2 Qf2+
8. Kd1 Qd2#
—
Looked at 1. Qa5 too, but 1. Qa7 looks more effective. After 2. Qxd5+ Kh7, there doesn’t seem to be a way to break through.
Dear fajac, in your option (B) think of resource 5…. Qa2+ 6 Rf2 Rh2+ 7Kxh2 Qxf2+ mating in a few moves.
Dear prof Bhat,
you are right, so 5.Qb7 is wrong. However, White can fall back to Yancey Ward’s idea of
5. Rf8+ Qxf8
6. Qd5+ Nf7
7. Nxf8 and now the black rook hangs, allowing White to save his knight.
I’m not familiarized with Chess notation… but here is my solution:
1. Ne7 Kh8
2. Rf8 Qf8
3. Nf8 …
from here white have winning advantage.
I’m only a beginner amateur so is probably not the best option…
I saw the game in chessgames.com Bronstein actually played 1Qa7 and followed it up with the idea of Rb1 later. http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1156500