White to move and checkmate in 4.
1r1r3k/7P/1q1pbb1P/p1n1p3/2p1Pp1p/P1N2P2/1PPN2Q1/K5RR w – – 0 1
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Checkmate in 4
About Author
White to move and checkmate in 4.
1r1r3k/7P/1q1pbb1P/p1n1p3/2p1Pp1p/P1N2P2/1PPN2Q1/K5RR w – – 0 1
1. Qg7+ Bg7
2. hg7+ Kh7
3. Rh4+ Kg8
4. Rh8#
Qg7
The fact that black threats mate in 1 has to make this easy, since it must be check in every move, and for the lack of alternatives, it is:
1. Qg7+! Bxg7
2. hxg7+ Kxh7
3. g8=Q+! (not Rxh4+? Kg8) Rxg8
4. Rxh4#
Getting rid of black’s black bishop and all h pawns was worth a Q sack.
queens and pawns flooding the place ’til when it’s all washed away the black king remains with a clear view of the white rooks
1.Qg7+ Bxg7 2.hg+ Kxh7 3.g8=Q+ R/Bxg8 (/Kh6) 4.Rxh4#
Thanks for the posts. Great Blog.
Just for fun, I wanted to calculate how many mate in 4 variations there are.
Enforced seems:
1. Qg7+ Bxg7
2. hxg7+ Kxh7
3. g8=Q+
and now there are:
3. … Rxg8 4. Rxh4#
3. … Kh6 4. Rxh4#
3. … Kh6 4. Qg6#
But, there are more variations!
3. g8=B+ (minor promotion)
3. … Rxg8 4. Rxh4#
3. … Kh8 4. Rxh4#
3. … Kh6 4. Rxh4#
That makes a total of 6 variations.
Very cute- a double queen sacrifice:
1. Qg7 Bg7
2. hg7 Kh7
3. g8Q! and whether black takes with the bishop, the rook, or plays Kh6, white mates with Rh4 on the next move.
1 – Qg7+, BxQ; 2 – PxB+, KxRP; 3 – Pg8=Q+, RxQ; RxP++
Pht, there also is 3…Bxg8!
This was a tricky problem to figure out. I only had part of the solution. Somehow, I felt that, once the white pawn was promoted and then captured by the black rook, I had to capture it with the remaining white rook (dumb). Didn’t see the somewhat obvious 4. Rxh4# (duh). Amazing how blind one can be at times, especially when tired. All I can say is “Fuddle duddle” (an expression of exasperation coined by Pierre Trudeau).
To Anup:
Your two first moves are correct, but:
3. Rh4+?? Kg8
4. Rh8 Kf7
is not mate, is bound to loose.
On 3rd move you need to sack g pawn simply to avoid king hiding behind it. Has to be a check of course.
3. g8=Q+! (g8=B+ will also work)
3. … Rxg8/Bxg8 is equal
4. Rxh4#
3. … Kh6
4. Qg6 is a variety here.