White to move. How should White proceed?
Source: ChessToday.net
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Copper State chess tactic
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White to move. How should White proceed?
Source: ChessToday.net
1. Qe7 threatening Rd8. If … Qf6 then simply Qc7 attacking rook and knight. So… black responds h6.
2. Rd8+ …Rxd8
3. Qxd8+ … Kh7
4. b4! … Any knight move and it is lost. For example Nc4 or b3 would have white play: Qd3+ and knight is lost.
So on first move black can play g6.
2. Rd7 … and if Qf5 then Be4!! So Rf8 seems best.
Summary: This problem is very tricky for both sides but with black having to worry more. After rooks are exchanged, the best I see for white is to push the passed pawn and try to promote. There is no knock-out punch. But it is clear, 2… g6 is black’s best defense. Heck, who knows, there might be an easier solution.
1.Rd6! wins
The first thought is to take advantage of the weak back rank. Appearances are deceiving- it the the b8 rook that is under attack, not the b4 queen since the rook is guarding against the back rank mate. The rook’s only protector is the black queen, who, incidentally, is also guarding that hideous a5 knight who has no escape square due to the white queen and bishop. With this all in mind, the right move suggests itself to be Rd6! cutting the communication between black’s queen and rook. This forces black to move his rook to another square on the back rank.
1. Rd6 Rf8 (Ra8 Rc8 Re8 no better)
2. Rb6!
This is the point- Rb5 cannot be stopped now, and there is no move to save the hapless knight. White is up a piece and a pawn after the fireworks, and should easily win.
1.Qb6 or 1.Qe7 look strong, forcing (after 1…g6 or 1…g5) the trade of Rooks and leaving the b pawn free to advance. Phil
@QuizTime and anonymous… your solutions are not so clear; after trading the rooks, it is not easy at all for white to win the game.
Instead Rd6 causes all kinds of problems, black cannot hit the queen, because of mate and the rook is hanging. The only sensible move seems to be Rc(e)8, but in that case white can take advantage of the bad placement of the knight by means of Ra6!
Rd6! qxd6
Qxd6 wins
1… Rxb4
2 Rd8#
1… Nc5
2 Bxc5 and it’s back to square for black with piece down
The immediate checkmate threat and that knight with limited mobility come into focus. I was also trying to see of the queen could be deflected or won but I don’t see anything there nor trying to generate a double threat on f7 or h7 with the bishop and queen. But nothing there.
Qe7 g6 Rd8+ Kg7 Rxb8 Qxb8 b4 Nc3 seems ok for black.
Actually Qe7 Nc6 might be a simpler defense
Qb6 is maybe better. Qb6 g6 (the queen can’t leave the line of the rook and defend d8) Rd8+ Rxd8 (Kg7?? Rxb8 is terminal) Qxd8+ Kg7 b4 Nc3 it still seems like the knight can stay alive and white can’t get the pawn moved over to the c-file.
1.Rd6!! Rc8 (if 1…Rxb4 2.Rd8 mate) for instance 2.Ra6! Nc4 3.Qxc4 1-0
I knocked my head for a while looking at similar ideas. In the back of my head though was always the knowledge that the black queen was overloaded. Rd6 and black is borked. Guess the ‘obvious’ Qe7 blocked my perception for a while 🙂
I think that 1; Rd6 does the trick. The only reasonable answer is 1… Rf8. Then 2. Ra6 leaves black a figure down w/out an compensation.
Rd6 to cut off the communication between the black rook and queen and then eat the black knight with Ra6 or Rb6->Rb5.
1. Qe7 is correct. After most succeeding Black moves, for instance, 1… g7 or 1… Rf8, the correct continuation for White is 2. Rd5!!
Lucymarie
1.Rd6! Rf8 2.Ra6 winning a knight
or 1…Rc8 don’t help black
on 2…Nc4 white has 3.Qxc4
1. Rd6 Rc8 2. Ra6
Hi, again. I’m going to revise my previous contribution a bit.
1. Qe7 and after 1… g6, then instead of playing Rd5 right away, White plays 2. Rd7, and then if Black plays 2… Rf8, then the play goes:
3. Rd5!! Nc6!
4. Qxf8+ Kxf8
5. Rxe5 Nxe5
6. Bg2 with Bishop versus Knight, and an extra pawn (Queen Knight Pawn) which is passed, should win the game.
And as has already been pointed out in these comments, if Black defends with 2… Qf5, then 3. Be4 does the trick.
The reason I don’t like 2. Rd5 immediately after 1… g6, is that Black can play 2… Nc6, then after the queens go off, the rooks are still left. I want the rooks gone too, to come down to a bishop versus knight endgame with an extra pawn.
Lucymarie
Hi Susan Polgar,
Well,as usual brainy minds had given,all that has to be given to this puzzle,nothing much for me to add,kudos to everybody.
By
Venky[Chennai – India]
Ra6 after Rd6 is OK, but inaccurate- it drops the b-pawn needlessly.
@Yancey… I looked at it again, and I dunno, Ra6 is the move a human being would play. Why not win the knight as fast as possible? It seems to me that the resulting position is an easy win for white.
I used Fritz to see if your solution is really better and it turns out that after 1. Rd6 – Rc8, Rb6? is a blunder. Black can simply play Nc4 and hope to save the game.
Hi Yancey,
After Rd6 Rc8
Ra6 is the correct move…now black can’t escape with Nc4 as it is met with Qxc4.
Note that, if the rook was on Rb6, Qxc4 doesn’t work as the black queen gaurds the b8 square…so, Rb6 is inaccurate…