White to move. How should White proceed?
r1bqrbk1/p4p1p/1pn3p1/2ppP1Nn/P5Q1/3B3P/3N1PP1/B1R1R1K1 w – – 0 1
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1.e6 Bxe6
2.Qxh5 gxh5
3.Bh7 #
1.e6 should be the move here, freeing the bishop on a1. If this pawn is taken then 2.Qxh5 seals matters.
Beelze
The solution is very simple, there’s no solution because there cannot be pawns on h2 and h3 with a pawn on g2.
Yesterday you forgot a knight and today you’re adding a pawn !
But let’s admit the position is legal
So 1.e6! Bxe6 or fxe6 2.Qxh5! and if 2…gxh5 3.Bxh7 mate
Black answers either 1…f6 2.Nxh7!
or 1…f5 2.Bxf5! gxf5 3.Qxh5! Qe7 4.Bf6!! Qc7 5.e7! 1-0 In this last variation Black can play 2…Nf6 3.e7!! on 3..Bxe7 or 3..Nxe7 there’s 4.Be6+! and it’s over
so A)3…Nxg4 4.exd8/Q Rxe1 5.Rxe1 Nxd8 6.Bxg4 +/ +-
B)3…Qxe7 4.Rxe7 Nxg4 5.Rxe8 +-
C)3…if nobody takes then 4.Be6+!
D)3…Rxe7 4.Qh4!?
Uh oh… white starts a killer sequence by opening up the big diagonal with 1. e6!! The immediate threat is of course, 2. exf7#. If black tries to protect the f7 pawn (Qe7, Re7 or even the wild Ne5), 2. Qxh5 followed by 3. Qxh7 is mate (the queen cannot be taken due to 3. Bxh7#). In certain variations black can play 2… h6, but in those 3. Qxg6+ (or 3. exf7+ followed by 4. Qxg6+) all lead to disaster. Black cannot cover all of white’s threats and quickly succumbs. From my analysis, the best black can do is to continue as:
1. e6 f6
2. Nxh7 Rxe6 (2… Kxh7? 3. Qxg6+)
3. Qxg6+ Bg7
4. Qxh5 to emerge one piece down and a shattered kingside.
Susan: your position has a white pawn on h3 which couldn’t have gotten there playing legal chess. I have ignored it.
Well my variation 3.e7?? is hack work but 3.Qh4 is a simple move retaining pressure !
1)e6 Be6 or Re6
2)Qh5(takes knight) gXh5
3)Bh7+ 1-0
1. e5-e6
–br
haha…I kept wondering how the pawns at h2 could happen…..then figured it was a typo. For me..e6 seems to be a natural move. g6 h7 get really tender after f6.
Nope..I vote for e6
MM
1. e6 results in problems for black. After fxe, white can play Qxh5 and black cannot retake because the mate on h7. Other possibilities are: Bxe6, white plays Rxe6 – Rxe6 (or fxe, Qxh5), Qxh5 – h6, Nxe6 and white is simply a piece up.
Other variations: 1. e6 – f6, Nxh7 of 1. e6 – f5, Bxf5 etcetera.
Oh, btw… white pawn-formation, especially the double h-pawns, is somewhat mysterious! 😛
e6 is the first move. But, after that there are lot of possibilities and combinations.
A)
1…PxP?
2.Nxh7! KxN
3.Qxg6#
B)
1…BxP
2.RxB! RxR (PxR leads to ‘A’)
3.NxR PxN
4.Qxe6#
C)
1…RxP
2.RxR BxR (again PxR leads to ‘A’)
3.NxB PxN
4.Qxe6#
alternative moves for black lose material (a whole rook)
1. Qxh5 1. gxh5
2. Bxh7+ 2. Kh8
3. e6+ 3. Bg7
4 Nf7# mate
It is impossible for white to have pawns on h2, h3, and g2 unless he’s playing bughouse.
I like 1.e6. It attacks f7, blocks the line of the Bc8, and opens the line of the Ba1.
1….f6 is met by 2. N:h7 and black’s K-side is whisked away.
1….f5 is met by 2. B:f5 gf 3. Q:h5 Re7 4. Qf7+ R:f7 5. ef#
1….B:e6 2.N:e6 fe 3. R:e6 and the pressure on g6 is unbearable (3…R:e6 4. Q:e6#)
Sac that queen! 1. Qxh5! gxh5 2. Bxh7+ Kh8 3. e5+! etc.
Make that 3. e6+. Sometime I find it hard to remember the position when I’m posting a solution.
On third thought, maybe it won’t work after all. 3…d4 blocks the bishop. Then what?
1. e6 with the double threat of 2. exf7# and 2. Qxh5, gxh5, 3. Bxh7#.
if 1. … f6, then:
2. Qxh5 anyway, fxg5
3. Bxg6 hxg6
4. Qxg6+ Bg7
5. Qxg7#
if on 3rd move black tries to defend h7 any other way, that simply loses the rook on e8.
Greets, Jan
I like this puzzle. It has four horsies. How do they move again?
Anon 5:50:00, what if 2…Kg7? Also after 4.Nxf7 black can just take the bishop on h7.
1.e6!
anon 5:50am is wrong because, for one thing, the Knight check leaves the Bishop on h7 unprotected.
Try the e-pawn advance first:
1. e6
Black has to take the e-pawn or otherwise defend against 2.exf7;
so then
2. Qxh5 gxh5
3. Bh7 mate
Black could choose 1 … Rxe6 or
1 … N-e5, which would delay the mate by a move or two.
1.Qh4 followed by 2.g4.. am i correct?
I think you have to start with e6!
If you start with the queen sac, e.g.,
1. Qxh5 gxh5
2. Bxh7+ Kg7
3. e6+ f6
then what does white have?
So, the following combination looks solid:
1.e6!
[..f6 2.Nxh7! Kxh7 3.Qxg6+ Kh8 4.Qh7++]
[any capture (e.g., ..Bxe6, ..fxe6, ..Rxe6) 2.Qxh5! xh5 3.Bxh7++]
[..any non-capture (e.g., ..Bg7) 2.xf7+ Kh8 3.xe8–>Q+ Qxe8 4.Rxe8++]
1. e6 looks to be the move to me. I was greatly interested in Qh5 at first, but 2.Bh7 simply fails to Kg7. The replies of Be6 and fe6 both fail to Qh5 since, now, Bh7 is mate if black takes the queen. The best reply for black I can come up with is f5 cutting off the line of white’s king’s bishop to h7:
1. e6 f5
2. Bf5! Nf6 (Bg7 worse, I think)
3. Qh4 Bg7
4. Bf6 Qf6
And, here, I see two replies for white, but I am unsure which is best-Qg6 or Bg6, but I think white is going to be better keeping the queens on the board and the pressure on black’s king:
5. Bg6 Qg5 (what else?)
6. Be8 Ke8
7. Nf3 Qh6 (Qf6 8.Qh5)
8. Qg8 Ke7 (Bf8 9.e7 Ne7 10.Qd5)
And now it is getting out of my control. There are several possible lines from this point, Rcd1, Nh5, and Qf7 and to determine the best line would require a lot of work at the board for me.
I am probably missing a more forcing continuation somewhere earlier. Black is on the run in this line above, but I haven’t found a knockout punch which makes me doubt it.
First solution is wrong. 4 Nf7 is not mate, the Knight is defending the bishop in h7, so, after 4.Nf7 black answers 4. … Kxh7.
I would say 1.e6, menacing Qxh5, just as John said.
John proposes some good lines after e6! but what happens after 1 e6 f5++
agree with John@9:28:00.
e6 looks best .
Do you ever post the solutions?
Had some time to come back to this from my earlier attempt. Looking it over, and some of the comments that have just posted, the line I put up seems strongest for both sides still:
1. e6 f5
2. Bf5! Nf6 (Bg7 worse, I think)
3. Qh4 Bg7
4. Bf6 Qf6
5. Bg6 Qg5 (what else?)
6. Be8 Ke8
7. Nf3 Qh6 (Qf6 8.Qh5)
8. Qg8 Ke7 (Bf8 9.e7 Ne7 10.Qd5)
And here, I stopped earlier because I couldn’t decide which move was best, but on a fresh brain, I can see that white has a decisive attack with Rcd1, and black seems to have only three possible replies Nb4, Nd4 annd d4 none of which can hold in my opinion:
9. Rcd1 Nb4 (guards d5)
10.Re4 Qf6 (de4?? 11.Qf7#)
11.Rg4 Bf8 (Bh8 12.Qh7 Kd6 13.Rg8)
12.Rg6 Qf4 (Qf5 13.Nh4)
13.Nh4 Kd8 (what else?)
14.g3 Qd6 (only move)
15.Nf5 and black is out of defenses.
Or
9. Rcd1 Nd4
10.Nh4 Be6 (Qh4 see next line)
11.Qa8 Qh4
12.Qa7 Kf8
13.Qb6 and white should win this easily as everything in black’s position seems to be hanging. Above, at move 10 black could have played:
10. …..Qh4
11.Qg7 Kd6(Kd8 12.e7 will win)
12.Rd4! Qd4(cd4 13.Qe5!Ke7 14.Qc7)
13.Qf8 Kc7
14.e7 Bd7 (only move)
15.Qa8 Qa4 (only move)
16.e8(Q) Be8
17.Re8 wins easily.
Lastly,
9. Rcd1 d4
10.Qf7 Kd6 (Kd8 11.e7)
11.Nd2 Be6
12.Ne4 Kd5
13.Qf3 Ne5 (only move)
14.Nc3 Kd6 (only move)
15.Qa8 wins easily.
The really amazing thing is that a lot of this is forced after the key moves, but I wouldn’t want to have to do this over a board without having the ability to move the pieces around. Yikes!
antonio gomes:
e6 f6
Cxh7 Kxh7
Qxg6 mate!
Hi Susan Polgar,
As usual,brainy minds in this blog had given the best move – kudos to everybody.
By
Venky[Chennai – India]