White to move. How should White proceed? No computer lines please.
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Game saving tactic
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White to move. How should White proceed? No computer lines please.
Rxh4+ !! wins
Things look dire for White, with … Qc1+ and … Qb7+ looming. Black’s king cannot move, however, which gives White a couple of outs.
First, stalemate:
1. Rhxg6 fxg6
2. Rxg6 Qc1+ (or 2. … Qb7+ 3. Kg1 Qg2+ 4. Rxg2)
3. Rg1 Qxg1+
4. Kxg1
Black has to accept the stalemates or take checkmate, but White has something more.
1. Rhxg6 fxg6
2. Rd7 Qc1+ (2. … Qxd7 and 3. f3 prepares mate from f1. Remarkable.)
3. Rd1 Qc2 (or something to defend against White’s next move.)
4. Rd3+ Qxd3
5. Bxd3 Kg4 (or else 6. f3 with mate to follow)
6. Bxg6
White is now in the driver’s seat.
Black’s King position is really quite horrific; White may have a forced mate here.
Something along the lines of
1. Rhxg6 (2. Bf1#) fxg6 (1. … Qa8+/Qb7+ 2. f3!)
2. Rxg6 Qc1+
3. Rg1 and even 3. … Qxg1+ doesn’t stop the mate.
I think Rxg6, fxg6, Rxg6 Qa8+ Kg1 any Bf1+ Qg2 Bxg2#
i believe in Rxg6 fxg6 Rxg6 and then comes mating threats with Bf1# or Bg4#. If Qc1+ comes Rg1. No problem.
*i say Rhxg6
This is more complex than it looks, because it actually matters which rook you start with.
Lets begin with with the simpler, less powerfull capture:
1) R7xG6; fxg6
2) Rxg6; Qc1+
3) Rg1…
and now black has to prevent Bf1 AND Bf4, both of which can potentially lead to mate, so…
3) …; Qxg1+
4) Kxg1 stalemate.
***
But the real power-move is…
1) Rhxg6; fxg6
2) Rd7!;
(this threathens Rd3#. Note that the rook cannot be captured, as Qxd7 is followed by f3, and now black can only delay, but not prevent Bf1#)
2) …; Qc1+
3) Rd1; Qc2 (black must cover the d3 square)
4) Rd3+; Qxd3
5) Bxd3 +-
This was deceptively difficult. At first glance it appears that white wins easily with
1. Rhg6 fg6
2. Rg6
And at first glance, it may seem that white has an unstoppable mate with either Bg4 or Bf1, but there is just one minor flaw in this line of thinking:
2. ……Qc1 (Qb7 and Qa8 below)
3. Rg1 Qg1!
4. Kg1 and black is stalemated. At move 2, black also draw with either Qa8 or Qb7:
2. ……Qb7/a8
3. Kg1 Qh1!
4. Kh1 with stalemate.
Now, while this saves white from losing, this wasn’t entirely satisfactory since such puzzles are wins for white more often than not. Since black has a forced draw after white’s second move in this line, I decided to look at the position more carefully after black takes with the f-pawn. After playing with the pieces for a few minutes, I stumbled on the solution because it looked similar to a variation I had looked at in the drawing lines. In the following line
1. Rhg6 fg6
2. Rg6 Qb7
I had looked at
3. Rc6
Blocking the check and threatening Rc3# if the queen leaves the diagonal- if she doesn’t, then white can unpin the rook with Kg1 or f3, but black has an easily found reply:
3. ……Qh8 (covering c3)
4. Rd6 Qa1
5. Rd1 and if the queen leaves the first rank, Rd3 either forces the exchange of the queen for the rook or is mate, so
5. …….Qd1
6. Bd1 is stalemate once again.
Having already worked through this, the solution was easier to find. From the top
1. Rhg6 fg6
2. Rd7!! and now black has no adequate reply to check from c1 as stalemate is not a problem when white blocks with Rd1 and threatens Rd3#. In addition, and this wasn’t easy to see at first, if white takes at d7, or checks from a8, white has a pretty mating motif with the f-pawn and the bishop to win the queen. Continuing:
2. ……Qd7
3. f3! and mate with Bf1 can only delayed by sacrificing the queen at d1:
3. ……Qd1
4. Bd1 g5
5. Be2 g4
6. Bf1# Or
2. ……Qa8
3. f3 Qf3 (Bf1# otherwise)
4. Bf3 g5
5. Kg1 g4
6. Bg2# Or
2. ……Qc1
3. Rd1 and we have seen this position above, but the difference is that Qd1 does not lead to stalemate due to the presence of black’s free to move f-pawn.
White wins.
f3 Wins
RgXg6 fXg6
RXg6 Qc1+
Rg1 Wins
or
RgXg6 fXg6
Rxg6 Qa8+ / Qb7+
f3 Wins
I would like to correct what A said.
*Rhxg6 fxg6
Rxg6 (Threatning mate)
If Qa8 or Qb7
A said f3. But that doesnt work since Qxf3 Bxf3 and its stalmate
After Qa8 or Qb7+
The move is Kg8 and the Bc1 mate is inevitable!