White to move. How should white proceed?
Source: ChessToday.net
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White to move. How should white proceed?
Source: ChessToday.net
Rd7, winning the queen?
I would play Rd7 almost without thinking about it. The black queen has only one safe square to move to, but then her protector is easily undermined:
1. Rd7 Qc6
2. Rd8
A motif that has been the subject of more than one puzzle posted here in the last few months. The rook at c8 is pinned to the one at b8. Black must lose a rook, or lose the queen for a rook. Materially, from this point, I think it best to either take at d8, or must move the king to h7.
Nice shot! A good position to give to students for clock practice and pattern recognition!
1. Rd7 Qc6 2. Rd8+ Kh7 3. Qxc6 Rxc6 4. Rxb8 1-0
1.Rd7!.Qc6.2.Rd8+.Bf8/Kh7.3.Qxc6.Rxc6.4.Rxb8 and white is a rook up.
If 2…..Rxd8.3.Qxc6 and white is a queen up.
Harry
1. Rd7 Qc6
2. Rd8+
if
2. … Rd8
3. Qc6
if
2. … Kh7 / Bf8
3. Qc6 Rc6
4. Rb8
Passed pawns need to be pushed, else they have little use.
So, push the pawn! If queen moves, push again! Else, make the queen move with Rd7. Then the queen will be moved, so you can push the pawn again. There are no other plans. Just push!
Push, push, push!
Hot Rolled steel melts.
Pattern recognition? O.K.
1.Rd7 causes havoc in black’s camp.
1…. Qc6 Is there anything wrong?
2.Rd8+ Well known pattern.it is needless to analyze all variations but for sure white gains,Q for a R or A rook or 2 rooks or whole Q free.
1.Rd7 Qc6 2.Rd8+ Kh7 3.Qxc6 Rxc6 4.Rxb8
As others have pointed out
1. Rd7 Qc6
2. Rd8+
It looks like others saw this more quickly and easily than I did. I was about ready to say the best I could see was 2. Rxa7 winning the pawn and probably winning the a6 pawn as well. I only came to the idea of 2. Rd8+ through a laborious process of asking what Black piece is overworked? Forcing the Black Queen to c6, for instance, deflects her from protection of the pawn on e5 but it’s still adequately protected by the Bishop. Nonetheless I looked futilely a couple times at 2. Nxe5 Bxe5 to see if the Bishop was somehow overworked (obviously not).
Naturally playing QxQ first, 2. Qxc6 Rxc6 is nothing. What protection, I asked, has that Rook given up? Finally, I’m not exactly sure how, it clicked to try the different move order and I realized that with 2. Rd8+, the Black Rook is overworked – it can’t capture the offending White Rook and give up protection of its Queen on c6. That was the main key.
2 …. Kh7 Of course, the King can simply move out of check. Perhaps the other thing making the solution harder is that there isn’t a threat of back rank mate, Black’s King having “luft”, room to move in.
3. Qxc6 Rxc6
4. Rxb8 Rooks no longer protect each other and Rook no longer shields the other Rook: X-Ray theme.
– Craigaroo