Loeffler, Stefan – Lerner, Konstantin (Berlin, 1993)
Black to move. How should Black proceed?
6k1/bb4p1/p5rp/P3p3/1Q2N3/1N4Pq/1P3P1P/4R1K1 b – – 0 28
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Practical chess tactic
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… presented by Andreas in 2008.
1. … Rxg3+ 2. hxg3 (2. Nxg3 Qg2#) Bxe4 3. Qxe4 Qxg3+ 4. Qg2 Bxf2+ 5. Kf1 Qxg2+ 6. Kxg2 Bxe1 0-1. Black now has 5 pawns against 2 and a winning endgame.
1. …….Rxg3+!!
A. 2. Kh1..Qg2#
B. 2. Nxg3.Qg2#
C. 2. hxg..Bxe5
C1 3. Qxe5.Qxg3+.4. Kh1.Bxf2! threatening mate with 5….Qh3# (and Qg1# if rook leaves first rank). White runs out of check when black king walks up and reached h4 with g5.So best is 5.Qg2.Qxg2+ 6. Kxg2.Bxe1 with several pawns up on king side to win easily!
C2 3. Rxe5.Qxg3+. 4. Kh1.Bxf2! and white cannot prevent mate with Qg1# or Qh3#.
Harry
I would look at Rxg3 first simply because of the pins on the f2 pawn and the knight at e4, though I can already see a potential issue right from the start- black is going to end up with insufficient material to continue his attack at move 4:
1. …..Rg3
2. hg3
Of course, 2.Ng3 and 2.Kh1 lose to Qg2#. Continuing:
2. …..Be4 (what else?)
3. Qe4
White probably can take with the rook, too- I don’t really see any way for black to win this, though he has an easy draw. Continuing:
3. …..Qg3
4. Kh1!
The problem with the entire idea- black can’t proceed with a mating attack now. Of course, 4.Kf1 loses to Qxf2#, but the block of the check by 4.Qg2 is the defense a careless white might fall into: [4.Qg2?? Bf2 5.Kf1 Qg2! 6.Kg2 Be1 and black has a decisive edge in the ending.] Because of the material disadvantage, black is forced to take the repetition draw with Qh3/Qg3.
So, what can black do? My next thought would be to take at f2 first since the knight is still pinned by the mate threat:
1. …..Bf2
2. Kf2
Forced- of course, 2.Ng2 loses to Qg2#, but it looks like mate to me as well after 2.Kh1: [2.Kh1 Rg3 3.Qc4 Kh7 4.Qf1 Be4 5.Re4 Qf1#]. Continuing:
2. …..Qh2
3. Ke3
Here, 3.Kf3 is mate after Rg3, and 3.Kf1 is much worse than Ke3: [3.Kf1 Rg3! 4.Nf2 (what else?) Bf3 and all black has left are sacrifical delays as far as I can see. Continuing:
3. …..Be4
I don’t see a way to continue this attack without removing the knight’s guard on g3. Of course, white can’t take the knight with the king without allowing Rg4 skewering the majesties, and taking with the queen will lose quickly to Rg3 since the queen must block the check from f3, and white will eventually lose the knight as well to a skewer from the queen. Continuing from 3. …Be4 above:
4. Qc4 Kh8!
If black plays a careless Kh7, then white can take at e4 with the queen since the rook will be pinned. Black probably still has a near decisive edge in that line after 5. …Qg3 and 6. …Qxb3, but not as much as he can have:
5. Qc8
I don’t see anything better. The idea of this move is just to allow to capture at e4 with the king:
5. …..Kh7
6. Ke4
So, black has driven the white king out into the open, and all of white’s pieces are completely uncoordinated and unprotected. I think the right idea here is to target the white rook:
6. …..Qg2!
The main thing black needs to worry about here is not allowing white any hopes of a perpetual by moving his own rook prematurely. Continuing:
7. Kd3
Here, 7.Ke3 allows Rg3#, and 7.Ke5 will lose the rook after Qg3+. And, finally, 7.Kf5 loses the queen to Qh3+. Continuing:
7. …..Qg3 (Rd6 looks ok, too)
8. Re3
White can’t save rook with 8.Kd2 either: [8.Kd2 Rd6 9.Ke2 Qd3! 10.Kf2 Rf6 and mate must follow eventually]. Continuing:
8. …..Rd6
9. Ke2
Here, 9.Ke4 is mate after Qf4. Continuing:
9. …..Qg2
10.Ke1 Qg1
11.Ke2 Qd1
12.Kf2 Rf6
And the rest is fairly easy, and I won’t cover all the variations, but they are all similar, and most will simply be transpositions:
13.Kg2 Qf1
14.Kg3 Qg1
15.Kh4 Rf4
16.Kh3 Qe3 and mate follows in two more moves.
I`d like to suggest another way of playing this:
1. … Bxe4
2. Qxe4 Bxf2+ (3. Kh1, Bxe1 and 4. Rxg3)
3. Kxf2 Qxh2+ (4. Qg2, Rf6+ winning the queen, if 4. Kf1, then Rg1#)
4. Ke/f3 Rxg3+ winning the queen
Greets, Jan
Jan,
Maybe not winning- certainly less clear than 1.Bf2.
1. …..Be4
2. Re4
And now what? I think black does best by sacrificing at g3, but I don’t really see a win:
2. …..Rg3
3. hg3 Qg3
4. Kh1 Kh2 (Kg1 5.Qf2+-)
5. Qf2 Kh3
And, I think black can easily draw this, but I don’t see how he wins.
Lastly, at move 2 in this line, I think black does worse with Bf2 simply because I don’t see a way to ensure a draw by repetition:
1. …..Be4
2. Re4 Bf2?
3. Kf2 Qh2
4. Ke1 Qg3
5. Kd1
And now the king is threatening to find shelter on the queenside. I am pretty sure black can’t win, and is in danger of losing, even if that is also a small chance.