White to move. How should White proceed? (Please give full lines and no computer analysis please)
r3k3/1br2p2/2pR1R2/2b2Q2/4P2p/6nP/p1PB2PK/1q6 w q – 0 2
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Saturday chess challenge
About Author
1.Rfe6+, Kf8 (if fxe6 then “.Qxe6 and Bh6 mate) 2.Bh6+, Kg8 3.Qg5+ and then mate
“Please give full lines and no computer variations”.
For the second point, no problem !
For the first point, i’ll try to do my best :
White is going to be mated so he can’t use “quiet” moves, and if he was to defend (is it only possible ? No, sir…), he would be completely losing.
1.Rfe6+! fxe6 (1….Kf8 2.Bh6+ Kg8 3.Qg5+ and 4.Qg7 mate !)
2.Qxe6+ Kf8 (2…Re7 3.Qg8 mate!) 3.Bh6+ Rg7 4.Bxg7+ Kxg7 5.Rd7+ Be7!
That would just make a computer evalutation (if it was to be used) from “mate in 7” to “mate in 8”
6.Rxe7+ Kh8 7.Qh6+ Kg8 8.Qg7 mate!
Till now, best move I found for white is Resign!
Rfe6+ >>>>>>>>>
Black is breathing down White’s neck (… Qh8# or … Bg1#). Time for action.
1. Re6+ fxe6 (1. … Kf8 2. Bh6+ Kg8 3. Qg5+ Kh8(or h7) 4. Qh7#) 2. Qxe6+ Kf8 (2. … Re7 3. Qg8#) 3. Bh6+ Rg7 4. Qf6+ Ke8 5. Qe6+ with perpetual. Given that White cannot resolve both of Black’s mate threats, and cannot find a mate against Black, this is probably White’s best option.
1. Rd6-e6+ (a) fxR
2. Rxe6+ (a1) Re7
3. Qg6+ (a1a) Kf8
4. Bh6+ Rg7
5. QxR#
3. … (a1b) Kd8
4. Qg8+ (a1b1) Re8
5. QxR#
Life is too short to work through all of black’s options.
Mark
Black is threatening Mate on g1, so obviously, White needs to keep Black in check until mate.
The first few moves look forced:
1. Rfe6+ fxe6 2. Qxe6+ Kf8 3. Bh6+ Rg7 4. Qf6+ Ke8 … and this is as far as I can go 🙁
1 Rfe6+
Should be
1. Rfe6+ for first move.
Variation 1
1 …. fxe6
2. Qg6+ Rf7
3. Qxe6+ Re7
4. Qg8 #
Variation 2
1 ….. Re7
2. Rxe7 Kxe7
3. Qf6+ Ke8
4. Qe5+ Kf8
5. Bh6+ Kg8
and lastly,
6. Qg5+ and mate next move.
Should be correct unless I overlook something.
I don’t see anything better than 1.Rfe6+ fxe6 2.Qxe6 Kf8 (forced since 2..Re8 3.Qg8#)3.Bh6 Rg7 and then I see a force mate starting with 4.Bxg7 but after checking with Rybka, the engine showed that 4.Qf6 leads to a faster mate. I don’t really give a damn because human knows that there is a mate while computer has to calculate to find it.
N-d6 to e6+ with forced mate with all moves by black
1. Rfe6+
if 1… Kf8 2. Bh6+ Kg8 3. Qg5+ K-any 4. Qg7#
if 1… fxe6 2. Qg6+ Now if 2… Ke7, 3. Bg5#. If 2… Kf8, 3. Bh6#
White must deal with the threat of mate at h1 or g1. There’s no way to take Black off of these threats by direct defense other than 1 Qf1, which loses the Queen to Nxf1#, with mate not far behind.
Therefore, if White is to have any chance, she needs to find a way to checkmate Black, with every move needing to be a check.
White has five ways to check here:
1 Qe6+ fxg6 simply gives up the Queen.
1 Qe5+ Re7 is also useless, as White must either give up the Queen by Qxe7+ or the Rook with Rd8+, with neither leading to mate.
1 Rd8+ Rxd8 gives up the Rook without any good continuation.
Therefore, we have to look at the two Rooks giving check on e6.
1 Rde6+ Re7, and now, White only has one check: 2 Rxe7+ Bxe7. At this point, White has no more checks of any value.
Therefore, the winning move, if it exists, must be:
1 Rfe6+
Of course, we know that this wins, since there would be no reason to post the position if that were not true.
In live play, if White can see that all of the other moves automatically lose (and that doesn’t take deep analysis here) with simple direct replies, then she can play 1 Rfe6+ even if she can’t see all of the continuations, simply because there’s nothing to lose by playing it. Sometimes, the position is easier to analyze after a move is played.
Analyzing the position just on its merits, it can be seen that 1 Rfe6+ is superior to the same check by the other Rook because it keeps Black’s Bishop blocked off from e7 and also because leaving the other Rook on d6 blocks Black’s escape to the safety of the Queenside. So given that White must check here, 1 Rfe6+ is logical on at least two counts.
1…. fxe6
It’s easy for Black to see that the other two legal moves lose quickly: 1 …. Kf8, 2 Bh6+ Kg8, 3 Qg5+ Kh8, Qg7#; or 1… Re7, 2 Rxe7+ Kxe7, 3 Rd7+ Ke1, 4 Qxf7#. So the given move is mandatory, win or lose.
2 Qxe6+
This move is natural and obvious, since it gets the Queen a rank closer to the action. The silly 2 Rxe6+ allows Black many ways to escape, the simplest being 2… Re7. While the move might not be as obvious from the initial position, it certainly is obvious from here.
2…. Kf8
Of course, 2… Re7, 3 Qg8#
3 Bh6+
Another obvious move from this position. The Bishop gets into action. A superficial analysis shows that anything else allows Black to hold on, i.e. 3 Qg6+? Kg8, 4 Qg6+ Rg7!, and now White can no longer get the Bishop into play. and must settle for perpetual check.
3…. Rg7
Black’s only move.
4 Bxg7+
Yes, the engines say that 4 Qf6+ mates a move sooner. However, the continuation to this move is easy for a lesser player to see.
4 …. Kxg7
5 Rd7+
There are other ways to go, but this one is simplest to see: Rook checks on d7, King moves to 8th rank, Queen checks in opposition to King, King moves, Queen mates.
5…. Kh8
Yes, the Bishop can interpose and delay matters by a move, but only a computer would bother with it.
6 Qh6+ Kg8
7 Qg7#
Even though a player of modest skill might not be able to see this mate-in-7 from the initial position, the same player could easily play this line, simply because every move was necessary and/or natural from each successive position. In the initial position, after White eliminates all other moves as worthless, the given move is necessary. After that, every move White makes makes perfect sense from each position that she’s facing.
R(f)e6+ fxe6; Qxe6+ Re7; Qg8 mate.
or
R(f)e6+ Kf8; Bh6+ will quickly finish black off.
R(f)e6+ fxe6; Qxe6+ Re7; Qg8 mate. or if R(f)e6+ Kf8, then Bh6+ wins.
Re6+ fxe6
Qe6+ tough for black to defend from then on..
Re6 is a killer. All response by black leads to its final demise. Black resign.
Black is threatening mate in one so it’s a dire situation for White. The light forces must attack if it is to survive this battle. A check in its every move must be pursued until mate and so it must begin by Re6+…then if black parries it with…
a…Re7 then Rxe7+ Kxe7, Qe5+ Kf8, Bh6+ and queen to mate.
b…fxe6 then Qxe6+ Kf8, Bh6+ Rg7, Bxg7+ Kxg7, Rd7+ and queen to mate.
This folks is a martial story that is about to be told. I rest my case.
rfe6+
han
Black has two mate-in-one threats; the
Queen to h1 or g1 and the black squared
bishop to g1, so white has to either force
mate or counter both threats against his King.
Both sides have 2 rooks, a queen, and four
pawns, but black has 3 minor pieces and white
only 1. Additionally, black’s a-pawn will
promote on its next move, so we can conclude
that this problem has an offensive solution
rather than a defensive one. White’s first move
should be a check of which there are seven:
the queen to e5, e6, d7 & c8; either rook to
e6, and the d6 rook to d8.
Checking with the queen along the diagonal looks
like it just loses the queen with no way to
follow it up with a sustained attack. Checking
with the d6 rook at d8 is bad as it just gets
captured and white’s attack fizzles. If the d6
rook checks at e6 it allows the bishop at c5 to
support the e7 square for purposes of interposition.
That leaves two checks: Rfe6 and Qe5. Let’s analyze
the queen check first.
1.Qe5+ Kf8?
2.Bh6+ Kg8
3.Qg5+ Kh7
4.Qg7# so black cannot walk away from Qe5+.
1.Qe5+ Re7
2.Qxe7+ Kxe7 and white has nothing. So finally
1.Rfe6+ Re7(Kf8? same as above)
2.Rxe7+ Kxe7(Kf8? 3.Qxf7#)
3.Qe5+ Kf8
4.Bh6+ Kg8
5.Qg7#
1.Rfe6+ fxe6
2.Qxe6+ Kf8(Re7 3.Qg8#)
3.Bh6+ Rg7
4.Qf6+ Ke8
5.Qe5+ Re7(Kf7/8 6.Qxg7+ Ke8 7.Qf8#)
6.Qh8+ Kf7
7.Rf6#
1. Re6+ fxe6
2. Qxe6+ Kf8
3. Bh6+ and mate should follow soon with Queen rook and bishop all aimed at black king with no support from its pieces
Re6+ PxE6 capture followed by Qe6+ ( Re7 loses to Qg8# Kf8 Bh6+ and mate should be there
1. Rfe6+
1)
2. …, fxe6
3. Qxe6+
1a)
3. …., Kf8
4. Bh6+, Rg7
5. Bxg7+, Kxg7
6. Rd7+ and mate with the queen to follow.
1b)
3. …, Re7
4. Qg8#
2)
2. …, Kf8
3. Bh6+, Kg8
4. Qg5+ and mate on g7
3)
2. …, Re7
3. RxR+, KxR
4. Qe5+, Kf8
5. Bh6+, Kg8
6. Qg5+ and mate on g7
1.Rfe6+ fxe6 (…Re7 2.Rxe7+ Kxe7 3.Qe5+ and Bh6+)
2.Qxe6+ Kf8 3.Bh6+ Rg7 4.Bxg7+ Kxg7 5.Qe7+ Kh8 6.Rh6+ Kg8 7.Rg6+ Kh8 8.Qg7#
Tom Barrister: I enjoy your analysis and comments on these problems here and on other sites. Instead of just feeding us moves, you supply reasons for the moves. It helps me to understand why the move is good. Thanks for your efforts.
Srry but i just signed in.
Let the mastermind help you…..
1)Rfe6+ Re7 (forced, if Kf8 Bh6 + and black gets mated)
2)R takes R+(if king doesn’t take black will get mated the same way as before)….. K takes R 3)Rd7+ Kf8 forced then 4)Bh6+ Kg8 5)Qg5+ Kg8 6)Qg7#