1r2bk2/p4p2/6p1/p1Pp3p/1q3nNP/n1Q2R2/P1B2PPK/8 w – – 0 1
White to move. How do you assess this position? How should White proceed?
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Saturday morning chess tactic
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The first move seems to be the obvious one, the free check in the corner, followed by a check on f6, shifting the queen to the hole on f6 without losing any tempi:
1 Qh8+ Ke7
2 Qf6+ and now black has 2 choices:
2 … Kd7
3 Ne5+ Kc8 (…Kc7?? 4 Qe7+ Kc8 5 QxB+ Kb7+ Qc6++)
4 Qe7, and black is almost mated.
or…
2 … Kf8
3 RxN looks strong, as now the queen protects the rook, and without the knight, on f4 and with the f-pawn pinned, white can play Qxg6 or Bxg6 next, as black has to waste the move to get the queen out of danger. And again, black is almost mated and in bad shape.
1 Qh8+ ke7
checking with the rook looks better to me so
2 Re3+
Black king must protect the bishop on e8, so that means ..2 Kd8 or ..2Kd7.
On ..2Kd8, white has 3 Qf6+ and the follow up 4. Rxf4.
On ..2Kd7, white has 3 Nf6+.
That’s as good as I can see in my head.
-Mike
Mike said:
“1 Qh8+ ke7
checking with the rook looks better to me so
2 Re3+
Black king must protect the bishop on e8, so that means 2…Kd8 or 2…Kd7.”
Actually, it means 2…Ne3! blocking the rook, and hence saving the bish as well as the knight, which white gets to scarf in the 2 Qf6+ line.
Oops, chysslexia strikes again.
I meant not Ne3 but Ne6!
So make that,
Yes white is better 2…Kd8 or 2…Kd7; yet 2…Ne6! blocks the rook, and hence saves the bish as well as the knight, which white instead gets to scarf in the 2 Qf6+ line.
http://www.chessvariants.com/books.dir/reformchess.html
Can you tell us more about this book?