White to move. How should White proceed?
Source: ChessToday.net
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Spanish chess tactic
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White to move. How should White proceed?
Source: ChessToday.net
1. Nxg7 Kxg7
2. Qf5 and Black cannot escape the loss of the pinned f6 knight. If Black protects it, then Qg5+ forces the Black king to move so that it no longer protects the knight.
From Spain…
1)Ng7,Kg7
2)Qf6,Re6
3)Qg5+,Kf8
4)Bf6 +-
1)Ng7,Kg7
2)Qf6,Be7
3)Be4 +-
Greetings from Spain
1.Nxg7 Kxg7 2.Qf5 Re6 3.Qg5+ Kf8 4.Bxf6.
The sacrifice at g7 looks good since taking with the king pins the f6 knight immediately:
1. Ng7 Kg7
2. Qf5! Be7 (Qe7 3.Qg5 Kh8 4.Bf6+-)
3. Rd7 +-.
Black does only marginally better to decline the knight with moves like Ng4, Nd5, Nh5, or Be7:
1. …..Ng4
2. Qf5 f6 (what else?)
3. Rd7 Qd7 (nothing better here)
4. Qd7 Rf7
5. Qg4 Rg7
6. Qe6 with a decisive advantage. Or
1. …..Nd5
2. e4 Nb4 (again, what else?)
3. Nf5! f6 (h6 or h5 playable, too)
4. Qc1
Threatening Qg5 with mate to follow. Or
1. …..Be7
2. Nf5 Rfd8 (giving king a hole)
3. Nh6 Kf8
4. Qc4 Nd5
5. Bd5 Bg5
6. Nf7 and white should easily win.
3.
1.Bf6 is also playable, and has the added benefit of limiting the options for black with his reply:
1. Bf6 gf6
2. b4! Be7 (Bb4 3.Qe4 Kh8 4.Qb4)
3. Qe4 with a double attack on the bishop anyway to go with the mate threat of Qg4+ and Qg7#. After 2. b4, I don’t see any way for black to avoid losing a piece. All in all, I favor this line more than 1. Ng7 since it seems a bit clearer to me.
I noticed Alex Morozevich wan on original Russia roster, but is not now. Did he withdraw from olympiad?
May be there is a more forceful continuation but Nh6 seems a good move. If gxN BxN and the black position is in ruins with danger of mates in the g column.
If the K moves, then also BxN and Be4 wins at least the h pawn with a bad position for black as well.
1. B:f6 gf 2. b4 B:b4 3. Qe4?? R:e4 oops!
1. B:f6 gf 2. Qc4 threatens Qg4 among other things.
1. N:g7 K:g7 2. Qf5 is very strong, though – white threatens 3. Qg5+ and 4. B:f6. Black cannot hold his extra piece, his g-pawn is gone forever, and white’s Q has many squares available near black’s K.
I would play Nxg7
Nxg7 Kxg7; Qf5 does it.
Shout out to Mr. Vidmar, nefarious denizen of the mud
1. Nxg7 with a double attack on the rook and the knight:
1, Nxg7 Kxg7
2. Qf5 Be7
3. Qg5+ Kf8
4. Bxf6 Bxf6
5. Qxf6 very good position for white.
greets, jan
1. Bf6 gf6
2. b4 Be7
3. Qe4 is not entirely convincing because a) black has the stronger 2… Bf8 and b) the very strong 3… Rxe4 🙂
(Of course 3. Qc4 would be an alternative approach but then again 2…Bf8 means black can hang on, though obviously he stands a lot worse).
There are 2 strong approaches.
The prosaic 1. Qd2 intending Qg5. That looks very hard to defend against.
The more forcing
1. Nxg7 Kxg7
2. Qf5 eg. Be7
3. Qg5+ Kh8
4. Bxf6+ Bxf6
5. Qxf6+ Kg8
6. Rd4 and its all over
Yancey Ward:
1. Bf6 gf6
2. b4 Bf8
Now what?
Asher:
1. Nh6+ Kf8
Now what?
I like the Nxg7 line.
1. Nxg7 Kxg7
2. Qf5 Re6
3. Qg5+ wins back the piece and the attack remains strong.
or
2. Qf5 Be7
3. Rd7 Qc8
4. Qg5+ Kf8
5. Qh6+ Kg8
6. Rxe7 wins pretty easily.
S.Bruno
I wrote the answer to that question.
If Kf8 then BxN followed by Be4 winning the h pawn with a black position in ruins.
I also wrote other continuations (Nxg7 for instance) could be more forceful.
S.Bruno
Or even simpler
Nh6 Kf8
BxN gxB
Qxh7
Asher: I made a silly mistake, a completely overlooked the Qxh7 move.
1. Nh6+ Kf8
2. Bxf6 gxf6
3. Qxh7 Bd6
4. Nf5 and Qh8 mate.
It looks like the only possible defence is
1. Nh6+ gxh6
2. Bxf6 Be7
3. Bb2 c5
But this is also terrible for black.
4. Qc3 f6
5. Qc4+ Kf8
6. Bxb7 Qxb7
7. Qe6 Bd8
8. Rxd8 Raxd8
9. Qxf6+ Qf7
10. Qxb6
I think you are right, Kh6+ looks very good.