White to move. How should White proceed?
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Thursday morning chess tactic
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White to move. How should White proceed?
Re8
Nxf6 – Rxf6
Re8+ Nxe8
Rxe8#
1 Re8, hxg5
Now what?
Bxf7+ Rxf7
Re8+ Nxe8
Rxe8+ Re8
Qh7++
Can’t see board….this make sense?
Banjanx
3…Rf8
B
WRONG
…2…Rf8
going home
Now want to play Nxf7…
B
1. Bxf7+? Kh8! and now I don’t think Re6 works (w/ idea of Rxf6)
So why not…
1. Nxf7! Rxf7 (what else?) 2. Re8+ Nxe8 3. Rxe8+ gets the queen
I think Charles is on the right track.
After…
1. Nxf7 Rxf7
2. Re8+ Nxe8
3. Re8+ Qf8
4. Rxf8 Kxf8
5. Bxf7 Kxf7
… black has a two minor pieces and a rook and white has just a queen. White has a pawn, however, and can get another right away with
6. Qb3+ King moves…
Then comes the key to the puzzle, I think.
7. Qxb6 and one of black’s three remaining pieces must fall. If, for instance, black does not move any of them, white plays Qc7 and then, when the bishop moves (presumably out of harm’s way) white moves Qb7 and gets either the rook or the knight. If, on the other hand, black moves the rook, white simply clips off the knight. If black moves the bishop right away, then white moves Qb7 right away.
Then the material balance is, at worst, a rook and a minor piece for Queen and two extra pawns- a winning material plus.
Is there a better line that is more definitive?
Brad Hoehne
Brad Hoehne
After 1 Nxf7 Rxf7 2 Re8+ Nxe8 3 Rxe8 Qf8 white is not forced to capture black’s pieces. I suggest 4 Qe4, e.g. 4- Nd7 5 Qe7 and game over.
This is a really hard one. I think nobody above has the theme yet. I looked at Re8, BxP+, NxP, Qh7+, Nh7, and Qg6 and they all look tough.
Of all the tries above, chesschick had it right first but besides the typo missed the followthrough:
Chesschick said… (fixing typo ‘f6 ‘ to f7)
“Nxf7 – Rxf7
Re8+ Nxe8
Rxe8#”
Except that the queen can interpose:
1 Nxf7 Rxf7
2 Re8+ NxR
3 RxN+ Qf8
4 RxQ KxQ
5 BxR KxR and white wins!
So chesschick you had it right, but instead of mate, you ‘only’ win the queen-for-rook exchange and have a won game.
Oh dear — previewing this, I see several others have also suggested it.
Brad Hoehne asks:
“Is there a better line that is more definitive?”
Yes, I think there’s an alternative line as well, also starting with the NxP move:
1 Nxf7 RxN
2 Qg6! as there is no real need to trade off right away, and white gains a tempo, while mobilizing the queen into the action, with the double attack on the rook.
2 (Qg6) Qf8 allows
3 Re7 (remember that the rook is still pinned so that the e7 rook is protected) and the pinned rook is toast, and black is almost mated as well, with the queen lurking ominously on g6, close to all the action. But black has a more interesting and elegant defense with…
2 (Qg6) Raa7! (a nice move to lift the inactive rook and bring it to the rescue in one fell swoop) and now it plays like the original line, except with the queen in a better position:
3 Re8+ NxR
4 RxR+ Qf8 (Ouch! A forced move again because of that nasty pin on the f7 rook.)
5 RxQ+ KxR
6 BxR RxR
7 Qd6+ and white again wins queen for rook, but now with that extra cute 2 Qg6! thrown in, the white queen fork scarfs an extra knight.
Not only more definitive line, but a ‘prettier’ variation as well. Whew who!
tvtom,
1 Nxf7 Rxf7
2 Re8+ NxR
3 RxN+ Qf8
4 RxQ KxQ
5 BxR KxR and white wins!
doesn’t look possible to me.
it should be
4 … KxR
5. BxR KxB
and I’m not convinced that what remains is a win for white: Q+P for R+B+N is still a game.
tvtom,
Your second line looks interesting, although
6 BxR RxR
should be
6 BxR RxB
I don’t see a defense for black against Qg6. Nice!
mhowe said…
“it should be
4 … KxR
5 BxR KxB”
Whoops! My chysslexia strikes again.
“and I’m not convinced that what remains is a win for white: Q+P for R+B+N is still a game.”
Cool. That means the 2 Qg6! line is all the more decisive, as I think with Qg6 thrown in first, all the lines end at least a piece up for white.
“Your second line looks interesting, although
6 BxR RxR
should be
6 BxR RxB”
I seem to type the wrong pieces or squares whether I use algebraic or descriptive moves it seems. D’oh.
“I don’t see a defense for black against Qg6. Nice!”
Thanks. That came from seeing it as a possible first move which doesn’t work, and then finding that throwing it in with gain of tempo as a second move into the other line adds to the virulence of white’s attack.
Well, on further thought, I think my line:
1. Nxf7 Rxf7
2. Re8+ Nxe8
3. Re8+ Qf8
4. Rxf8 Kxf8
5. Bxf7 Kxf7
6. Qb3+ …
can be followed by
6… Ke7
7. Qxb6 Kd7
… and the bishop is safe. I think black’s pieces can be wiggled free.
Brad Hoehne
I just wanted to ask what happened if black didn’t recapture f7 but moved away his queen instead.
No one looked at that variation.
But then I saw that there is no good move for the black queen.
Qf4 2. Rf3! (Rf1??)
Qc7 2. Re7! followed by 3. Qg6!
By the way: I didn’t find Qg6 but only the other variation which surprisingly not ended in a clear won position but with many black material for the queen….
Greetings
Jochen