White to move. How should White proceed?
Source: ChessToday.net
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White to move. How should White proceed?
Source: ChessToday.net
b
How about 1. e6 (threatening Qg4)
1. …. Be6; 2. Qe5 (threatening Qg3 as well as Qg7 and also attacking the B on e6 in case of 2. … f6
1.e6!
And now all hell breaks loose. But only for a short while though, as the end is quite near.
The easiest win is 1 e6! and then:
A) 1…fe6 2 Qg4 Kf7 3 Qg7 Ke8 4
Qh8 Kd7 5 Qh7 +-
B) 1…Be6 2 Qe5 Bf6 3 Qg3 +-
-Justin Daniel
The most obvious move is e6.
1. e6 fe6
2. Qg4 Kf7
3. Qg7 Ke8
4. Qh8 and this should provide enough of a material advantage to win for white. Also, if
1. e6 Be6
2. Qe5 Bf6 (f6 no better-see above)
3. Qg3 Bg5
4. Bg5 and it is all over but for the crying.
How many moves was this game anyway. Looks like about 10-15. Hard to believe Gelfand could lose a game so quickly.
Bf5 looks strong to me.
1. e6 clears e5 for the queen and threatens Qxf7 or Qg4.
1. … Bxe6
2. Qe5 Bf6
3. Qg3+ Bg5
4. Bxg5 and 5. Bf6
1. … fxe6
2. Qg4+ Kf7
3. Qg7+ Ke8
4. Qxh8+ Kd7
5. Qxd8+ Kxd8
6. Bxh7
1.e6 Bxe6 2.Qe5 Bf6 3.Qg3 wins for White.
To the anonymous commenter at 11:39 AM CDT,
I briefly considered 1. Bf5, but discarded due to the following line:
1. Bf5 Bf5
2. Qf5 Qd7
3. Qf4 Qe6 and I don’t really see anything more for white in this line- he is down a piece, still, and black can now play Bf8 at his leisure since he has the resource Qg6 for defense.
I will also mention that I looked at several other lines, too, in an attempt to win via a mating attack, like blocking black’s queen bishop’s scope by Bf5, or f4/f5, or bringing a rook into play on the g-file by playing OOO/Be4/Rd3/Rg3 and playing OO/f4/Rf3/Rg3, or h4/Bf5/Rh3/Rg3, but all these efforts fail because they take too many moves allowing black to play Bf8, Bh6 and Qf8, and many of these lines do lead to perpetual draws for white, but I was looking for a win.
1. e6! Bxe6
2. Qe5 with threats of Qg7 and Qg3
How about h2-h4?Rh3,Rg3 next.
h4,Rh3,Rg3
1. e6 Be6 ( 1..fe 2. Qg4+)
2. Qe5
In a real game i would play
1. e6
and then resign. I don’t like Black to lose…
1.Bf5 Bxf5 2.Qxf5 Qd7 3. Qf4 Qe6 defends for Black. Stronger is 1.e6! Bxe6 2.Qe5!
How about 1. e6, leaving space for the white queen to swing over to the long diagonal, and also to give her access to g3 should it be necessary for a check.
1.e6 and after 1….be6, qe5 (threat qg7 & qg3)
and after 1…fe, bg6 (threat qf7)
1. e6
if 1. … bxe6
2. Qe5 Bf6
3. Qg3 Bg5
4. BxB
wins a piece, threatens the queen, and mate. if in the above, 2… f6 (instead of … Bf6), 3. Qxe6#
if 1. … fxe6
2. Qg4+ Kf7
3. Qg7+ Ke8
4. Qxh8+ wins the rook
after 1. e6, black is faced Qxf7+ and Qg4+
is there a defense for black?
e6 Be6 Qe5 Bf6 Qg3. took me a while…
e6 looks good. But what about the alternate Qf3 threatening Qg3 against which there appears to be no defense.
Susan, when you post positions you also need to specify castling and/or en-passant statuses. In this position for example, both are possible moves for white (they do not figure in the solution, but that’s another matter).
I usually proceed under the assumption that all are possible unless explicitly stated otherwise.
e6 Bxe6
Qe5
that one took longer than usual but it seems so simple thought i could have got it more easily. Those litte pawns are sure a force for being so small..
To the Anonymous commenter at Saturday, October 3, 2009 6:37:00 PM CDT,
1. Qf3 is defended by Bh4
I am the 11:34 Anonymous. What I meant is that when Susan posts positions from ChessToday, she needs to mention castling/en-passant status or at least make it clear that these two are OK by default.
For positions whose FEN are available, the question is moot of course.