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< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 2 OF 5 ·
Later Kibitzing> |
| Feb-24-09 | | WhiteRook48: fascinating game. |
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| Apr-17-09 | | WhiteRook48: how to win with no rooks |
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Apr-13-12
 | | Phony Benoni: After you've done the puzzle, play over the whole game. Well worth the time. It's another one of those Duras slugfests that may not be as well-known now as it was in the Old Days. |
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| Apr-13-12 | | JG27Pyth: Well, I feel redeemed for my Wednesday failure. I nailed this one -- 100% -- thru to the end. And, coincidentally, I came quite close to looking this game over earlier this very evening when I pulled a dusty Chernev & Reinfeld book off the shelf and was looking through it for old time's sake (it was my first ever chessbook -- The Fireside book of Chess --)... there's a celebrated duras v cohn game in the chapter I was looking over and I have to imagine it was this one. |
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Apr-13-12
 | | andrewjsacks: Study-like combo. |
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| Apr-13-12 | | rilkefan: I didn't see Rxg5 and so went with the losing 45.Qd3+, missing that the knight holds h7 after Rc7+ so ...Kh6 is fine. |
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| Apr-13-12 | | rilkefan: Drawing was 43...fxg5, per stockfish. Here 44.Rxh7+ doesn't work, and white has to reply to ...Kxh7 with (amusingly) Qd3+ and chase the black king around until boredom sets in. 44.Rc2 is a more straightforward alternative. |
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Apr-13-12
 | | tcoxon39: Missed the 47. Rxg5+ winning the queen, but I think my line works as well (though it is much longer) 44. Rxh7+ Kxh7
45. Qe7+ Kg6
46. Rg8+ Kf5 (same up until here)
47. g4+ Kf4
48. Qxf6+ Ke3
and from there alternate rook and queen, moving the king to the left. black can prolong by dancing around the b-pawn, but it looks pointless as far as I have carried it out. I much prefer the rook sac to win the queen; takes too much effort to chase down a king. |
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Apr-13-12
 | | M.Hassan: "Difficult" White to play 44.?
White has a Rook+pawn for a Knight.
White has more materials but black is dangerously threatening mate on g2. Seems there is no other choice for White except to attack and check the King: 44.Rxh7+ Kxh7 (otherwise, black Queen is lost)
45.Qe7+ Kg6
46.Rg8+ Kf5
47.Qc5+ Ke6
48.Qc8+ Ke5
49.Rxg5+ fxg5
50.Qxh3
White succeeds to eliminate mate threat as well as Black Queen and will be swinging from now on!
Time to check
------------
I deserve full credit! |
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Apr-13-12
 | | dzechiel: White to move (44?). White is up an exchange and a pawn. "Difficult." Finding the key move is pretty easy, as white has only one good move to stave off checkmate: 44 Rxh7+ Kxh7
Any other move just drops the queen.
45 Qe7+ Kg6
If 45...Kh6 then 46 Qxf6+ leaves black in a very bad way. 46 Rg8+ Kf5
Black must protect the f-pawn.
47 Rxg5+
White removes the protection of the black queen.
47...Kxg5
On 47...fxg5 48 Qd7+ and 49 Qxh3 ends it all.
48 Qg7+
Black has two king moves, but both allow a skewer of the queen: 48...Kh5 49 Qh7+ Kg5 50 Qxh3
or 48...Kf5 49 Qd7+ Ke5 50 Qxh3
This has to be it. Time to check. |
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Apr-13-12
 | | al wazir: Got the first three moves; then I would have played 47. g4+. I think that wins too, but maybe OTB I would have found 47. Rxg5, which is more elegant. |
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Apr-13-12
| | tcoxon39: White's win is much more impressive when you watch the whole game. After 37...Qf5 black's intentions are quite clear, but white simply takes the pawn with his rook and allows black to get into checkmating position. Then it is check after check and white takes the queen. I know that I would definitely have been trying to save myself from mate instead preparing my own offensive. |
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Apr-13-12
 | | WinKing: This puzzle took some serious thought. White has to act fast as black has mating threats. The first move came easily but not the rest. 44.Rxh7+ Kxh7 <[if 44...Kg6 45.Qd3+ Qf5(or 45...f5 46.Qd6+ Kxh7 47.Rc7+ Nf7 48.Rxf7+ Kg8 49.Qf8#) 46.Rh6+ Kxh6 47.Qxf5 & white is winning]> 45.Qe7+ Kg6 <[if 45...Kh6 46.Qxf6+ Kh5 (or 46...Kh7 47.Rh8#) 47.Rh8+ Nh7 48.Rxh7# ]> 46.Rg8+ Kf5 <(if 46...Kh6 47.Qxf6+ leads to mate; if 46...Kh5 47.Qe8+ leads to mate)> 47.Rxg5+! <(I needed over 30 min. to see this which is way too long if your playing in a game. I was hung up on 47.Qc5+ but couldn't find a way to make it work.)> 47...Kxg5 <(if 47...fxg5 48.Qd7+ winning the queen)> 48.Qg7+ Kh5 <(or 48...Kf5 49.Qd7+ winning the queen)> 49.Qh7+ <(winning the queen)> I spent well over an hour on this & I don't feel very confident about my findings. Easy to miss something in a position like this. |
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Apr-13-12
 | | Once: This was one of those forcing solutions which seemed to have a piece of string attached to each move. Each move pulls the next one and the next until you arrive at the win. From the starting position, we are staring down the barrel of a mate. So we have to look for forcing sequence, preferably a check. And the only check worth considering is 44. Rxh7+ Kxh7 Then we need another check and it instinctively seems right to bring our queen closer to the action. So that cries out for 45. Qe7+ Kg6 (45...Kh6? 46. Rh8+) Time for another check, and this one has to be to bring the rook in closer with 46. Rg8+ Kf5. Again, black's reply is forced as the h file is mined. Now the black king and queen are on the same diagonal which cries out for a skewer/ pin. But the immediate 47. Qd8+ doesn't work because the black knight defends the queen. So we need to chop off the knight and only then skewer the black king and queen. Hence 47. Rxg5+ Kxg5 48. Qg8+. And wherever the black king runs, white skewers and wins the now unprotected black queen. An odd combination because finding it seemed to be a matter of following the breadcrumbs. But all credit to Duras who had to have worked it out several moves before the start of our POTD. As to the game itself ... Duras may have played an opening named after himself, but I can't help feeling that I preferred black's position coming out of the opening into the middlegame. |
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| Apr-13-12 | | vinidivici: wow very very interestin puzzle for friday. need sometimes to solve it. great job guys...nice game nice tactic |
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Apr-13-12
 | | sevenseaman: White is a P and an exchange better.
First thoughts: As soon as I opened the home page I was set on a sac. Gave a lot of thought to Q sac at Qxg5 but felt doing it with only 2 Rs and no diagonal force to hand would be difficult. Little doubt that I had to start with a check. (Defending against 1-mate at Qg2# was not a very palatable prospect! So a gambler's 'all or nothing'!) Sac was thus quite obvious. After some deliberation settled on the R sac. The N cannot annul the sac-it has to be done by the K, (Q's pin of the N was a pointer in selection of the R sac). Moves;
<44. Rxh7+ Kxh7 (must) 45. Qe7+ Kg6 (Kh5 is surrender)
46. Rg8+ Kf5>
Continuation hereafter involves a critical decision. That White does not have the luxury of letting go of a check helps. The N supporting its Q renders Qd7+ pointless. 47. Qc5+ (forces the K out into the open) 47...Ke6 48. Re8+ Kf7 49. Qe7+ Kg6 50. Rg8+ Kf5 And we have gone a full circle to arrive at the same position that existed after Black's 46th move. 
click for larger viewIs a draw on the cards? Or do I have a tactical shot? Hmm...tough! Take a breather.
....Had lunch and time to ponder.
The f3 and g3 Ps were winking at me. 'Whats it jokers'? "Sire, my wife loves horses especially if they happen to have a satiny black coat" said the 'g' P. "Mine too", piped in the 'f' P. And my mind raced. <51. Rxg5+ Kxg5 52. Qg7+> 1-0. The K cannot go anywhere 'cept f5 or h5, the greedy Ps wont let him near. And you know what that means! 53. Qd7 (or Qh7+) collects the Black Q. It ensures 'f' and 'g' Ps wives are going to be very delighted ladies. Incredible <Duras>! |
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Apr-13-12
 | | King Sacrificer: This is a great game. After 38...Qh3 White has to defend g3 pawn with check, and then play Rc2 to defend Qg2 checkmate. 40.Qe5 achieves this point but 40...f6 forces White for this beautiful finish. |
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| Apr-13-12 | | LoveThatJoker: Cool. A Duras puzzle!
<44. Rxh7+ Kxh7>
(44...Kg6 45. Rxh3  )
<45. Qe7+ Kg6>
(45...Nf7 46. Qxf7+ ; 45...Kh6 46. Qxf6+ mating)
<46. Rg8+ Kf5>
(46...Kh6 47. Qxf6+ mates; 46...Kh5 47. Qe8+ mates)
<47. Rxg5+ Kxg5>
(47...fxg5 48. Qd7+ and 49. Qxh3 wins)
<48. Qg7+ Kf5>
(48...Kh5 49. Qxh7+ and 50. Qxh3 is even better for White) <49. Qd7+ K moves 50. Qxh3> 1-0 LTJ |
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| Apr-13-12 | | gofer: Well to start with it may be simpler to see what white needs to avoid. 44 f4/g4/b4/Rc1 Qh2+ 45 Kf1 Qg2+ 46 Ke1 Qh1+ 47 Qg1 Qxg1# However, the less than flashy defensive move isn't so bad for white. 44 Rc2 Qxg3+ 45 Kf1 ... with either ... Qh3+ 46 Ke2 or ... Ra1 46 Rc1 But I think we are looking for something flash.
<44 Rxh7+ Kxh7>
<45 Qe7+ Kg6>
<46 Rg8+ Kf5>
<47 Qd7+ Ke5>
<48 Re8+ Ne6>
<49 Rxe6+ Qxe8>
<50 f4+ Kf5>
<51 g4+ ...> winning the queen! Time to check...
~~~
Okay, I found a different finish, but I still give myself the full point! |
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Apr-13-12
 | | agb2002: White has a rook and a pawn for a knight.
Black threatens 44... Qg2#.
The obvious move is 44.Rxh7+, taking advantage of the pinned knight, to expose the black king. After 44... Kxh7 45.Qe7+ Kg6 (45... Nf7 46.Qxf7+ Kh6 47.Rh8+, etc.; 45... Kh6 46.Rh8+) 46.Rg8+ Kf5 47.Qd7+ Ke5 (47... Ne6 48.Qd5#) 48.Rxg5+ wins the queen. |
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| Apr-13-12 | | darksquare67: I liked 47. Qd7+ as well, <agb2002>, to be followed by 47...Ke5 48 Re8+ Ne6 49 Qxe6+ winning the queen as well as the knight. But once we've seen as far as 46...Kf5, there are a few good options to finish things off. |
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Apr-13-12
 | | morfishine: <44.Rxh7+> saves the day for white since after <44...Kxh7 45.Qe7+ Kg6 46.Rg8+ Kf5> White finishes with <47.Rxg5+> and the Black Queen is hanging after <47...fxg5 48.Qd7+> or <47...Kxg5 48.Qg7+ Kh5 49.Qh7+> or <48.Qg7+ Kf5 49.Qd7+> and the Black Queen is lost |
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Apr-13-12
| | sevenseaman: Well done <gofer>. I was under pressure to do something similar but went round in circles. Then the second R sac occurred to me. Today Crafty does not defend as well as usual. It bites the bullet immediately and sheds his Q at the second move. http://www.chessvideos.tv/endgame-t... |
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| Apr-13-12 | | abuzic: 44.Rxh7+
44...Kxh7
45.Qe7+ Kg6
46.Rg8+ Kf5
47.Qc5+ Ke6
48.Qc8+ Ke5
49.Re8+ Kd5
50.Rd8+ Ke5
51.Qc7+ Kf5
52.Qd7+ Ne6
53.Qd3+ Kg5
54.Rg8+ Ng7
55.Rxg7+ Kh6
56.Qg6#
44...Kg6
45.Rxh3, <or white can mate in the same way as the above variation, with one extra move:45.Qe8+ Kxh7
46.Qe7+ Kg6 etc.> |
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Apr-13-12
| | sevenseaman: abuzic
Fine mate!
In your line 48...Ke5 49. Rxg5+ fxg5 50. Qxh3 reduces to an end game of Q vs R with 2 Ps plus to White. You didn't prefer that? |
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< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 2 OF 5 ·
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sac: 44.Rxh7+
and 
buttons, but it's much easier to simply use the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard.