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| Jan-07-09 | | lentil: Tuesday puzzle? |
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Mar-12-09
 | | DrGridlock: 19 ... Nc5 is an unbelievable blunder by Kotov. He already had a difficult position, but opening up the h3.c8 diagonal, along with his rook and bishop pointing at d8 should the d-pawn move from the d column creates a number of threats. In a number of games, Kotov certainly proved a "whipping boy" for Keres' favorite chameleon Sicilian opening 2 Ne2. |
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| Oct-20-09 | | Formula7: Easy. 20.Nxe5! traps the queen. If 20...dxe5 then 21.Qd8#. |
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| Oct-20-09 | | Athamas: Even material. Twin bishops are knifing into black's position. Embarrassingly it took me about 30 seconds to solve this. With the bishops and knights dominating, I thought for sure there was a mate. Then I realized the queen had no safe moves. 20. Nxe5
If dxe5 then Qd8#... otherwise a knight for the queen wins for white. |
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| Oct-20-09 | | TheBish: Keres vs Kotov, 1947 White to play (20.?) "Easy"
It took me a little while to see it, but 20. Nxe5! traps and wins the queen, due to 20...dxe5 21. Qd8#. |
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Oct-20-09
 | | Phony Benoni: 20.Nxe5 catches the eye, since the knight is obviously immune. But just as you're wondering if a mere pawn is all that's available, the awful truth dawns. |
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| Oct-20-09 | | zb2cr: Found this one in a short time, perhaps 45 seconds. I have nothing to add to the explanatory comments by <Formula7>, <Athamas>, <TheBish>, and <Phony Benoni>. |
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Oct-20-09
 | | dzechiel: White to move (20?). Material even. "Easy."
The position is pretty busy, with many candidate moves. But the weakness on d8 kind of calls out. 20 Nxe5
Picks up a pawn (the knight cannot be captured as after 20...dxe5 21 Qd8# is mate). White now also threatens 21 Nxc6, which black cannot ignore. But! The black queen has no running room! All potential flight squares (a4, b5, b6, c7, c8, d7, d5 and e4) all all covered by white pieces. Time for black to throw in the towel. |
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| Oct-20-09 | | CHESSTTCAMPS: Material is even, but black is behind in development, with his uncastled king vulnerable. All white pieces are well-placed, with the minor pieces especially active. It is worth noting that the black queen has 8 legal moves, and every single move allows a capture by a white minor piece. Therefore, you should look for a move that attacks the queen, and one move fits the bill perfectly: 20.Nxe5!
Black can resign because, 20... dxe5 allows 21.Qxd8#. Anything else allows white to capture the queen with a minor piece, as mentioned above. |
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| Oct-20-09 | | smitten: I like how early they got out of the main line Sicilian. |
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| Oct-20-09 | | Nullifidian: No mate this time, but 20.  xe5 traps the queen. |
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| Oct-20-09 | | Whitehat1963: Took me a minute, but I found it. There's no way I would have even considered it in a game, though. Perhaps I play too fast? |
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Oct-20-09
 | | patzer2: Today's Tuesday puzzle solution 20. Nxe5! may be familiar to fans of the late Fred Reinfeld's book "1001 Chess Sacrifices and Combinations." This position (20. ?) appears as number 34 in this collection of tactics under the "pinning" tactical theme. However, IMO it could just as easily have been classified as a trapped Queen tactic The idea is that the pawn on d6 is pinned and cannot capture the annoying Knight without surrendering to mate (i.e. 20. Nxe5! dxe5 21. Qxd8#). Unfortunately for Black, declining the capture 20...dxe5 means his Queen is trapped. So he resigned. |
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Oct-20-09
| | patzer2: Clearly 19...Nc5? loses quickly. Maybe 19...Be7 is worth a try. After 19...Be7 20. Bxe6 fxe6 21. Bb4!  White has a clear advantage, but Black is still in the game and has practical drawing chances. |
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Oct-20-09
 | | Kasputin: White's king nicely tucked away - black's king on a cliff edge - with white bishops aimed at the c and d files. The other thing is black's queen, which is none too healthy either. 20. Nxe5 and there is no way for black to adequately respond to the threat to his queen. Take the knight? Then 21. Qd8 is mate. Beautiful position for Keres. |
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Oct-20-09
 | | Check It Out: This is an amazing position. white's bishops are incredible, and after 20.Nxe5 it's surprising that black's queen has no safe flight square, and if 20...dxe5 then 21.Qd8#. |
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| Oct-20-09 | | gofer: "Between a rock and a hard place"...
The queen is a little blocked in and only has d7 and c6 as safe squares. Nxe5 can attack both of those squares, so the queen is lost. (The option of dxe5 isn't available as it allows Qd8#, so black resigns)
There is no way to attack white's queen and free up the queen's plight, so she is dead... 20 Nxe5 black resigns
Time to check... |
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| Oct-20-09 | | remolino: 20. Nxe5 traps the queen since knight cannot be taken due to mate on d8. Elemental my dear Watson. |
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| Oct-20-09 | | WhenHarryMetSally: Material: Even
Position: black’s dark bishop is out of the game, and the king isn’t protected, which leaves black vulnerable. Black is always a move behind and cannot readily force a mate while simultaneously averting white’s imminent attack on the king.White would ideally play Queen to D8++ or a D7 square, but this can be readily averted by defending with bishops and knights, not to mention the black pawn blocking the way. 20. Nxe5 wins the black queen. Not much black can do here. (If 20….pxe5, 21. Qd1++). 20….Qxe5 (threatening) qh1++ next move.
21.Nxe5, bxe5.
(and now white has gained the queen and a pawn for the loss of a knight). But this isn’t forcing a mate. I’ll check now. |
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Oct-20-09
 | | lost in space: 20. Ne5.
Either mate after 20...dxe5 21. Qd8#
or - if black does not take the knight on e5 - the white queen is gone. Easy but nice! |
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Oct-20-09
 | | whiteshark: 20.Nxe5! should do it. |
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| Oct-20-09 | | stacase: That was fun, I was looking to remove Black's d6 pawn in order for White's Queen to threaten mate at D8 and then I noticed that Black's Queen has nowhere to go and the d6 pawn is effectively pinned against the mating threat. Cute (-: |
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| Oct-20-09 | | zooter: Got this rather quickly
20.Nxe5 and the poor black queen has nowhere to run... Needless to say 20...dxe5 21.Qd8# |
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| Oct-20-09 | | gtgloner: 20. Nxe5 and black has his choice of losing the queen or getting mated. Let's see. |
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| Oct-20-09 | | goodevans: Playing against one of the World's greatest players, Kotov commits two cardinal sins: Leaving his king in the centre surrounded by weak squares and getting his queen into a position where it has no moves. Keres duly takes advantage of both of these factors with a single blow. |
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