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| Jan-22-10 | | estrick: After playing through the game a few times, I have to say that it sure sure seems like Najdorf wasn't playing with any kind of plan from his 15th move on. His rook movements back and forth across his third rank seem especially aimless, with the result that his pieces were not coordinated, which is what allowed White to pull off the nice tactic. |
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| Jan-22-10 | | dzechiel: White to move (31?). White is a pawn up. "Difficult." White's extra pawn is mostly in name only. The doubled, isolated a-pawns are only worth a fraction more than a single pawn. For whatever reason, I spotted the move
31 Bf7
almost immediately. I double checked to see if perhaps 31 Rxf6 was better, but quickly became convinced that my initial instinct was correct. Black has three reasonable tries:
- 31...Qxf7
- 31...Kxf7
- 31...Rxd2
Let's consider each. After
31...Qxf7 32 Rxd8
wins an exchange as black cannot recapture on d8 with the bishop as the white rook on f3 pins it to the black queen. 31...Kxf7 32 Rxd8 Qxd8 33 Qb7+ and 32 Qxa6
winning the exchange again. Lastly
31...Rxd2 32 Qxg6+ Kf8
Not 32...Kh8 33 Qxh6#.
33 Qg8+ Ke7 34 Qe8+ Kd6 35 Rxf6#
That looks like it. I'm going to post this and turn off my computer. It is HAILING outside, something we get in southern California once every 10 years or so. Thunder and lightening too! Time to check. |
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| Jan-22-10 | | zooter: I'm pretty sure the first move is 31.Rxf6 but after 31...Kxf6 Qh5+ 32.Kg7 black is good....Also, I see i missed the key move...time to check |
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| Jan-22-10 | | zooter: well, missed it completely. Funny thing is that i was looking for loose pieces and immediately dismissed the rook on a6 as a target as I couldn't see any way of attacking it....Time to improve my tactics it looks like |
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| Jan-22-10 | | Eurotrash: Saw it immediately. Easier than yesterday. |
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| Jan-22-10 | | Morten: Missed it. It might have been more visible to me if there had been a pawn at f7. |
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| Jan-22-10 | | 5hrsolver: 31.Bf7 b5 32.Qxg6+ Kf8 33.Rxf6 Rxf6 34.Qxf6 Rxd2 35.Bd5+ Ke8 36.Bc6+ Rd7 37.Qe6+ Kd8 38.Qxd7+ Qxd7 39.Bxd7 Kxd7 40.cxb5 and wins the pawn ending |
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| Jan-22-10 | | goldfarbdj: I found Bf7, which is more than I usually do on days later than Thursday, but I didn't spot the followup after Kxf7. I even noticed that the rook on a6 was loose, but I missed the fork. |
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| Jan-22-10 | | gofer: I can see no forced combination that results in mate, but I can see one small move that
threatens to kill off black completely and at worst provides a single pawn advantage.
The point being that white "owns" f7 and the only piece that can change that is Rd8.
If black plays Rf8 then white "owns" d7 by playing Be6. So effectively black has no control
over the 7th rank and yet has both Q and K on the 7th rank, which is a recipe for disaster... 31 Rdd3 ...
Now white is threatening 32 Rxf6 Kxf6 33 Rf3+ Kg7 34 Rf7+ Qxf7 35 Bxf7 Rd6 36 Qb7 Rxa3
37 Be6+ Kh8 38 Qb8+ winning, so black must do something about Bf6. 31 ... Qe7/Qd6 32 Rxf6 Qxf6 33 Rf3 Qd6 34 Rf7+ Kh8 35 Qe3 g5 36 Qe4 mating 31 ... Bg5 32 Rf7+ winning
31 ... Be7 32 Rf7+ Kh8 33 Qxg6 mating
31 ... b5 though playable gives huge issues longterm as white wins a pawn and transforms
his a and b pawns into connected passed pawns, while maintaining very strong control of
black's c and e pawns. Now this seems to be winning for white, but maybe there is something
better...
Time to check... |
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| Jan-22-10 | | ChessKnightsOfLondon: The move that is too good to resist is Bf7. Threatning a nasty check on g6. Black should take the bishop but what with? I see white has the option of Qb7 check to win the exchange and also the threat of Rxf6. There is a win here whatever black does. |
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| Jan-22-10 | | Alphastar: I missed Qb7+.
Instead I wanted to play Rxf6+ before Rxd8, and then Qh4+ regaining the material. But Kg7 Rxd8 g5! and Kg7 Qxd8 Qxd8 Rxd8 Rxa3 both seem rather good for black. |
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| Jan-22-10 | | goodevans: 31 Bf7 took a bit of finding, but as soon as I started looking at it I knew it was right. Black has only three replies worth considering and they're all pretty easy to analyse. I'm not sure whether I'd have found Bf7 in a game - one of the advantages of being told it's a puzzle. Nevertheless that's 5/5 for me so far this week, so here's hoping for an easy weekend as I can't remember the last time I managed 7/7. |
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| Jan-22-10 | | lentil: I brag that I spotted 31. Bf7 almost immediately, by applying the maxim LPDO: the R/a6 is unprotected. Bf7 threatens both mate (after 37 ... Rxd2; although I got the mate wrong!) and an eventual forking check on b7 after K/Qxf7 38. Rxd8. (I know; none of this is any surprise to anyone here. I'm just so pleased to solve a Friday puzzle!) |
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| Jan-22-10 | | johnlspouge: Friday (Difficult)
Stahlberg vs Najdorf, 1947 (31.?) White to play and win.
Material: Up a P, with Bs of opposite color in a midgame. The Black Kg7 has 3 legal moves. The Black Kg7 is the sole protector of Bf6, so 31.Rxf6 decoys, probably fatally. The White Rd2 x-rays Rd8 through the White Bd5, suggesting a possible clearance by Bd5 and then a double attack by Qh5 after skewering Kf6. The White Kg1 is secured from check. Candidates (31.): Rxf6, Bf7
[31.Rxf6 Kxf6 then retreat to g7 seems safe for Black] 31.Bf7 (threatening 32.Qxg6, winning a P)
After 32.Qxg6, White also threatens
(A) 32.Qxg6+ Kf8 [Kh8 33.Qh6#]
33.Qg8+ Ke7 34.Qe8+ Kd6 35.Rxf6#
Because 31…Rxd2 permits Threat (A), to maintain any semblance of material balance, Black must capture Bf7: 31…Kxf7 [Qxf7 32.Rxd8 wins the exchange, with initiative] 32.Rxd8 Qxd8 [else, drop the exchange]
33.Qb7+ any 35.Qxa6
White is up R+P for B. |
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| Jan-22-10 | | felixd: Pretty easy for a friday... I found it in like 5 seconds... |
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| Jan-22-10 | | desiobu: Missed it. The idea of a double attack with some bishop move occurred to me, but I still have a thing about willingly putting pieces en prise, so I didn't give it much more thought and spent much time trying to make Rxf6 work. |
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| Jan-22-10 | | CHESSTTCAMPS: In this opposite-colored bishop middlegame, white has a meaningless extra pawn, but his real advantage is that he enjoys active placement of pieces, whereas several black pieces are passive and ineffective. In particular, the Ra6 is alone and vulnerable. In such positions, you should look for weak square targets (maybe g6?) on the color of your bishop. This suggests: 31.Bf7!!
Now black has three captures that lose quickly:
A) 31... Rxd2 32.Qxg6+ forces mate in 4.
B) 31... Qxf7 32.Rxd8 wins the exchange and the control of the d-file ensures a quick win. C) 31... Kxf7 32.Rxd8 Qxd8 33.Qb7+ picks off the loose rook and the exchange advantage is decisive. D) 31... Bg5 32.Qxg6+ Kh8 (Kf8 33.Bd5+) 33.Rxd8+ Qxd8 34.h4 Bc1 35.Rd3 Qf8 (Qc8 36.Rd7! anyway) 36.Rd7 Ra8 37.Bd5 and black has no satisfactory defense against 38.Qh7# Alternatives allow 32.Qxg6(+) with decisive effect. |
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| Jan-22-10 | | Rama: I saw Bf7 opened an attack on the Rd8 but entirely missed the combined attack on g6 with the Queen, duh. I kept trying to make Rxf6 and Qh4+ work. |
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Jan-22-10
 | | chrisowen: For Gideon he brews attack with a storm to the kingside. Flowing like water Bf7 is just the tonic.. Bf7 Kxf7 Rxd8 Qxd8 Qb7+ trumpets the
win. A judge of sound positional play he is railing against Rxf6 thus not pulling the wool over his own eyes. Bf7 is a testament to his
faith, it does sho far and away the cleanest kill in my book. |
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| Jan-22-10 | | cyclon: This started to "emerge" me more like a "mirage" in desert. It took a while. 31.BF7 is the move; White threatens 32.Qxg6+ with devastating effect. If 31. -Kxf7 ( -Qxf7 32.Rxd8 wins the exchange) 32.Rxd8 Qxd8 33.Qb7+ and 34.Qxa6 winning the exchange in prospectful position. Then, (31.BF7 ) -Rxd2 32.Qxg6+ Kf8 ( -Kh8 33.Qh6X) 33.Qg8+ Ke7 34.Qe8+ Kd6 35.Rxf6X and (again) no computer. |
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| Jan-22-10 | | Once: If you ever set up a battery, you ought to check what happens when you pull the trigger... The Rd2/ Bd5 battery is white's pride and joy. Best of all, the Rd2 is not on the same rank as the white king, so a black rook capturing on d2 does not give check. This gives white a free move to do something dangerous. How to pull the trigger? 31. Bf7 appeals straight away because it threatens 32. Qxg6+. Okay, so white offers his Rd2, but he gets an attack in return. Then we need to check the different variations: 31...Qxf7 drops the exchange to 32. Rxd8.
31...Rxd2 32. Qxg6+. The white queen will chase the black king around the Bf7 until Kd6/ Rxf6#. Yum. 31... Kxf7 (the game continuation) 32. Rxd8 Qxd8 33. Qb7+ and the Ra6 drops. I sometimes think that chess is a bit like a Hollywood pitch. You get a creative type who will "pitch" his idea for a movie to a studio boss. Something like this: "It's gonna be like Die Hard ... on a battleship! We'll get Steven Siegal to be the Bruce Willis character, only he's a navy seal not a cop. Tommy Lee Jones as the baddy. And some token eye candy popping out of a birthday cake." That's a bit like our initial idea for the combination: "It's Bf7 followed by Qxg6+. With an attack on the Rd8 thrown in for good measure." Of course, we don't know if the idea is going to work, so after the initial pitch comes the money men. The suits will check every detail to make sure that it's going to make money. Is Siegal available? Can we borrow a battleship from somewhere? How much is it going to cost to make it? What audience figures can we expect? A summer blockbuster or a straight to DVD, made for TV special? And that's like our analysis mode - checking to make sure that black doesn't have a defence in each variation. When we play chess, we need to be both the creative types (floppy hair, audis and apple macs) and the suits (short hair, ties and spreadsheets). We need the imagination to spot the tactics and the precision to make sure that they work. Or perhaps I'm just a cook ... |
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| Jan-22-10 | | cyclon: <gofer:31 Rdd3 ...> This seems really a plausible move based on different view and "handling" of the puzzle-position. I pondered it also. Among other things that makes Chess so fascinating is the feature that sometimes there are only "only" moves, whereas in other occasions there may be more than one move - from two to few. There is (or was?) a thing like "playing-style" in Chess. |
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| Jan-22-10 | | kevin86: Missed it-the sac at f7 allows for a pin and the win of a rook-which is black's choice,but his only choice. |
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| Jan-22-10 | | BOSTER: White has the nice bishop in the center on d5, active rooks a queen, luft for king!
Black position: the weakness on g6 ,unprotected forgotten rook on a6, which is cut from all black forces , "bad" bishop ,unprotected queen on c7 with the limited mobility (pawns b6,c5,e5) .
My opinion what you have to see immediately
1.weakness on g6
2. the point of intersection line a8-h1 and a7-h7(where the black king)- the square b7.
Therefore:31.Bf7! ifRxd2
32.Qxg6 and mate in 3
if 31...Kxf7
32.Rxd8 Qxd8
33. Qb7+ Kg8
34.Qxa6.
if 31...Qxf7
32.Rxd8. |
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| Jan-22-10 | | YouRang: Rats. I actually considered 31.Bf7! for no other reason than it threatens Qxg6+, and thus forces 31...Kxf7 (not 31...Qxf7 32.Rxd8 winning the exchange). I even glanced at 32.Rxd8. But for some reason, I didn't consider Qb7+! forking K+R to win the exchange via the OTHER rook. My view of the action was too narrow. You gotta use the WHOLE board. :-( |
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