Fedorowicz vs K Leung, 2001 (29.?)

White to play and win.

Material: Even. The Black Kf8 has 2 legal moves. The White Qa3 is on the same diagonal as Kf8, obscured by the White Pc5 and outpost Nd6, creating clearance possibilities. White has a battery Ra1 and Qa3 facing the Black Ra8, creating tactical tension. The Ra8 is protected by Bb7, so 29.Qxa8+ is possible if White gains an advantage compensating for the meager material loss R+B for Q. The White Bg2 is on the same diagonal as the Black Bb7 and Ra8, obscured by Pe4, which can advance to threaten Nf6. The Re1 backs Pe5, so no White piece requires activation.

Candidates (29.): 29.Qxa8+

29.Qxa8+ Bxa8 [else, drop a R]

30.Rxa8+ Ke7 [Ne8 31.Rxe8#]

31.Ra7 Qxa7 [else, 32.Rxc7+ wins a N]

32.Nc8+ K moves 33.Nxa7

White has won a N.

As an aside, it is interesting and instructive for me to examine Black's mishandling of the queen side since I find myself in similar positions as Black.

I think Black began to go wrong with move 13. ... b5. Given that he is behind in development, this pawn thrust, despite keeping the initiative and making way for his light squared bishop, is premature. The fact that it leaves a backward pawn on the half open c-file outweighs the move's benefits. The quieter Rd8 is better.

Still, Black has a playable game until 20. ... Bxc3? Although White has the better position at this point, Black could have helped himself with 20. ... a5, giving him time to deal with White's 21. e5.

Despite the bishop on the h1-a8 diagonal, 21. ... Rac8 was definitely the case of the wrong rook. 21. ... Bc6 22. Ne5 Bb5 was also playable, though at the cost of White's passed pawn.

The next most forcing moves to consider: 31.Nf5+; 31.Nc8+

31.Nf5+ exf5 32.exf5+ Kd7 33.c6+ Kd6

31.Nc8+ Kd7 32.Ra7 Kxc8 33.Rxc7+ Kxc7 =

Hi, <njchess>.

Every now and then my computer (Fritz) makes the following remark during a game: "Knights are hard to calculate. Even for me." Makes me very happy every time I hear it as one of the more fundamental limitations of my chess abilities is the slow recognition of tactical patterns involving one knight (not to speak of two).

Nice puzzle here.

<29.?>

White: c5, e4, f2, g3, h3, Nd6, Bg2, Ra1, Re1, Qa2, Kg1

Black: b5, e6, f7, g7, h6, Nf6, Bb7, Ra8, Rd4, Qc7, Kf8

Material: =

Candidates: <[Qxa8†]>

-ML-
In this seemingly better position for Black, with a lot of pressure on d4 and a Queen en prise, White has a killer move. Black just made a terrible mistake by allowing a strike on a very weak back rank, and in immediate effect will be a piece gain by White.

<29.Qxa8†!> pretty much the only puzzle move in this position, but extremely hard to spot in a game. Does White want to put in a lot of time into a seemingly useless sacrifice? This move, although forcing, is followed by one more tactic to finish up, and a lot of players would just stop after Black's second move. I will briefly consider a rejection of this sac, all options under variation A. Simply said, they leads to at least another piece loss.

/A\
<29....Ne8 30.Qxe8‡ 1-0>

<29....Qd8 30.Qxd8† Ne8 31.Qxe8‡ 1-0>

<29....Qb8 30.Qxb8† >

<29....Bc8 30.Qxc8† >

<29....Qc8 30.Qxc8† >

<29....Ke7 30.Qxb7 >

Clear enough ;)?

/B\
<29....Bxa8 30.Rxa8†> now this is more interesting. Suddenly, the same options for Black, although without the Bishop move, seem to arise once again. However...

/BA\
<30....Ne8 30.Rxe8‡ 1-0>

<30....Qb8/c8/d8 30.RxQ† >

/BB\
<30....Ke7> ...lets skip to the moving King. Now, the simple Qxb7 we had before is gone as the Bishop and Queen are traded and White is now a Queen down for Rook and Bishop. However, in this position the final strike comes.

<31.Ra7!> now this is what most players would miss in a brief examining and drop the variation. A shame, because this ends the game. By the time this is played, Black should notice his Queen is gone due to the fork. Can he reply with something else than QxR to get some initiative? Some simple analysis shows this is impossible.

/BBA\
<31....Kd7/Kd8> defending the Queen. Okay, that seems to win the Rook also with a better positioned King but it does not.

<32.Rxc7 Kxc7 33.Nxb5† > and Black will also lose his Rook, White being a piece and Rook up.

/BBB\
<31....Ne8 32.Nxb5!> and the pin simply remains. Now, Black is forced to play QxR as other it will be gone at the expense of a White Knight only. Take note that after 32.Rxc7?! Nxc7 Black defends b5 and might have some resources in the form of b5, although I doubt it, so Nxb5 is better.

<32....Qxa7 33.Nxa7> and maybe White loses c5, but as the critical b5 pawn is gone, White wraps up with the Bishop easily.

/BBC\
<31....Qd7 32.Rxd7† Kxd7 33.Nxb5 > same as above, although now, in theory, after the immediate Nxb5 Black does not have to take a7 so White is better off doing RxQ himself. As there is no Knight defending b5 after RxQ NxR as there is no Knight to take the Rook back, White gains b5 once again, ending the game.

/BBD\
<31....Qxa7 32.Nc8†> so Black might as well take all the tempi he has.

/BBDA\
<32....Kd8? 33.Nxa7 > okay, Kd8 is an ill-fated choice: after the logical Nxa7 White threatens forks on b5 and c6, forcing Black to lose b5 once again, and the game.

/BBDB\
<32....Kd7 33.Nxa7>

/BBDBA\
<32....Rb4 33.Bf1! > picking up the pawn and freeing the Knight, once again.

/BBDBB\
<32....b4 > and Black has established his best position: the White Knight a bit out of the game, the Bishop rather inactive and a seemingly strong b4 pawn. White wins, but has be slightly careful here. That goes beyond Wednesday, though :).

It's been a long day - 13 hours from leaving home to returning back. Sitting with a welcome glass of whisky and the CG daily puzzle as the 10:00 news plays on the television.

The first two moves are obvious in puzzle-land. 29. Qxa8+ Bxa8 30. Rxa8+ Ke7. Now we have control of the back rank and an advanced knight (Kasparov called such a knight "an octopus").

But now what? The a7 square is tempting for a rook, so I toy with 31. Rea1 threatening R1a7. Or 30.e5 to open up the bishop's diagonal. I even spend a tired moment getting way too excited about 30. Re8+ before spotting the doh 30. Nxe8.

And that is when I very nearly called it a day and peeked at the solution. I'm pretty sure that I've got the first two moves, because they are so forcing. The next move must be something like Rea1, right?

Nope, that would be too lazy. So I take another gulp of whisky and look again. Now let's look for a knight check at move 31. I look at 31. Nf5+ but can't get it to work. 31. Nc8+ doesn't work either. The black king just dodges to one side.

Hang on a minute - Nc8+ hits both the black king on e7 and the a7 square that I wanted to plonk a rook on. Can I combine the two ideas?

Then 31. Ra7 Qxa7 32. Nc8+ pops into my befuddled brain. A quick count of material and it looks like we are a piece up.

The moral is twofold. Firstly, don't give up and take the lazy way out - the line that you don't analyse could the the killer refutation that bites you on the bum, or the killer tactic that wins the game outright for you.

Secondly, it often pays to collect scraps of ideas from one line to re-use in another. I only spotted the knight check on c8 because I had already noticed the strength of putting a rook on a7.

In answer to your question:

No, just reading and etc. Too many work and family responsibilities to make a formal commitment such as working with a coach. Plus, money's a bit tight; I have a daughter in college.