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< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 3 OF 3 ·
Later Kibitzing> |
Aug-12-12
 | | Once: I can second the "life and games" book. A fabulous book, not only for the quality of the games but also for Tal's witty writing. It's almost a must-have for any chess library. Also good (but not quite in the same league) is "Attack with Mikhail Tal" by Tal and Iakov Damsky. Final thought is volume 2 of "My Great Predecessors" by Kasparov. Okay, so the Tal section is only the last 100 pages or so, but you also get Euwe, Bottvinik and Smyslov. All unfairly under-rated IMHO. Compared with the other two books solely about Tal, the Kasparov tome has more analysis and has the benefit of modern chess software to error check the games. |
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| Aug-12-12 | | goldenbear: I had h3 very quickly, but I was unable to figure out why this was a Sunday puzzle. I totally missed the Bxh3 idea. |
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Aug-12-12
 | | Marmot PFL: White would like to capture Ne5, but he would lose Nd4. 21 h3 Bh5 22 Rxe5 now would win a piece, as does 21...Bxh3 22 Bxh3 Qxh3 23 Rxe5. I missed totally 23...Qxd4 and I wonder if Polugaevsky even saw it. Probably, but 24 Bg2 Qd5 25 f4 is simple enough to find. |
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Aug-12-12
 | | James D Flynn: In reply to 31.h3 what about Bh5 if 32.Rxe5 Rxe5 33.Rxe5 Bg6 34.Nf5 Bxf5 35.Rxf5 Rxa2 the position is simplified and Black is a pawn up and threatening Rxb2 else if 34.Qc4 b3 35.axb3 Ra1+ 36.Kg2 Rd1 37.Nf3 Bd3 38.Qc3 Bf1+ 39.Kg1 Qxh3 40.Nh4 Bg2# |
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| Aug-12-12 | | Octal: This puzzle reminds me of "Imagination in Chess."
A form of reciprocal thinking. |
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| Aug-12-12 | | newzild: <James D Flynn:>
Nice try, except that in your line after 35.Rxf5 Rxa2 Black is not a pawn up because White has an extra piece (the Bg2). One move I can see for White is 36. Qb1, when your idea of 36...Rxb2 37. Qxb2 Qxf5 runs into 38. Qxb4, when Black is completely lost. |
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| Aug-12-12 | | LoveThatJoker: It's great to get a GM Polugaevsky puzzle!!
<21. h3!>
A) 21...Bh5 22. Rxe5 Rxe5 (forced) 23. Rxe5 Qxd4 25. Rxh5 Rxa2 (say) 26. Qe2 Rxb2?! 27. Qe8+ Kh7 28. Be4+  B) 21...Bxh3 22. Bxh3 Qxd4! (22...Qxh3 23. Rxe5 ) 23. Bg2!! (23. Rxd4? Nf3+! and it may be Black who wins) 23...Qd7 24. f4! C) 21...Bf5 22. Nxf5 Qxf5 23. f4
D) 21...Be6 22. Nxe6 Rxe6 (22...fxe6 23. Rxe5 ) 23. Rxe5 E) 21...Ng6? 22. Rxe8+ Rxe8 23. Rxe8+ Qxe8 24. hxg4 F) 21...Nf3+/...Bf3 22. Nxf3
G) Lastly if Black plays some essentially non-threating move like 21...f6 for example, then 22. hxg4 LTJ |
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| Aug-12-12 | | LoveThatJoker: 7/7
I am on a 21 straight correct-solve streak. Out of the last 28 puzzles I have scored 27.90 - my last point deductible mistake coming on July 22nd as pointed out to me by <scormus>. LTJ |
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Aug-12-12
| | DarthStapler: I at least considered the first move |
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Aug-12-12
 | | chrisowen: Leading by a nose light rooke1 and e4 look set sky, queen to crash in d4 so we need to deflect black queen this suggest h3 up in smoke bf5 nxf5 qxf5 f4 and white will win pieces also bh5 goes down to Rxe5 Rxe5 Rxe5 Qxd4 Rxh5 again white emerges a clear bishop up in g2 have Bxh3 Bxh3 Qxd4! Rxd4 Nf3+ Kh1 Rxe1+ kingg2 Nxd4 black has bishop for knight plus too rooks against queen solitary, looks equal yeah in low tinkering around h3 give best hi-light in party so far it means that once in checking h3 as heave in bishop languid queen is unable to cover e5 so rook readily, in menaces it depth in bishopg2 havent forseen this a grain of truth tactic kack hander ok look for quiet moves to unbalance in pocket little advantages acrueing over time. |
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Aug-12-12
 | | Jimfromprovidence: After taking a second look at the puzzle, I noticed another "trick" that black tried to implement, but again white was just one step quicker. It comes after 26...Rd8. 
click for larger view Black wants to play 27...Qd2, where he wants to try to get himself a passed pawn after trading queens. White foils that with 27 e6 (threatening 28 exf7+). Now after 27...fxe6 28 Rg4, black must abandon that plan and retreat the queen to d7 to avoid a mate in one. 
click for larger viewAgain, this was a sharp tactical battle, with ground given grudgingly. |
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Aug-12-12
 | | Patriot: 21.h3 seems like a "slow chess" kind of move. I'm not saying the move is slow in itself, but it would be hard to arrive at 21.h3 unless you are playing a slow time control and have a lot of time remaining. That's because it seems to fall into the "look at every forcing move" way of thinking and see what happens. This is how I approached this because the position doesn't yet contain a simple tactic that wins: 1) 21.f4 seems to do nothing except take advantage of a useless battery along the e-file. Black can retreat the knight to g6 and black has enough protection on the e8-rook; therefore it seems to have no tactical advantage. 2) 21.f3 attacks the bishop and forces a retreat to h5. One would have to follow this line of forcing moves to see if anything works. 3) 21.h3 also attacks the bishop, seemingly hanging a pawn. 21...Bxh3 22.Bxh3 Qxh3 (a normal reply) does lose material since the knight is no longer hanging on d4. And it takes counting to see 21...Bh5 22.Rxe5 Rxe5 23.Rxe5 Qxd4 24.Rxh5 wins material. In the third line you need a sense of situation/tactical awareness or "seed of tactical destruction" to seriously consider 22...Qxd4!, thanks to the potential knight fork on f3 and x-ray of the e8-rook to the e1-rook should white play 23.Rxd4. So just being aware of the potential knight fork can help one to seriously consider 22...Qxd4 as a sound move. 21.h3 is almost a "freebie" though because it attacks the bishop almost without a price tag if you know that 21...Bxh3 22.Bxh3 Qxh3 23.Rxe5 wins a piece. In that sense it is a move you could find during a fast time control. But how would one know that 21.f3 isn't better though without thinking it through? It's always an interesting question to think "How is it possible to find that first key move during a game?" How can this be done practically? |
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| Aug-12-12 | | Cardinal Fang: CG, please don't put the kibitzing on the sides rather than at the bottom. It would make it impossible to focus on the moves and at the same time ignore the kibitzing. |
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Aug-12-12
 | | Eggman: I think I saw everything except 23.Bg2, which is just sublime. |
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Aug-12-12
| | Eggman: <<chrisowen: yeah in low tinkering around h3 give best hi-light in party so far it means that once in checking h3 as heave in bishop languid>> Genius! I friggin' *love* this guy! |
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| Aug-12-12 | | tivrfoa: Amazing post <Once>. Thank you. |
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Aug-12-12
 | | David2009: Polugaevsky vs Smyslov, 1979 White 31? In this harmless-looking position White has to be careful. The tempting 31.h3 appears to win material
(31...Bh5? 32.Rxe5 wins a piece) but runs in to 31...Bxh3 32.Bxh3 Qxd4 33.Rxd4 Nf3+ 34.Kf1 (or Kh1) Rxe1+ 35.Kg2 Nxd4 36 Qd3 (if 36.Qd2? Rg1+ etc)
Rd8 and Black has RRNP vs QB. Instead 31.f3 (hoping for 31...Bh3? 32.Bxh3 Qxd4+ 33.Rxd4 Nxf3+ 34.Kf2 and Black is busted) is safe but unambitious: in this line Black has 31...Bf5 32.Nxf5 Qxf5 = (since 33.Rxe5? Rxe5!). Another possibility is 31.f4 Ng6 32.Rxe8+ Rxe8 33.Rxe8+ Qxe8 34.Qd2 which looks fairly level.
Time to
check:
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Missed it! I saw some of the possibilities but missed 23.Bg2!. Here's the puzzle position:
click for larger view
with my by now traditional interactive link to Crafty End Game Trainer:
http://www.chessvideos.tv/endgame-t.... The impertuable robot defends as in the game but varies with 25...Qd7 instead of 25...b3. The challenge now is to finish the robot off
without silicon help. Enjoy trying! |
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Aug-12-12
 | | morfishine: Excellent post <Patriot>! Your points pretty much highlight how I waddled around and missed this one. I should've probably taken a deep breath and just started over, looking at all the possibilities, etc. As usual, after I miss and see the solution, I think, 'Well thats so simple, why didn't I see that?' Very nice posts <Jimfromprovidence> both I and II. Gets right to the heart of the position |
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Aug-12-12
| | Patriot: Thanks, <morf>! After seeing the solution, 22...Qxd4 appeared like a lightning bolt and rather unexpected. That's because I wasn't aware of the potential knight fork residing in the initial position. Being aware of these things from the beginning can help us see the tactical potential later. I also think <Jimfromprovidence> did a great job! I'm kind of surprised to have beaten Crafty from the position <David2009> created, on the first try. Usually I don't! As he stated, Crafty played 25...Qd7 to which I replied 26.e6 Rxe6 27.Rxe6 fxe6 28.Qb3 Ra8 29.Qxe6+ Qxe6 30.Rxe6 Ra1+ 31.Kf2 Rb1 32.Re2 Kf7 33.Be4 Rc1 34.Rc2 Rxc2+ 35.Bxc2 Kf6 36.Ke3 etc. |
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| Aug-12-12 | | King Death: This is a puzzle I might solve in a day or longer. |
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Aug-12-12
 | | agb2002: The material is equal.
Black threatens the pawn on a2.
The black knight doesn't have much mobility. This suggests 21.f4 Ng6 (21... Bf5 22.Nxf5 Qxf5 23.fxe5 Rxe5 24.Qf2 + - [B]) 22.f5: A) 22... Bxf5 23.Nxf5 Rxe4 (23... Qxf5 24.Rxe8+ wins) 24.Qxe4 + - [B vs P]. B) 22... Ce5 23.h3
B.1) 23... Bxf5 24.Nxf5 Qxf5 25.g4
B.1.a) 25... Qf6 26.Qe2 followed by Rxe5.
B.1.b) 25... Qg5 26.h4 Qxh4 27.Rxe5 Rxe5 28.Rxe5 Qxg4 29.Re4 Qg6 30.Qc4 and White will capture the pawn on b4 with the better game. B.2) 23... Bh5 24.g4
B.2.a) 24... Bxg4 25.hxg4 Nxg4 26.Rxe8+ Rxe8 27.Rxe8+ Qxe8 28.Qe4 with a won endgame. B.2.b) 24... Nxg4 25.hxg4 Bxg4 26.Rxe8+ is similar to B.2.a. C) 22... Ce7 23.Rxg4 + - [B].
D) 22... Nf8 23.Rxe8 Rxe8 24.Rxe8 Qxe8 25.Qd2 with the double threat h3 and Qxb4. E) 22... Nh8 23.h3 Bh5 (23... Bxf5 24.Nxf5 Qxf5 25.Rxe8+) 24.g4 + - [B vs P]. |
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Aug-12-12
| | agb2002: I missed the simple answer 21... f5 with more or less equal chances. Better luck next time. |
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Aug-12-12
| | chrisowen: <Eggman> Spoof, what's the (addendum) belle I kit? |
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| Aug-12-12 | | gars: I blundered right from scratch! But there are always Mondays ... |
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Aug-13-12
 | | Abdel Irada: <The Crawling Chaos> This is a perfect example of a position in which a creeping, niggling sort of move decides. The seeds of Black's destruction lie in this fact: He has two loose minor pieces, and White only one. But how is White to exploit this? Simply picking off the knight on e5 doesn't work because Black can return the favor on d4, while kicking the knight with f4 fails because White's e-file battery exhausts itself on e8 without gain. And taking on g4 merely loses the exchange. "When you have eliminated the impossible," as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle once wrote, "that which remains, however improbable, must be the truth." The "truth," this time, is 21. h3!. Black is left with four relevant replies: (1) 21. ... xh3;
22. xh3, attacking the queen. Now Black can either recapture: (1.1) 22. ... xh3;
23.  xe5 or try a pretty but doomed riposte:
(1.2) 22. ...xd4!?;
23. g2! (taking the queen actually loses after 24. xd4?,  f3†), and again White wins a piece because Black has no square for his queen that defends both the knight on e5 and the rook on e8. (2) 21. ...h5;
22. xe5, xe5;
23. xe5, xd4;
24. xh5 . White wins because, as noted, Black has *two* loose pieces against his one. (3) 21. ...f5;
22. xf5, xf5;
23. f4 . White wins because he's liquidated his weakness and one of Black's and Black still has one: The knight can no longer retreat without loss of the rook on e8. (4) 21. ...e6;
22. xe6 . Again, White has liquidated his weakness, and the knight on e5 falls. Black does have other replies, but they aren't hard to refute. It bears repeating: With two loose pieces against one, Black has sown the seeds of his demise, and after White's creeping 21. h3, he must reap a bitter harvest. |
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