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Later Kibitzing> |
| Sep-16-12 | | morfishine: Euwe "Stumps" White with <26...Nd4> (A) If now <27.Qxd4> then <27...Bh3 28.Ne3 Rxe4
29.N1c2 Rxd4 30.Nxd4 Qf6 31.N4c2 Bf5> with a technically won
game for Black (Black will be able to eliminate one knight then
penetrate the Queen to <c3>) Does White have time to decline the offer?
(B.1) <27.Nc2 Bh3 28.N1e3 Nxc2 29.Qxc2 Rxe4 30.Qd2 Rxe3
31.fxe3 Qxg3+ 32.Kh1 Qxh4> I'm missing something here (B.2) Black can sac his Queen after 27.Nc2 Bh3 28.N1e3 with
<28...Qg2+> forcing <29.Nxg2 Nf3+ 30.Kh1/f1 Bxg2+ 31.Kxg2
Nxd2> White will lose either the e or c-pawn giving Black a
big advantage in the endgame:
click for larger view**[The White defense starting with <27.Nh2> stumped me. I was
certain White had to place a knight on <e3> supported by the
other knight on <c2> to have any hope] |
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| Sep-16-12 | | Dr. J: In the annotation at move 27, <cg> gives <27.Qxd4 Bh3 28.Ne3 Rxe4 29.Qd2 [29.Qd1 Rxe3 30.Qxf3 Rxe3  ] Rxe3! 30.fxe3 Qxg3+ 31.Kh1 Bg2!!  > I'm pretty sure the last move is supposed to be 31...Bg4. |
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Sep-16-12
 | | FSR: <Dr. J> Why do you say that? I think 31...Bg2+ really was intended, with the further continuation 32.Qxg2 (32.Kg1? Bf3+! 33.Kf1 Qh3+! 34.Kg1 Qh1+ 35.Kf2 Qg2#) Qxe1+ 33.Qg1 Qxh4+ and 34...Qxc4, when Black has four pawns for the knight and should eventually win. |
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| Sep-16-12 | | agb2002: Black has a bishop for a knight.
The pawn on d6 is hanging.
Black would like to find a place for the knight so that it could create some threats to combine with Bh3. The first option coming to mind is 26... Nd4, with multiple threats (Bh3, Qf6-Nf3+, Rxe4) and controlling c2, the square which the knight on a1 might use to support his colleague after an eventual Nf1-e3: A) 27.Qxd4 Bh3 28.Ne3 Rxe4
A.1) 29.Qxd6 Rxe3 30.Qd8+ (30.fxe3 Qg2#) 30... Kg7 31.Qd4+ f6 32.Qd7+ Bxd7 33.Rxe3 Qd1+, etc. A.2) 29.Qxe4 Qxe4 30.Rc1 d5 - +.
B) 27.Re3 Bh3 28.Rxf3 Nxf3+ 29.Kh1 Nxd2 30.Nxd2 Ra8 - + [R+B vs 2N], and Black should win the endgame. C) 27.Nh2 Bh3 28.Nxf3 Nxf3+ 29.Kh1 Nxd2 - + [B].
D) 27.Qe3 Bh3 29.Qxf3 Nxf3+ 29.Kh1 Nxe1 - + [R+B vs N]. E) 27.Qd1 Bh3 29.Ne3 Rxe4 looks bad for White.
F) 27.Nc2 Nxc2 28.Qxc2 Bh3 29.Ne3 Rxe4
F.1) 30.Qe2 Rxe3 31.fxe3 (31.Qxe3 Qg2#; 31.Qxf3 Rxf3 - + [B+P]) 31... Qxg3+ 32.Kh1 Bg4 - +. F.2) 30.Re2 Rxe3 31.fxe3 Qxg3+ 32.Kh1 Bg4 and Black will end up with two extra pawns. |
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Sep-16-12
| | FSR: <Stonehenge: Pity he missed 30...Nxg3+> Good point. Euwe's 30...Bh3+(?) won, but 30...Nxg3+ would have mated next move. |
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| Sep-16-12 | | Dr. J: <FSR> It seems you're right. I thought 31...Bg4 forced 32 Qg2, but White does better with 32 Rf1, and he's better off than in your line. But I'd want to check that against Crafty, and I can't do that now. Have fun. |
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| Sep-16-12 | | Garech: 27.Bh3!
Great game - a few inaccuracies, but that's chess. Not that hardest of Sunday problems, in my opinion - not that I solved it though! Cheers,
-Garech |
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| Sep-16-12 | | Feuertrunken: My first 7/7, after I managed to come to the site every day of the week! :)
Nd4 was not that hard to find but calculating all possible variations took quite some time :P |
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Sep-16-12
 | | paulalbert: I had the right idea, but spent time trying to make Ng5 work, but as shown by others it doesn't. Against the best defense, seeing all the variations against the proper move Nd4 is challenging. |
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| Sep-16-12 | | Abdel Irada: <Al-faris al-majnuni: The mad knight>
Part 1 of 3
This puzzle is a wonder, and it almost "Stumpers"-ed me. The most notable feature about White's position is the relative locations of his king, queen and rook: If only I could teleport a knight to the "magic" square f3, the results would be atomic. The problem is how to get it there. The knight can approach f3 from two squares: d4 and g5. This led me to the <thesis>, so to speak: I tried for some time to make 26. ...♘g5 work. But the idea failed, as follows: (1) 26. ...♘g5?
27. ♕xg5...
Other moves are not so good. For example: (a) 27. ♖g3?, ♗h3; 28. ♖xf3, ♘xf3†; 29. ♔h1, ♘xd2 and Black has won the exchange. (b) 27. ♕e3/♕e2?, ♖xe4 and Black will lead by a rook. (c) 27. ♘h2?, ♗h3; 28. ♘xf3, ♘xf3†; 29. ♔h1, ♘xd2 and Black has an extra piece. 27. ...♗h3
28. ♘e3, ♖xe4
29. ♘ac2! 
White's resources are sufficient, and with an extra piece he should win easily. Now I thought I should look at an <antithesis> to the spectacular but unsound sac above — something subtler and more elegant — and for a moment I thought I'd found it in (2) 26. ...c5?!
27. ♘h2, ♘d4?
Now, at first glance, this looks fine for Black: If White takes on f3, he recaptures with a royal fork and comes out a piece to the good. But this overlooks a resource: 28. ♕xd4!
And now White is winning. The fork is gone, and whether Black exchanges queens or not, *White* emerges a piece to the good. Ambagiously but irrevocably, I was led to the <synthesis>, the truly "crazy" move: (See part 2 below) |
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| Sep-16-12 | | Abdel Irada: <Al-faris al-majnuni: The mad knight>
Part 2 of 3
<26. ...♘d4!>
I'd like to say this move wins forthrightly in all variations, but that would be too easy. It is enough to say it wins ... and in most variations it does so very elegantly indeed. First, let's ask what happens if White tries to refuse the knight. (1) 27. ♘h2?, ♗h3; 28. ♘xf3, ♘xf3†; 29. ♔h1, ♘xd2 (2) 27. ♖e3?, ♗h3; 28. ♖xf3, ♘xf3†; 29. ♔h1, ♘xd2 (3) 27. ♕e3?, ♗h3; 28. ♕xf3, ♘xf3†; 29. ♔h1, ♘xe1 (4) 27. ♘c2, ♘xc2; 28. ♕xc2, ♗h3; 29. ♘e3, ♖xe4 (5) 27. ♔h2?, ♗h3! and then either
(5.1) 28. ♔xh3, ♕h1†; 29. ♔g4, h5†; 30. ♔f4 (30. ♔g5, ♘f3† ), ♕f3†; 31. ♔g5, ♘e6†; 32. ♔h6, ♕f6 when White has no defense to ...♕g7#, or (5.2) 28. ♘e3, ♖xe4 and one of
(5.2.1) 29. ♘c2, ♘xc2; 30. ♕xc2, ♗e6 or
(5.2.2) 29. ♔xh3?, ♖xh4†; 30. ♔xh4, ♕h5#
(See part 3 below) |
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| Sep-16-12 | | Abdel Irada: <Al-faris al-majnuni: The mad knight>
Part 3 of 3
This leaves no other serious candidate move besides the "main" line: <27. ♕xd4, ♗h3
28. ♘e3, ♖xe4>
So far, this is very like the <thesis> line above, except that this time the capture on e4 comes *with tempo*. <29. ♕d2...>
The queen can also move to b2; either way, it must remain on the second rank. <29. ...♖xe3
30. fxe3...>
The only recapture that doesn't allow mate.
<30. ...♕xg3†
31. ♔h1, ♗g2†!
32. ♕xg2...>
White can't refuse the bishop: 32. ♔g1?, ♗f3†; 33. ♔f1, ♕h3†; 34. ♔g1, ♕h1†; 35. ♔f2, ♕g2#. <32. ...♕xe1†
33. ♕g1...>
Forced. If 33. ♔h2?, ♕xa1 .
33. ...♕xh4†
No matter how White responds, Black will win another pawn and enter the endgame with four pawns for a poorly placed knight. The win won't be trivial, but Black has all the winning chances, and White will be hard put to activate his knight before the pawns become dangerous. |
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| Sep-16-12 | | Abdel Irada: Having now examined the game continuation, I think Euwe's 27. ...♖xe4 was not as convincing as 27. ...♗h3, where Black wins a piece by force. But I could be wrong. After 28. ♖xe4, ♕xe4; 29. ♕d1, ♗h3; 30. f3, ♕e3†; 31. ♔h1, ♕f2; 32. ♕g1, ♕b2, White may find himself in zugzwang. |
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| Sep-16-12 | | PhilFeeley: <gofer> Why did you keep writing Nh7 for <white's> 27th move? Very annoying... |
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| Sep-16-12 | | PhilFeeley: Nd4 seemed like the only move to me, and so it was. I like how white is completely squished into the corner. |
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| Sep-16-12 | | LoveThatJoker: WC Euwe!!
<26...Nd4! 27. Qxd4> (27. Ne3 Rxe4 ; 27. Nh2? Bh3! 28. Nxf3 Nxf3+ 29. Kh1 Nxd2 ; 27. Re3? Bh3! 28. Rxf3 Nxf3+ 29. Kh1 Nxd2 ) <27...Bh3 28. Ne3 Rxe4 29. Qd2> (29. Qxd6? Rxe3 30. Qd8+ Kg7 31. Qd4+ Kh6 32. Qf4+ Qxf4 33. gxf4 Rxe1+ ) <29...f5> is the best I can find, but I don't see how Black can win after 30. Kh2! This said, Black wins or is at least better if White goes in for 30. Nac2 f4 31. Nd4 (31. Kh2 fxe3 ) 31...Rxd4 32. Qxd4 fxe3 and Qg2# cannot be reasonably prevented. LTJ |
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| Sep-16-12 | | LoveThatJoker: Wow! So Stumpers went in for 27. Nh2?
Obviously 27...Bh3 is also fully winning for Black and worthy of the full point/correct solve assessment. Now as it relates to 27. Qxd4 Bh3 28. Ne3 Rxe4 29. Qd2, I saw the 29...Rxe3 all the way to Bg2+ but what I did not notice is that Black was going to mop-up a lot of pawns. For sure 29...f5 is inferior to this continuation, so I can't give myself the full point today - instead 0.60 out of 1 for today is fair. I finish my week with 6.60 out of 7.
LTJ |
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Sep-16-12
 | | LIFE Master AJ: Stumpers, Louis F - Euwe, Max [E68]
Leiden-A (R#6) / 01,11,1946.
[A.J.G.]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.e4 d6 6.Ne2 e5 7.0-0 Nbd7 8.Nbc3 exd4 9.Nxd4 Nc5 10.Re1 a5 11.b3 Re8 12.Bb2 a4 13.Rb1 axb3 14.axb3 c6 15.b4 Ne6 16.Nc2 Ng5 17.Qd2 Ng4 18.h4 Ne6 19.Nd1 Ne5 20.Nde3 Ra2 21.Bc3 Qf6 22.Ra1 Rxa1 23.Bxa1 Nf3+ 24.Bxf3 Qxf3 25.Nf1 Bxa1 26.Nxa1?!; 
click for larger view [>/= 26.Rxa1 Qxe4 27.Nfe3 Rd8;  ]
26...Nd4!; 27.Nh2?, Simply horrible.
[The critical line was: >/= 27.Qxd4 Bh3 28.Ne3 Rxe4 29.Qd2 Rxe3 30.fxe3, (</= 30.Rxe3?? Qg2#) 30...Qxg3+ 31.Kh1 Bg2+ 32.Qxg2 Qxe1+ 33.Qg1 Qxh4+ 34.Qh2 Qe4+ 35.Qg2 Qxe3 36.Qa2 h5; Houdini 1.5
No easy win, but Black has four foot-soldiers for the horse in the corner.] 27...Rxe4 28.Nc2 Rxe1+ 29.Nxe1 Ne2+ 30.Kf1 Bh3+ 0-1 |
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| Sep-16-12 | | Conrad93: A waste of a puzzle:
[Event "NED-ch prelim I"]
[Site "Leiden NED"]
[Date "1946.11.01"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Louis F Stumpers"]
[Black "Max Euwe"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E60"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "
click for larger view"]
[PlyCount "13"]
[EventDate "1946.10.??"]
26... Nd4 !! 27. Qxd4 Bh3 28. Ne3 Rxe4 29. Qd1 Rxe3 30. Qxf3 Rxf3 31. Nc2 Rc3
32. Ne3 Be6 0-1
click for larger viewThis could lead to a draw with improper play. |
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| Sep-16-12 | | francis2012: I saw it clearly, ♘d4! is the best answer of this puzzle. ♕xd4 ♗h3 3. ♘e3 ♖xe4 4. ♕d1 ♖xe3! and White wins ♗) ♘d4! 2. ♘h2 ♗h3 3. ♘xf3 ♘xf3+ 4. ♔h1 ♘xd2
C) ♘d4! 2. ♕d1 ♗h3 |
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| Sep-16-12 | | Tiggler: <LTJ> After 27. Ne3 Qxg3+ seems like the most effective way to win: 28. fxg3 Nf3+
29. Kf2 Nxd2
Other 28th moves by white are worse:
28. Kf1 or Kh1 get mated immediately, and Ng2 loses the Q with check, so black keeps his Q. |
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| Sep-16-12 | | Robespierre: Wow! Very subtle & complex combination by Euwe. I had no chance of getting this one! |
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Sep-16-12
 | | Sneaky: A stumper by stumper. In the words of the immortal Dude, "There's alot of ins and outs and what-have-yous..." |
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| Sep-16-12 | | Cool a GM X Puzzle: Cool, a Max Euwe puzzle ! |
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| Feb-02-14 | | bharat123: Finding 26..Nd4!! is not difficult when you are in puzzle mode. But Euwe found it over the board! Great. But how did he miss 30..Ng3. |
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Kibitzing
