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Magnus Carlsen vs Friso Nijboer
Corus Group B (2005), Wijk aan Zee NED, rd 13, Jan-30
Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer. Neo-Modern Variation (B67)  ·  0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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sac: 36...Rfc8 PGN: download | view | print Help: general | java-troubleshooting

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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 1 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Jun-17-05  InitiativeCheck: Nice finish. I like 10. ...g5 and 11. ...Ng4 eyeing up e5.
Oct-13-05  notyetagm: Yes, very nice finish, 37 ♖xe7?? ♕d3+! 38 ♕xd3 ♖c1#, exploiting the fact that the White d2-queen is tied to the defense of the loose backrank mating focal point on c1 and thus cannot also keep Black pieces out of d3.
Jan-04-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  Penguincw: An interesting puzzle to start out the week. 37...Qd3 is the winning move, but there are a lot of variations to consider. The hope is that white will play 38.Qxd3, which will result in a mate in one, but if white plays 38.Ka1, 38.Qc2 or 38.Nc2, then it delays the inevitable.

Not a hard Monday puzzle, but fairly complicated.

Oh wait, it's not Monday yet on <cg>! Better get back into the time machine (my apologizes to those of you reading this in the future/past).

Jan-05-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni: Definite back rank potential on c1. WQ guards. Can she be distracted? 37...Qd3+ ought to to the trick.
Jan-05-15  greed and death: 37.. Qd3+
38. Ka1 (Qxd3 Rc1#) Rc1+
39. Qxc1 Rxc1#
Jan-05-15  lost in space: I love Mondays!

37...Qd3+ and mate to come.

A: 38. Qxd3 Rc1#

B: 38. Ka1 Rc1+ 39. Qxc1 Rxc1#

C: 38. Qc2 Rxc2 with no option to avoid mate, nether with 39. Nxc2 Qxc2+ and mate on c1 nor with not taking on c2; Rc1# will follow.

D: 38. Nc2 Rxc2 39. Re1 Qxd2 and mate on c1 to follow next move

Jan-05-15  patzer2: The decoy 37...Qd3+ facilitates a quick back rank mate to solve today's Monday puzzle.

White's decisive mistake was 31...f5?, which allowed 32...f5! .

Instead 31. Qxb5 Bxb5 32. Bxd6 Bxd6 33. Rxd6 = neutralizes Black's initiative, with a draw being the likely result..

Jan-05-15  Gregor Samsa Mendel: Queen sacrifice Monday.
Jan-05-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  gawain: Fantastic deflection!
Jan-05-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  radtop: Fifteen years old is a good time to learn to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Jan-05-15  M.Hassan: Black has a Rook for a Bishop+Knight

37............Qd3+
<if 38.Ka1 Rc1+ 39.Qxc1 Rxc1#>

38.Qxd3 Rc1#

Jan-05-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  An Englishman: Good Evening: My favorite move of the game was 23...0-0. Rather cheeky, given the draughtiness of that King side.
Jan-05-15  Let The Wookiee Win: Be careful if white plays 38. Nc2. It's not wise to answer with Rxc2.
Jan-05-15  lost in space: True. 38. Nc2 Rxc2 39. Qg5+

Better is 38...Qxc2+.

Jan-05-15  Doniez: I got the 37...Qd3+ and the possible continuations, but more important is that I defeated Magnus Carlsen! I will never forget this Monday puzzle 😄, thanks so much CG!!!
Jan-05-15  mig55: Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes!
Jan-05-15  TheBish: Magnus had to be in time pressure to miss such a simple tactic! Because if he weren't, he surely would have been suspicious of such an obvious "blunder" that leaves a hanging bishop, and taken some time to think about it until he saw what he should have seen instantly!
Jan-05-15  agb2002: Black has a rook for a bishop, a knight and a pawn.

The white queen prevents 37... Rc1#. Hence, 37... Qd3+ wins.

The other move order fails: 37... Rc1+ 38.Qxc1 Qd3+ 39.Nc2 and if 39... Rxc2 then 40.Qxg5+ mates in two.

Jan-05-15  cocker: Not as obvious as most Mondays. I expected 37 ... Rc1+ to be the answer.
Jan-05-15  morfishine: <37...Qd3+> forces mate due to the suffocating pawn at <b3>

<TheBish> Who knows, I've seen worse

*****

Jan-05-15  Once: Well, yes. Deflect the queen and give mate on the back rank. Nice and easy for a Monday.

It is hard to see what else white could have played instead of 37. Rxe7. At first I thought that 37. Rd4 might defend (at least for a little while).


click for larger view

But then you spot the quite brutal 37...Qc6 and the tripled heavy pieces are crashing through. Yuck. Fritzie also points out 37...Qe2 with echoes of the POTD solution.

Jan-05-15  stacase: Once I stopped trying to move White's pieces to mate White's King (Duh!) it fell apart.
Jan-05-15  whiteshark: bazinga!
Jan-05-15  zb2cr: 37. ... Qd3+ and White must lose the Queen or be mated.
Jan-05-15  varishnakov: 37...Q-Q6+ and that's that

queen sac, remove the guard, back-rank mate

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