|
< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 1 OF 3 ·
Later Kibitzing> |
| Jun-14-05 | | VerySensitivePerson: 39. Qf8+ looks like a draw. |
 |
| Sep-08-05 | | LIFE Master AJ: <Very> I am sure you are correct, we can only assume that Kozul thought he could win this game ... otherwise there was no good reason for him to spurn the draw. |
|
| Sep-08-05 | | MoonlitKnight: After 37.Qf8+, the position is drawn until Kozul blunders it away with 43.Ra1??. With 43.Kh2 it would still have been a draw. The winning line is 37.e7! Rxg2 (the last trick) 38.e8=Q+ Kh7 39.Qh8+ Kxh8 40.Qd8+ Qxd8 41.Rxd8+ Kh7 42.Kxg2. This position, which is, of course, completely winning. The peculiar part of the story is that Kozul had actually seen all that. He just wanted to find something more decisive. And in a way he did. :-) |
|
Apr-30-09
 | | An Englishman: Good Evening: Finding the "emergency draw" was easy--you know, the draw you have to take because you're down to your last second, so grab the half point and save your regrets for the post-mortem. Finding the win takes longer because it's hard to appreciate that you can't let go of that f5 square. |
|
| Apr-30-09 | | sfm: <VerySensitivePerson: 39. Qf8+ looks like a draw.> Right, in the same way the final position looks like a win for Black. ;-)
Bless the ambitious players who go for more than a draw, giving us spectacular losses to enjoy. |
|
Apr-30-09
 | | OBIT: No sneaky traps in this one...
Given White's threats, the only move is 43...Rxh3+, and it's easy to see the move is good for at least a perpetual. Then, if you start looking for anything better, you might notice 45...Qg4+! (to prevent Qf5+) forces mate after 46. Kf1 Qf3+ 47. Kg1 Ne2+ or 46. Kh1 Nf3! |
|
Apr-30-09
 | | dzechiel: Black to move (43...?). Black has a knight for two pawns. "Medium." There are several forcing moves here (43...Qxh3+, 43...Qe1+ 43...Rd1+), but only one I like: 43...Rxh3+
This is very forcing, as not capturing the rook with
44 gxh3
allows 44...Rh1#.
44...Qxh3+ 45 Kg1 Qg4+
Took me a long time to find this move. I have envy for those of you who found this move quickly. White has four legal replies here. Three lose quickly and the last loses almost as quickly. 46 Kf1 Qf3+ 47 Kg1 (47 Ke1 Qe2#) 47...Ne2+ 48 Kh2 Qg3+ 49 Kh1 Qh3#. or 46 Kf2 Qf3+ and win as above.
or 46 Kh2 Nf3+ 47 Kh1 Qh3#
or 46 Kh1 Nf3
here white has lots of moves, but the black queen on g4 prevents the devastating 47 Qf5+. After a bunch of spite checks black will eventually play ...Qh3#. Time to check. |
|
| Apr-30-09 | | cheeseplayer: Ne2?????? |
|
| Apr-30-09 | | zooter: after looking at this position for a long time (much more than usual thursday because I wanted to solve this), I've come to the conclusion that 43...Rxh3+ is the best move. 44.gxh3 is forced and then follows 44...Qxh3+ 45.Kg1 Qe3+ and now the variations abound: a) 46.Kf1 is bad as Qe2+ mates immediately
b) 46.Kg2 Qf3+ 47.Kh2 (47.Kg1 Ne2+  ) Ne2 (threat Qg3#) 48.Rg1 Qf2+ 49.Rg2 (49.Kh3 Nxg1+ ) Qh4# c) 46.Kh1 Ne2
d) 46.Kh2 Nf3+ followed by mate again...
Looks very fuzzy to me...I think the key to this puzzle is to understand that the white king cannot escape the power of the knight and queen. Time to check if I'm anywhere near the solution. |
|
| Apr-30-09 | | zooter: well nowhere near, I did notice that 45...Qg3+ didn't get me anywhere and opted for 45...Qe3+. However, I never even considered the other check 45...Qg4 After 45...Qe3+ black can escape in a bunch of lines and off course the deadly Qf5+ is also there preventing a waiting move by black Definitely not Medium, I think this is quite difficult at-least for me |
|
| Apr-30-09 | | zooter: <cheeseplayer: Ne2??????> 44.Kh2 and white can escape |
|
Apr-30-09
 | | johnlspouge: Thursday (Medium):
Z Kozul vs Bologan, 2005 (43...?) Black to play and win.
Material: N for 2P. The White Kh1 has 2 legal moves, both dark squares accessible to Nd4-f3. The Black Qh4 controls weak dark squares near Kh1. The Black Rd3 and Qh4 both attack h3. White has significant resources in Pe7 and e8=Q, which wins without a Black counter-stroke. The White Ra1 guards the back rank. The Black Kh7 is vulnerable to checks from Qf8 at g8, h8, g7, and f5. Candidates (43…): Rxh3+
43…Rxh3+ 44.gxh3 [Kg1 Rh1#]
44…Qxh3+ 45.Kg1
Here, I suffered late night blindness and thought the Black N was at e4, not d4. Time to go to bed. |
|
| Apr-30-09 | | Confuse: cheeseplayer -> or even better then what zooter suggested, Queen check forks the rook. I had Ne2 as my move too, so I was considerably disappointed. |
|
Apr-30-09
 | | SuperPatzer77: White resigns after 46...Nf3! below:
47. Qg8+ (desperate move) Kxg8, 48. e8=Q+ Kh7, 49. Qh5 (only move to stop checkmate) Qxh5+, 50. Kg2 Qg4+, 51. Kf2 Nxe5! (shattering White's two connected pawns)  SuperPatzer77 |
|
Apr-30-09
| | SuperPatzer77: <johnlspouge> Hey, yourself!! How are your eyes feeling? I hope they are OK. <johnlspouge> My eyes had glaucoma so, I had surgeries for both of my eyes in 1992 to preserve my vision. My eyes are feeling great now. <johnlspouge> if you have glaucoma, you better go see your ophthalmologist. You can become blind if untreated. <johnlspouge> you made a mistake like we all do. I missed the move - 45...Qg4+, too. SuperPatzer77 |
|
Apr-30-09
 | | al wazir: I'm going to deconstruct this one. Pay close attention. I'm playing black. White threatens to promote on e8. I have no viable way to stop this (giving up my  is not a viable option) other than with 43...Rxh3+. It's a *forced move*, so I play it. (After 44. gxh3 Qxh3+ 44. Kg1, I can always get a draw by repetition.) So here I am on move 45. Now what? If I move both my  and , uncovering f5, white will play Qf5+, followed by promotion with check, and it's curtains. I stare at the position. What do I do? Do I take the draw? Aha! I see the winning move, 45...Qg4+, with mate to follow! Brilliant! NO, I DID NOT SEE IT IN ADVANCE. But I claim the point anyway, because I would have played it this way OTB. |
|
| Apr-30-09 | | TheBish: Z Kozul vs Bologan, 2005 Black to play (43...?) "Medium"
Black is ahead a piece for two pawns, but White is about to queen one of those pawns, followed by mate. Black has to act fast! Of course, Black has an easy draw by perpetual check, but once you see that, it's not too hard to find the win. 43...Rxh3+! 44. gxh3 (forced, else mate in one) Qxh3+ 45. Kg1 Qg4+! This is the key square; Black's queen will guard against White from administering his own perpetual check starting with Qf5+, once Black's knight moves away from it's guard. Now: A) 46. Kf1 (or Kf2) Qf3+ 47. Kg1 (or 47. Ke1 Qe2#) Ne2+ 48. Kh2 Qg3+ 49. Kh1 Qh3 mate. B) 46. Kh2 Nf3+ 47. Kh1 Qh3 mate.
C) 46. Kh1 Nf3, and now White is helpless to stop mate, except by giving up his queen, i.e. 47. Qf5+ Qxf5 48. Kg2, or 47. Qg8+ Kxg8 48. e8=Q+ Kh7 49. Qh5 (or Qc8) Qxh5+ 50. Kg2, but it's just a matter of moves now before Black brings home the point. A possible finish is 46. Kh1 Nf3 47. Qf5+ Qxf5 48. Kg2 Nh4+ 49. Kg3 g5! 50. e8=Q Qxf4+ 51. Kh3 Qf3+ 52. Kh2 Qg2 mate. |
|
| Apr-30-09 | | rusticbull: a more interesting question could have been "what's black's best 45th move" |
|
Apr-30-09
 | | whiteshark: I'd have finalized the game with self-mate in threee. Hopefully the rest of the day will be better... |
|
| Apr-30-09 | | SamAtoms1980: 43 ... Rxh3+ howled to be played like a wolf.
44 gxh3 Qxh3+ 45 Kg1 and unfortunately I blew it with 45 ... Qg3+? 46 Kh1 (46 Kf1 Qf3+ 47 Kg1 Ne2+ 48 Kh2 Qg3+ 49 Kh1 Qh3#) ... Nf3??? 47 Qf5+ turning the tables. One day I will learn to look for the other guy's defensive resources. |
|
Apr-30-09
 | | agb2002: Black has a knight for two pawns but one of them can promote at once. White threatens mate in two with 44.e8=Q and 45.Qg(h)8#. Another problem is that Black cannot blithely move his knight, for example, if 43... Ne2, threatening 44... Rxh3+, then 44.Qf5+ mates in three. Black can force perpetual check with 43... Rxh3+ 44.gxh3 (44.Rg1 Rh1#) Qxh3+ 45.Kg1 Qg3+, etc. However, the combination of attack and defense of f5 suggests 45... Qg4+ (instead of 45... Qg3+): A) 46.Kf1(2) Qf3+ 47.Kg1 (47.Ke1 Qe2#) Ne2+ 48.Kh2 Qg3+ 49.Kh1 Qh3#. B) 46.Kh2 Nf3+ 47.Kh1 Qh3#.
C) 46.Kh1 Nf3
C.1) 47.Qg(h)8+ Kxg(h)8 48.e8=Q+ Kh7 - +.
C.2) 47.Qf5+ Qxf5 48.Kg2 (otherwise 48... Qg4) Qxf4 49.e8=Q Nh4+ C.2.a) 50.Kh3 Qf3+ 51.Kxh4 (51.Kh2 Qg2#) g5#.
C.2.b) 50.Kg1 Qg3+ 51.Kf1 (51.Kh1 Qg2#) Qg2+ 52.Ke1 Nf3+ 53.Kd1 Qd2#. C.2.c) 50.Kh1 Qf3+ 51.Kg1(h2) Qg2#.
C.3) 47.Qc8 Qxc8 48.Kg2 Nh4+
C.3.a) 49.Kg3 Nf5+ 50.Kf2 Nxe7 - +.
C.3.b) 49.Kh2 Qg4 - +.
C.3.c) 49.Kh1 Qh3+ 50.Kg1 Qg2#.
C.3.d) 49.Kg1 Qc2 50.Kf1 Qg2+ 51.Ke1 Nf3+ 52.Kd1 Qd2#. C.3.e) 49.Kf2 Qc5+ 50.Kg3 Qxe7 - +.
C.3.f) 49.Kf1 Qc4+ followed by 50... Qb4+ or 50... Qc5+ and 51... Qxe7 - +. I think that's all. |
|
| Apr-30-09 | | gtgloner: Got 43. ... Rxh3+, but I didn't see the follow up. |
|
| Apr-30-09 | | Aristarchos: I was approaching this puzzle exactly like <al wazir>, and also solved it in precisely the same manner! |
|
| Apr-30-09 | | Manic: Well I saw the idea of ...Qg4 but somehow did not see it could be played straight away. My line went 45...Qg3+ 46.Kh1 Qf3+ 47.Kh2 Qg4 which is less forcing than in the game. Threats are ...Nf3 and ...Ne2 which can't both be defended successfully the next move...except by the Qa8! (I think this is the only move). Now if black plays ...Ne2 white can defend with Qg2 and if ...Nf3 white can take it and make a new queen with at least a draw. Black at best has a draw by perpetual in this line. |
|
| Apr-30-09 | | miseiler: I followed all the Qg3+ lines to completion, but didn't see the perp check. |
|
|
|
< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 1 OF 3 ·
Later Kibitzing> |
sac: 43...Rxh3+