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Yge Visser vs Jonathan Speelman
Howard Staunton Memorial 2006  ·  Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation (B17)  ·  0-1


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sac: 26...Rxg3 PGN: download | view Help: general | java-troubleshooting

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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing >
Aug-28-06   prinsallan: Haha, missed it. Pretty obvious when I saw it :P
Aug-28-06   vibes43: To be a true smother condition, doesn't the king have to be completely surrounded by his own pieces? But I'm proud of myself because after seing the recent smother mates, I zoomed right in on this puzzle solution.
Aug-28-06   Confuse: WOOHOO!
Aug-28-06   monad: Bank Holiday Monday again: me looking for a Sunday puzzle and searching too deep :-)

Aug-28-06   weary willy: <vibes43: Am I at the Speelmanabilia site?> Speelmanological - cave-dwelling chessplayer
Aug-28-06   jamesmaskell: I saw it after seeing that Black could kill the game before White could finish the job. Its the smothered mate idea. Its not a true one as <vibes43> says but the principle is still there. Took about 10 seconds.
Aug-28-06   mack: Not for the first time, the puzzles in The Times and chessgames.com are the same. Is this a chicken and the egg scenario?
Aug-28-06   EmperorAtahualpa: What is this..a semi-smothered mate? Whatever it is, I found it. :)
Aug-28-06   jamesmaskell: The chicken and egg problem has been solved according to London scientists earlier this year. It was the egg which came first. Cant remember why but it was in the news.

Man, Im so sad...

Aug-28-06   uuft: Doesn't knowing black wins calls for a somehow obvious solution/focus here?
Aug-28-06   zb2cr: Saw it in under 10 seconds. Mondays, I love these puzzles. By Sundays, on the other hand, I'm hating them.
Aug-28-06   ex0duz: A checkmate by knight is always nice, even if its not as devastating to the opponent as a smothered mate ;)

Aug-28-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  The Diamond: I think the solution to the chicken-and-egg conundrum was that the rooster came first.
Aug-28-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  YouRang: Very nice puzzle - Not hard (particularly if you've been pre-programmed to look for queen sacs and smother mates), but still interesting. One wonders when Speelman first saw this tactic...
Aug-28-06   doremi: <I think the solution to the chicken-and-egg conundrum was that the rooster came first.> That's the male chauvinistic view
Aug-28-06   attica: One would expect that white, with a FIDE rating of 2516, would see the coming smothered mate, and instead of 27. Qxe7, he would move something like 27. Qxg3. It would make it a little bit harder for black to win.
Aug-28-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  kevin86: A whimsical finish! White can mate in one by Qh7# but it's NOT his turn. The two move mate by black is very obvious-considering we have had similar ones lately.

Funny how others have compared this game to last week-this game hadn't even been played yet!

Computers-----and their immediacy. Just think,if we had to rely on books-we wouldn't have seen this game for years! Or at least weeks,in a magazine or newspaper format.

Aug-28-06   mshah28: It is interesting that the same puzzle appears at the following web site for August 28...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/sectio...

Aug-28-06   scorpius: This is quite a simple tactic, especially one you notice that ...rg1+ doesn't work because white takes with check. Took about 5 seconds ;)
Aug-28-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  gawain: Saw it instantly. Very pretty though. An almost-smothered mate. That would be a "mothered" mate?
Aug-28-06   Chess Lou Zer: I'm embarrassed to say that it took me about 5 seconds.
Aug-28-06   NakoSonorense: 5 seconds to do what?
Aug-28-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  GannonKnight: Nice puzzle. Looked for the smothered first. How about we call it the quasi-smothered mate. Next puzzle in about 16 minutes!!
Sep-03-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  patzer2: Black's discovered check 25...Ne4+!! sets up a neat smothered mate with the followup and daily puzzle solution 27...Qg1+!
Sep-03-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  patzer2: Of course one could argue that Black's winning combination starts with White's dubious sacrifice 19. Bxh6?! and the strong defensive replies 20...Be4! and 21...Ng4!
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing >

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