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Dec-01-06 | | greensfield: I got 37. Bd4 but missed the Qe8 follow up
<mrjoshherman: what's the response to 37. ... Nxd4 ?> 37...Nxd4 38. Qxe8 Qxe8 39. Rxe8 |
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Dec-01-06 | | Soltari: Wow I got this one too, including Qe8 and pretty quickly as well. And I didn't get yesterday and the day before. Maybe chessgames wanted to make up for the difficulty of the previous puzzles this week :). |
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Dec-01-06 | | ganesh957: I found Qe8 quite easily but I'm afraid that's because I knew this was a puzzle. Still, Bd4 is absolutely obvious. Disappointing for a Friday, or I'm getting stronger. |
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Dec-01-06
 | | Peligroso Patzer: The actual game continuation certainly bears out my initial impression that it is the second move from the puzzle position (38. Qe8!) that is the hard one to find. It was missed by Rellstab, who was quite a strong player. |
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Dec-01-06 | | ahmadov: Good puzzle. I saw the first move but the player was clever than me to play 37...Rf8. |
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Dec-01-06 | | ahmadov: In this puzzle, I liked the note "? White overlooks 38.Qe8!! which wins at once" most. |
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Dec-01-06 | | The17thPawn: Yes Qe8 was the move you needed to find to finish black off quickly but like Rellstab I did'nt see the clincher. |
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Dec-01-06 | | Silverstrike: A nice puzzle and a nice theme, thought I've seen harder on friday. Bd4 and Qe8 came very quickly. |
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Dec-01-06 | | eblunt: Qe8 is the certainly the move, forces an exchange where Black ends up with a N against 2B (thus winning) - but I don't see a line where it forces an immediate mate. |
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Dec-01-06 | | alphee: I got the first move but missed the rest when Rf8 was pretty obvious and I only saw Rxe4. Greed doesn't help. That'the lesson for me for today. |
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Dec-01-06 | | YouRang: Funny... After totally screwing up yesterday's puzzle, I found this one in a matter of seconds. I think I found it fast because I zeroed in on two things: (1) the danger the black king was in, having only the dark g7 square to move to, and (2) the 'discovered Q+R battery' that appears if I move my dark-square bishop. These two points led quickly to the idea of moving the DSB to threaten the king, while opening the Q+R battery on the rook. For a moment, I thought this alone was winning, until I saw black's defense: 37...Rf8. But then it was just a matter of deflecting the rook with 38. Qe8! I was disheartened when I looked at the game and saw that white played a different move -- but then re-heartened(?) when it was pointed out that he fumbled it. :-) |
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Dec-01-06 | | TTLump: <Phony Benoni: You know, I think White is only winning the exchange, not a piece. After 37.Bd4 Rf8 38.Qe8 Qxe8 39.Rxe8 Kg7 40. Rxf8, Black can play 40...Bxd4 (or, for that matter, simply 39...Bxd4 immediately).> right you are, EXCEPT that with the ROOK/Bishop combination against the Knight/Bishop (of the opposite color, significantly), white makes short work of Black's Queen side pawns and finishes him off even quicker than the 40... Kxf8 line. |
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Dec-01-06 | | TTLump: I think Black actually comes out a little better (but still losing) if he plays 37... Nxd4 instead of Rf8. White is still up the exchange but with not quite as good position. |
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Dec-01-06 | | esticles: So far my Friday is doing its best to seem like a Monday. Everything else about the day sucks, but at least I can solve the chessgames puzzle! |
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Dec-01-06 | | astaub: I question whether the final position is a win. Rook plus bishop and rook pawn on the same side of the board vs. a Rook is drawn if the defending king is in front of the pawns. Here there is an exta rook pawn but I doubt if that would be enough to make a difference. |
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Dec-01-06 | | YouRang: Hello <astaub>. I think it's a win: In the final position, white can push his rook pawn up the h-file, and the black king can't stop it (since it can't cross the g-file). He must get use his rook. But once he gets his rook in front of the h-pawn, White's king is free to start pushing the f-pawn. If Black takes the rook pawn, the rooks come off and it's K+2P vs. K, an easy win. |
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Dec-01-06 | | astaub: Hello <YouRang> Thanks very much for your interesting analysis. |
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Dec-01-06 | | TTLump: <astaub: I question whether the final position is a win.> are you forgetting about the f-pawn? Surely 3 pawns is enough to win? |
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Dec-01-06 | | TTLump: the more I look at the final position, the more I agree with <astaub> (yes, I am changing my mind). white cannot prevent the loss of the h3 pawn in just a few moves. White's main problem is that his King is exposed to virtually unlimited tempo-robbing checks by Black's rook (he never has time to get his pieces into the winning position which would require him to gain about 3 tempi). |
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Dec-01-06
 | | Phony Benoni: I checked the tablebase available at http://www.k4it.de/index.php?topic=.... Since six men is the maximum, I removed the pawn on h3. In that position, White to play wins in 32 moves, but only with the move 1.h5. Black to play draws. I'd have to examine the continuation closely to determine if having the h3 pawn would make any difference. It's conceivable. But it's looking like the position was definitely worth playing on for Black. |
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Dec-01-06 | | YouRang: <TTLump><White's main problem is that his King is exposed to virtually unlimited tempo-robbing checks by Black's rook > Couldn't the king get to h2 and bring the rook to g2 to block the checks? If black then attacks the f-pawn, the king goes to g3 and can how find shelter from the rook at g4. I would be interesting to play it out, but I'm betting on a white win. |
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Dec-01-06 | | kevin86: Funny,I had Bxc6 a move earlier but when I saw the correct move-I amended the second move to the great finale-which was missed ♕e8+. What could have been a great finish became a run-of-the-mill ending :( |
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Dec-01-06 | | franksp:  click for larger view
Position after 36...Re8
Here White can win quickly by 37 Bd4 Rf8 (If 37...Rxe4 38 Bxf6+ Qg7 39 Bxg7+ Kxg7 40 Rxe4) 38 Qe8 Qg7 or Qf7 (if 38...Rxe8 39 Bxf6 Qg7 40 Rxe8# or if 38... Qxe8 39 Rxe8 forcing mate or winning at least the exchange) 39 Qxf8+ Qxf8 40 Re8 forcing mate or winning back the Queen and staying ahead in material. |
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Dec-01-06 | | Marmot PFL: Found Bd4 immediately and thought this is incredibly easy for a Friday. I also missed Qe8 and played it like Rellstab which is good enough if very drawn out. |
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Dec-02-06 | | YouRang: FWIW, I've tried playing this endgame against the computer, and I was able to win pretty easy. So, I don't think black made a mistake by resigning. |
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