|
< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 1 OF 4 ·
Later Kibitzing> |
| Aug-22-09 | | Treadhead57: A nice Queen sacrifice and this game hasn't made to a Monday puzzle? |
 |
| Sep-08-09 | | Shyfe: 18. Qxe5+ dxe5
19. Rd8+ Ke7
20. Bc5#
I don't really see any alternative lines. |
|
Sep-08-09
 | | gawain: It must be Qxe5 check followed by Rd8+ and Bc5#. Wow! |
|
Sep-08-09
 | | Infohunter: <Treadhead57: A nice Queen sacrifice and this game hasn't made to a Monday puzzle?> It has now. |
|
Sep-08-09
 | | An Englishman: Good Evening: Not hard, but beautiful nonetheless. |
|
Sep-08-09
 | | dzechiel: White to play (18?). Material even. "Easy."
One of the most forcing moves on the board is
18 Qxe5+
Perhaps more forcing are 18 Bd7+ or 18 Qc6+, but since those are both suicidal, we will go with the capture. Now black has a decision to make: Take the queen, or lose the h8 rook. Losing the rook does prolong the game, but there's no real point unless you think there's a serious chance your opponent will suffer a heart attack. 18...dxe5 19 Rd8+
Very forcing, in that black has but one legal reply:
19...Ke7 20 Bc5#
Checkmate. Move along, nothing more to see here.
Time to check and see when black resigned.
=====
This game went to the bitter end. |
|
| Sep-08-09 | | Jason Frost: Looked at like every possible move before finally seeing 18. Qxe5+ |
|
| Sep-08-09 | | Athamas: A lot happened in 17 moves. Key notes are the black king is extremely vulnerable in the center of the board, white has very attacking pawns on c7 and g5 and all of black's pieces are passive - stuck on the sides or the back rank. White also has 4 attacking pieces - 2 bishops, a rook and the queen to compliment 2 pawns. I won't repeat what's already been said, but obviously taking the queen is not the best defense... though losing a rook and white still having the initiative is as good as over. |
|
| Sep-08-09 | | gofer: 18 Qxe5+
18 ... dxe5 19 Rd8+ Ke7 20 Bc5#
So black must block the check as the king cannot escape... 18 ... Be7 19 Qxh8+ winning the rook
18 ... Be6 19 Qxh8+ winning the rook
In both scenarios black wins the rook, but from there things are still not 100% clear. White has a very dominant position and should win easily, but I could not see a really quick win! Time to check... |
|
| Sep-08-09 | | Athamas: Scrolling through the moves, this game looks over before even the queen sacrifice happened. Was 9...e5 too fast for black to challenge the center without much development? The key move seems to be declining the immediate regain of material and playing 13. Qxc3... It looks like black would have been better off developing his dark-squared bishop and castling instead of 13...Nb6 as well |
|
| Sep-08-09 | | VishyAnandFan: very beautiful mate!!! |
|
| Sep-08-09 | | ROADDOG: Very nice mate. Black was surely stunned. |
|
| Sep-08-09 | | Formula7: I got this one. 18.Qxe5+! either wins the rook or mates after ...dxe5 19.Rd8+ Ke7 20.Bc5#. |
|
Sep-08-09
 | | al wazir: The poor beleaguered Pirc takes it on the chin again. Black played 15...Nxa4 because white was threatening 16. Bb5. 15...Qe7 would have avoided the pin and saved the  from being trapped by 16. a5, but black would have done better to play 14...Qe7 in the first place. |
|
| Sep-08-09 | | Athamas: If 14...Qe7
15. Bxb6 axb6 16. Bb5+ Bd7 17. c8=Q+ |
|
Sep-08-09
 | | Once: In theory, every chess game ought to end in a draw. Each side starts with the same forces symmetrically arranged, so any attack by one side should be parried by an equal force from the other. So one of the main way to win is to arrange to have more forces in one part of the board than your opponent. Then your attack has a chance to crash through because the opposition cannot bring enough defenders to bear. So if we have our opponent pinned we should look for ways to pile on more force to the pinned piece. And if we can get more attackers near his king than defenders we should look for ways to give mate. Today, we have our old friend the near-stalemated king. The black king has only one legal move - Ke7. So the usual prescription is to check, check, check until dead. Casting around for moves to do this, we spot 18. Qxe5+ which not only gives check, it also shifts the pesky d6 pawn which was shutting lines against our attack. Once d6 is out of the way, the Rd1 has an open file and the Be3 has an open diagonal. That gives us more force in the centre of the board and an easy mate. For the rest, see any number of correct posts giving the moves ... |
|
| Sep-08-09 | | ycbaywtb: nice mate |
|
Sep-08-09
| | al wazir: <Athamas>: You're right. Thanks. Black was in more serious trouble than I realized. That comes of moving the same piece (the Q) four times in the opening and neglecting to castle. It isn't all Pirc's fault. |
|
Sep-08-09
| | Once: <al wazir: It isn't all Pirc's fault.> It's a pirc, Jim, but not as we know it. I'd blame black's ill-advised queenside expansion rather than his choice of openings. |
|
Sep-08-09
| | al wazir: <Once>: "Jim"?
I play the Pirc frequently. I usually lose with it, but not as badly as this. |
|
| Sep-08-09 | | Chessox: This took me a little longer than usual tuesdays.
1. Qxe5+ , coming in with check and threatening to take the rook on h8. Black can't take the queen, since; 1. ... dxe5
2. Rd8+ Ke7
3. Bc5#
The reason I took longer was that I was looking for a checkmate. But I guess the rook will have to do if black doesn't take the queen. |
|
| Sep-08-09 | | Athamas: Queenside expansion is a more modern approach to the Pirc. For a serious game with it, I'd probably point you towards Kasparov-Topalov game in 2000? Somewhere around there. It should have been a draw with basically this same opening by both sides. Topalov accepted Kasparov's rook sacrifice and lost; if he had declined it was almost assuredly a draw. I believe the real flaw in black's plan is 9...e5 - he's challenging white's center too soon. Not developed enough for that kind of clash and explosion in the center. |
|
| Sep-08-09 | | Summerfruit: Material is even.
18.Qxe5! dxe5 (Be7 19.Qxh8+) 19.Rd8+ Ke7 20.Bc5# |
|
| Sep-08-09 | | Athamas: Kasparov vs Topalov, 1999 This is the game I was referring to |
|
| Sep-08-09 | | stacase: Puzzles and Queen sacrifices. This one fell apart after a short search. Over the board? Not a chance! |
|
|
|
< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 1 OF 4 ·
Later Kibitzing> |
and 
buttons, but it's much easier to simply use the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard.