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Apr-08-09
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| CHESSTTCAMPS: Clearly this position is about black's dangerous g-pawn. It can be a part of various mating patterns and is even a threat for promotion. Yet, black's queen is tied to the defense of the g-pawn, so a direct attempt at attack such as 42...Qe2 43.Qxe2 R7xe2 44.Rxg3 backfires. Black also has to beware of white's connected passed pawns in the center, the move f4 by white, or counterattacks with Rxg6+, so accurate play is required. For some reason, the key move here was hard for me to find. I looked for ideas to divert the white queen, so black can play Qe3  -> Qh6 ->h2# I even looked at unsound attempts such as Qe1 or f5. Finally I came up with: 42....Rf2!
When it's right, you generally know immediately and the details are fairly easy to work out: A. 43.Rxf2 gxf2+ 44.Kh1 (Kf1 or Kxf2 both allow Qe1#) Qh5+ 45.Rh4 Qxh4# B. 43.Re4 Qb2! 44.Rxf2 (else Rxg2+ mates quickly) Qxf2+ 45.Kh1 Rxe4 and either recapture allows a back-rank mate. C. 43.f4 Rxf1+ 44.Qxf1 (Kxf1 Qe1#) Qd4+! 45.Kh1 Qh8+! mates in two. Ahha - it did come up! D. 43.Rd1 Qe1+ forces mate.
E. 43.Rxg6+ fxg6 44.Qxg6+ Rg7 45.Qd3 Rxf1+ 46.Kxf1 (Qxf1 Qe3+ forces mate in three) Qa1+ 47.Ke2 Re7+ 48.Kd2 Qe1+ 49.Kc2 Re2+ followed by Re3 winning the queen. I think that covers everything. Checking for hallucinations.... |
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Apr-08-09
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| benjinathan: I know I am going to embarass myself by asking, but what about 43. Qe4 as a response? OK before I sent the message I figured it out:
42..Rf2
(43.Qe4 Qb2 44.Rxg6+ fxg6 45.Qxg6+ Kf8 46.Qh6+ Ke8 47.Qh3 Rxf1+ 48.Kxf1 Qb1#) 0-1
The newish board that lets you write over the actual moves is cool. |
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Apr-08-09
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| zanshin: <benjinathan: The newish board that lets you write over the actual moves is cool.> <b> When you copy the pgn (right-click move list) you will see that the
variation you made is also preserved. |
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| Apr-08-09 |
| AxelBoldt: I also wanted to play 42... Qe1, but couldn't find a good continuation after 43. Re4. Crafty tells me that 43... Qa5! 44. Rxe7 Qa2 wins for Black. |
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Apr-08-09
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| kevin86: I missed this one-I was too tempted by Rg2+ and I didn't see a follow-up. |
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Apr-08-09
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| benjinathan: <z> Thanks! Cooler! |
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Apr-08-09
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| Sneaky: Is the theme of the week "radical rook moves" ? |
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Apr-08-09
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| CHESSTTCAMPS: <agb2002> wrote <[snip]BTW, the time difference between USA and Spain is at least 6 hours which often makes difficult for me to answer your posts. If you enable your personal forum we could have a much more efficient discussion of any details.> Done - thanks for the suggestion.
<My conclusion (actually reached a long time ago): ignore CG's (machine) assigned stars and just concentrate on the puzzle, no matter it is insanely easy or most loony.> I think your thesis is reasonable, but I generally try to be accurate in my analysis regardless of the rated difficulty level. Also, I've been following this website long enough to be aware that rated difficulty may not match with my perception of the difficulty level. In general, I find that there is a clear progression of difficulty through the week, but some weeks the puzzles are clearly harder than others, e.g. this week is starting out much harder than last week. |
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Apr-08-09
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| Gilmoy: More important than solving it (I did) was that I worked out all of the threats: Qh4 fail, Qe3-Qh6 Damiano (and even the chance of Qh8!), Black's back rank and swallowtail mate threats at e1, the sideways-hunting pattern on 2, Reb8 too slow, and Rg2+ fail. After that homework, <42..Rf2> emerged as the intersection of about four ideas: hammers the weak back rank + swallowtail threats, threatens to deflect White's Q from e3, and clears b2 for a heavy-double. When one move dings four bells, that has to be worth a think. |
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Apr-08-09
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| Jimfromprovidence: IM Jack Peters writes a very good Sunday chess column for the LA Times. I look forward to his column like others do the Sunday crossword. This puzzle comes from the March 15 column. Obviously <310metraltrader> omitted that fact from his first post. I posted this puzzle on my chess forum page and thought it was good enough to make mention of it on this game page as well. FWIW, I have a collection of about 25 other LA Times Sunday puzzles on my forum page. Most of the solutions come from games available in CG’s database. As far as this puzzle goes I went for 42…Qe1 as well as I worked it our over the board. When I plugged it in my free-version Rybka chess engine I was shocked that white could escape with a perpetual after 43 Rxg6+. |
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Apr-08-09
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| YouRang: Arrgh. |
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Apr-08-09
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| al wazir: <UnsoundHero: After 42...Rf2 43 Rxg3 Rxf1+ 44 Kxf1? Qe1 mate. (Stronger than 44...Qxg3).> Yes, much stronger. Thanks. |
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Apr-08-09
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| mrknightly: Have been a member of this site for a while, but have always wondered if there is any way to go to a screen to analyze the puzzle before going to where you can see the score card. Would like to analyze without having the solution staring me in the face. Anyone, cg.com?? |
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| Apr-08-09 |
| dhotts: Doesn't WHite survive with 42...Rf2 43.d6 if (1)43...Rxf1 44.Qxf1 Qxd6 and WHite is down a pawn. (2)43...Qb2 44.Rxg3 R7e2 then 45.Rxg6+ and White should now at least draw with a perpetual. What am I missing on a 2 star puzzle? |
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Apr-08-09
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| whiteshark: <dhotts: What am I missing> 42...Rf2 43.d6 Rxf1 44.Qxf1 <Qe3+> 
click for larger view
<45.Kh1 Qh6+> and mate on h2. |
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Apr-08-09
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| benjinathan: <mrknightly>
I guess you mean something other than the home page? I always analyze there to avoid the temptation to look or move pieces around. You could always do each puzzle a day late and then do them from the archoive ;0. |
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| Apr-08-09 |
| OrangeBishop: To <benjinathan>: Maybe he means he wants to move the pieces around on the Java applet, but not see the scorecard while doing so? I sometimes resort to covering up the right side of the screen while playing my own personal guess-the-move. |
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| Apr-08-09 |
| ruzon: Whenever you can put a piece on an unexpected square and make it stay there, it's usually the solution. Unfortunately for me, after 42... f2! I could not sort through all of White's possible replies.Too bad that strategy doesn't work OTB. |
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| Apr-08-09 |
| WhiteRook48: didn't think of 42...Rf2
I was thinking 42...Qe1 43 Rxe1 Rxe1+ 44 Qf1 Rbb1 45 Rxg3 (all else fails) 45...Rxf1+ 46 Kh2 Rh1# |
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Apr-08-09
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| johnlspouge: Wednesday (Medium/Easy)
H Melkumyan vs I Nepomniachtchi, 2009 (42…?) Black to play and win.
Material: Even. The White Kg8 has 1 legal move, h1 on the open h-file. Black has a battery Re7 and Qe5 on the e-file, along with Rb2 on the 7-th rank and Pg3 constricting the White Kg1. The connected passed Pc4 and Pd5 should win for White, if Black does not utilize his advantage against the White Kg1. The Black Kg8 is secure, except for Qd3xg6+ or Rg4xg6+. White has 43.Rxg3, which apparently spoils mating possibilities starting with 42…Qh5, and 43.Re4, which removes the Black battery. Both Qd3 and Rg4 might possibly be overburdened or embarrassed. Candidates (42…): Qh5, Qe1, Qe2, Qd6, f5, Qh1, Rf2
42…Rf2 (threatening 43…Rxc1+ 44.Qxf1 [Kxf1 Qe1#] Qe3+ 45.Kh1 Qh6+ 46.Kg1 Qh2+) 43.Qe4 [Re4 Qh5 44…Qh2+ and mate soon]
<[Toga points out that in the variation, 43…Qh5 loses to 44.Rxf2, so Black should indeed play 43…Qb2, the game variation.]> 43…Rxf1+ 44.Kxf1 Qa1+ 45.Ke1 [Qe1 Qxe1#] Rxe4+
Black has an easy win.
I did not explicitly note that Rf1 carries the absolute burden of preventing a back-rank mate and can be overburdened. The move Rb2-f2 would have been easier to find if I had. |
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| Apr-08-09 |
| petrie911: What's Black's best response to 43.Qd1? The best I can come up with is 43.Qd1 Rxf1+ 44.Kxf1 Qh5 45.Qd4 Qh1+ 46.Qg1 Re1+ 47.Kxe1 Qxg1+ With Black up a queen to a rook, and about to win white's g-pawn. Seems like there might be something more forcing, though. |
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Apr-08-09
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| CHESSTTCAMPS: <petrie911> writes <What's Black's best response to 43.Qd1? The best I can come up with is
43.Qd1 Rxf1+ 44.Kxf1 Qh5 45.Qd4 Qh1+ 46.Qg1 Re1+ 47.Kxe1 Qxg1+> Your line works but is even better with 46...Qxg1+ 47.Kxg1 Re1# |
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| Apr-08-09 |
| EyesofBlue: .... and I strike out. |
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| Apr-08-09 |
| DarthStapler: I didn't get it |
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Apr-09-09
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| patzer2: For the Wednesday April 8, 2009 puzzle, 42...Rf2! initiates a winning attack against White's helpless King. |
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