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< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 1 OF 2 ·
Later Kibitzing> |
Jul-02-10
 | | Rob Morrison: Nice game. Also crushing was 26 . . . Qh3. |
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Jul-02-10
 | | al wazir: Got it, except that I wanted to play 26...Qh3. White can postpone mate by playing 27. Kf2, but at the price of losing both  s. |
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| Jul-02-10 | | zooter: 23...f4 has to be the key move. It attacks the loose knight and also pushes our pawns towards the enemy king. If 24.gxf4 Bd5+ 25.f3 Rd2 is terrible
If 24.Nxc6 Bd5+ loses a piece
However if 24.Nd3 Qf3+ is crushing.
The reasonable alternative of protecting the knight by Qe1 runs into Rd1 while 24.Re1 Bd5+ is very troublesome for white Time to check how this was played out |
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| Jul-02-10 | | zooter: Very shameful that I missed Rd1 (it is protected twice is what I missed!) |
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Jul-02-10
 | | RandomVisitor: 22...Rxc6 might also win for black. |
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| Jul-02-10 | | azax: Friday puzzle. "Difficult."
This puzzle doesn't really live up to its name. With 4 pieces poised to relentlessly tear apart the white king, and with 3 of them pointing at d1, the first move should be obvious. 23. ...Rd1. 24. Rc1
Now that a rook has successfully gone infiltrated white's position, the bishop can play its check. 24. ...Bd5+
White must desperately try to free himself from his surrounding pawns, but black's bishop will not be stopped. 25. f3 Bxf3+ 26. Kg1
If 26. Nxf3, 26. ...Qxf3+ 27. Kg1 R8d2 28. ~ Qg2#
Now black has two options:
26. ...R8d2 27. Nxf3 Qxf3 28. ~ Qg2#
26. ...Qh3 27. Nxf3 R8d2 28. Kf2 Qg2+ 29. Ke3 Qe2+ 30. Kf4 R8d4+ is a very pretty, but slower finish. |
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| Jul-02-10 | | zenpharaohs: azax: "This puzzle doesn't really live up to its name. With 4 pieces poised to relentlessly tear apart the white king, and with 3 of them pointing at d1, the first move should be obvious. 23. ...Rd1." ... just when I was feeling good for finding the solution easily... I sort of agree though, Rd1 jumped off the board at me. |
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Jul-02-10
 | | Once: I have written at length about the many and diverse attributes of my esteemed friend, Sherlock Holmes, the world's first and arguably only consulting detective. His excellent inquiring mind and eye for detail need hardly be mentioned again, for they have been a cornerstone of many of the adventures we shared together these past few years. He is also an excellent boxer with the strength to bend iron pokers in his bare hands. Mimicry is another of his gifts, as he uses clothes, mannerisms and makeup to adopt any one of a myriad of cunning disguises. The years we shared at 221b Baker Street have shown me that he additionally possesses an excellent, if rather dry, wit. He is, above all, an unswerving friend and ally. And yet he is at times beset with inner demons - failings which in a lesser men might turn him to a life of debauchery, politics, crime or worse. Often he has sunk into such a deep dark depression that his only recourse was the laudunum bottle. Boredom can be his undoing too, if he is without a case to tax his fearsome intellect. Earlier today, I saw another of his weaknesses which he had long tried to conceal, that of indecision. There were times when a case presented too many options, too many choices. And even when a solution was evident, Holmes would still not be satisfied. He would examine every shred of evidence for a flaw in his thinking, trying to demolish his own hypothesis as utterly as a barrister might try to discredit a witness. I secretly suspected that the storm petrel of crime, Professor Moriarty, was behind my friend's troubles. In the past few cases, the professor had teased Holmes with tricky puzzles where an apparent answer turned out to be false. Why, it was only yesterday that Moriarty had devised one of those puzzles that he likes to call "a spoiler", where what appeared to be a solution contained a subtle flaw. For this reason, Holmes was checking and rechecking his analysis in his current case - the astonishing puzzle of the red-haired cyclist. "Look here, Watson. I see the professor's hands all over this case." "How so?"
"He wants me to fix on the glaring hole on g2. I could play moves like Qh3 or Bd5+ but they all seem too slow. White closes the d file with Nd3 or the long diagonal with f3. And then the villain escapes. In all lines, that thrice defended pawn on f3 gives him an unassailable alibi." "There must be another solution."
Holmes looked perplexed. "There is, but I mistrust it. Instead of these moves, we could play 23...Rd1 forking Qb1 and Rf1. Then white is forced to play 24. Rc1, redirecting his rook away from the defence of f3. Only then do we play 24...Bd5+. We now see that the f3 pawn is defended only once, as one rook has been deflected and the other is now pinned. However white defends, we will win the f3 pawn, invade our queen on h3 and mate on g2." "So surely you have solved the case?"
"Ordinarily, I might think so. But Moriarty is cunning beyond belief, and this may be much too simple. Look, here comes Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard. We will see if he has any new evidence to help us with this case." And the rest, of course, is well known. It transpired that my friend had been right in his conjecture about 23...Rd1. His nemesis professor Moriarty did not have a part to play in this particular case. And yet his troubles continued. This case may have been solved, but Holmes remained yet troubled. It would be many days yet before the effect of that spoiler would fade from his mind. |
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Jul-02-10
 | | johnlspouge: riday (Difficult)
P Wiese vs H J Schulz, 2007 (23...?) Black to play and win.
Material: B for N+P. The White Kh1 has 2 legal moves and lies on the a8-h1 long diagonal of the light-squared Black Be6. The Black Qh5 is also ready to reinforce control of the light squares around the White Kh1. Black Has a battery Rd8 and Rd6, which with Qh5 control an invasion point d1 on the White back rank. White threatens to capture Pc6 (not much of a threat). The Black Kg8 is secured from check. Candidates (23...): Rd1
23...Rd1 (threatening 24...Rxb1 or 24...Rxf1+)
The weak back rank is fatal.
24.Rc1 [Rxd1 Rxd1+ wins Qb1 for R] [else, drop at least a R] 24...Bd5+
(1) 25.f3 Bxf3+ 26.Kg1 [Nxf3 Qxf3+ 27.Kg1 Qxf1#]
26...Qh3 (threatening 27.Qg2# or 28.Qxf1#)
27.Nxf3 Qxf1+ 28.Ng1 Qxg1#
(2) 25.Kg1 [Nf3 Qxf3+ 26.Kg1 Qg2#]
25...Qh3 (threatening 26...Qg2# or 26...Qxf1#)
Mate ensures as above. |
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Jul-02-10
| | johnlspouge: As <al wazir> points out, White can avoid mate after Qh5-h3, but only at excessive material cost. |
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| Jul-02-10 | | think: I'll take partial credit for this one, because I only saw the line 25. Kg1 Qh3. |
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| Jul-02-10 | | CHESSTTCAMPS: White is up a pawn, but black has the doubled rooks and the light-squared bishop ready to probe the light square weakness of the white castled position. Curiously, I looked at this position for a while without noticing that Rd1 might be a threat, because I was interested in the idea of opening lines and destabilizing the knight with f4, which seemed the natural positional approach. Then I saw how the two ideas fit together: 23... f4!
The proper preparation for a back rank attack; the threat of Qxe5 makes this forcing. Now white can't defend the position: A) 24.gxf4 Rd1! 25.Rc1
Two rooks were defending f3; now neither rook is defending f3 thanks to the pin. Bd5+ 26.f3 Bxf3+ 27.Kg1 (Nf3 28.Qxf3+ and mate next) Qh3 and white can't stop both mate threats (on g2 or f1). A.1) 26.Kg1 Qh3 27.f3 Qxf1#
There is no good way to defend the knight:
B) 24.Nf3 Rd1 25.Rc1 Qxf3+ wins
C) 24.Qe1 Rd1 wins
D) 24.Nd3 Qf3+ wins
E) 24.Re1 (or Nc4) Rd1 25.Rc1 Bd5+ wins similarly to A. Time to check |
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Jul-02-10
 | | tarek1: Black would like to exploit White's weakness on the h1-a8 diagonal but
he needs to weaken White's control on f3 first
<23...Rd1 24.Rc1> only way to save the queen and the rook on f1 <24...Bd5+>
A) <25.Kg1 Qh3> threatening both Qg2# and Qxf1# <26.f3 Qxf1#> B) <25.f3 Bxf3+!> and now B1) <26.Kg1 Qh3> transposes into A, white can't parry both threats.
B2) <26.Nxf3 Qxf3+ 27.Kg1 Qxf1#>
These variations seem very forcing, I don't see other meaningful defenses. |
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Jul-02-10
 | | M.Hassan: Black is a pawn down. "difficult"
23......Rd1
White has the following options
24.Rxd1 OR 24.Rc1 OR 24.Qc2
Let us study the options:
if 24.Rxd1 Rxd1+
25.Qxd1 Qxd1+
White looses its Queen
If 24.Rc1 Bd5+
25.Nf3 Bxf3+
26.Kg1 Qh3 and mate next move
Also if 24.Rc1 Bd5+
25.f3 Bxf3+
26.Nxf3 Qxf3+
27.Kg1 Qxf1#
If 24.Qc2 Rxf1+
25.Kg2 R8d1
26.Nf3 Bd5
To prevent mate:
27.Qxd1 Rxd1 and white looses Queen
Time to check |
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Jul-02-10
 | | dzechiel: Black to move (23...?). White is up a pawn. "Difficult." Just got back from watching the Angels down the Rangers 2-1 in a real pitching duel. I only have a little time so let's get right to it. This one looks straightforward to me, perhaps there are complications down the line. Let's start off with
23...Rd1
Forcing, as black is on the queen and on the rook.
24 Rc1
White can't capture with 24 Rxd1 Rxd1+ 25 Qxd1 Qxd1+ and white loses the queen for a rook. 24...Bd5+
Another forcing move.
25 Kg1
Blocking with the pawn doesn't help, eg: 25 f3 Bxf3+ 26 Kg1 (If 26 Nxf3 Qxf3+ 27 Kg1 Qxf1#) 26...R8d2 27 Nxf3 Qxf3 with mate next move. 25...Qh3
And the dual threats of 26...Qg2# and 26...Qxf1# should put an end to this game. Time to check.
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Nailed it! |
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| Jul-02-10 | | gofer: I don't like the double-edged sword of 23 ... f4. It looks like it is far too dangerous!
Black has control over most of the white squares and can probably gain a few more, by Rd1. 23 ... Rd1
24 Rc1 Rxc1
25 Qxc1 ...
25 ... Rxc1 26 Bd4+ (f3 27 Bxf3+ (Nxf3 28 Qxf3+) Kg8 28 Rd2 mating) Kg8 27 Be4 Qa1 28 Qh3 f3 29 Rd2 mating) However,
25 ... Qxc1 seems to hold...
So lets step back a second... ...what about a slightly different move order! 23 ... Rd1 (Rxd1 Rxd1+ winning the queen!)
24 Rc1 Bd5+!!!
Wow! Now Rf1 is tied to the 1st rank and so can't defend if white plays f3! 25 Kg2 Qh3 mating
25 f3 Bxf3+
26 Nxf3 Qxf3+
27 Kg1 Qxf1#
Awesome finish. I have seen this sort of thing somewhere before, but its still an truly fantastic finish! Time to check. |
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| Jul-02-10 | | I Like Fish: an incredible ...
star-blessed ...
conjunction of circumstances ...
stressful ...
but fun ... |
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Jul-02-10
 | | David2009: P Wiese vs H J Schulz, 2007 Black 23...? The immediate 23...Rd1 is met by 24 Rc1 so Black needs to prepare it with 23...Qe2. 24 f4, 24 N moves or 24 Re1 are all met by Rd1 otherwise the N is captured.
Time to check:
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Missed it again! 1/5 so far this week. 
click for larger view
23...Qe2?? throws away the win after 23 Re3! |
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Jul-02-10
| | RandomVisitor: After 22.Bxc6:
click for larger view Rybka 3:
<[-3.34] d=24 22...Rxc6> 23.Re3 f4 24.Rd3 Bd5 25.Qd1 |
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| Jul-02-10 | | zb2cr: <David2009>,
You're not the only one to try to prepare too slowly with 23. ... Qe2. I did it too. |
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| Jul-02-10 | | smitha1: <Once> I hope your medical problems are solved. All the best: you are well remembered and prayed for. This does not seem to have affected your writing: if anything, I enjoy your responses more every day. |
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| Jul-02-10 | | smitha1: I am convinced that the entire concept of easy vs difficult is very subjective: I have fluffed days that every pawn pusher and his dog got right merely by breathing the air around the monitor without bothering to look at the puzzle itself. Today's puzzle, on the other hand, surprised some pretty good puzzlers, but came to me without much difficulty. The message?
The difficulty level can only be a fallible general gauge that is subject to personal factors outside CGs control such as your personal playing experience, the studies you have done, the column you read yesterday, not even to mention the vagaries of the working of each brain. When all is said and done, the frailties of the subjective judgment of CG staff seem less important. So, well done CG: I love the puzzles every day, even on days (such as yesterday) when I got the answer right for all the wrong reasons, which in my mind deserves a minus mark. |
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Jul-02-10
 | | Marmot PFL: This loks winnable- 23...Rd1 24 Rc1 Bd5+ 25 f3 (Kg1 Qh3 24 f3 Rd2) Bxf3+ 26 Rxf3 Qxf3+ 27 Kg1 Rd8-d2 and wins. If there is more to it than this i'm missing it, so not sure why its a 3-star. |
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| Jul-02-10 | | CHESSTTCAMPS: I'm trying now to think why I thought that 23... f4 was critical to the combination, but it certainly made sense at 1 a.m. :>) |
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| Jul-02-10 | | YetAnotherAmateur: <M Hassan>
After your sequence:
23......Rd1
24.Rxd1 Rxd1+
25.Qxd1 Qxd1+
White loses more than his queen, because of:
26. Kg2 Bd5+
27. Kh3 Qh5# |
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