| Dec-28-22 | | Brenin: White is a P down and his B on g4 is en prise. Black's K has no defenders, so 43 Bxf5. Black unwisely accepts the sacrifice with 43 ... gxf5, allowing 44 Qg5+. If 44 ... Kh7 or Kh8 then 45 Qh5+, 46 Rg3+ and 47 Qh8 mate. If 44 ... Kf8 then 45 Qh6+ with mate as in the game. |
|
Dec-28-22
 | | perfidious: All fairly obvious for a Wednesday POTD, including the conclusion; it is Black's misfortune that avoiding the game continuation offers no succour either, given his dark-square weaknesses and bereft king. |
|
| Dec-28-22 | | mel gibson: That was easy.
Black can't take the Bishop as per the game or it's mate in 3.Stockfish 15 says:
43. Bxf5
(43. Bxf5 (♗g4xf5 ♗d5-e6 ♗f5xe6 f7xe6 ♖c3-g3 ♘b4-d5 ♕d2-g5 ♖c8-f8 ♕g5xg6+ ♔g7-h8 ♕g6xe6
♕a8-e8 ♕e6xe8 ♖f8xe8 ♖c5xc6 ♔h8-h7 ♖g3-g5 ♘d5-f4 ♖g5-f5 ♘f4-e6 ♗f2-e3
♘e6-g7 ♖f5-f6 ♖e8xe5 ♖c6-c7 ♖d7xd6 ♖f6xd6 ♖e5xe3 h4-h5 ♔h7-g8 h5-h6 ♘g7-e8
♖d6-d8 ♖e3-e5 ♔g1-f2 ♖e5-e6 ♔f2-f3 ♔g8-h8 ♖c7-c8 ♔h8-h7 ♖d8xe8 ♖e6-b6
♔f3-e4 ♔h7xh6 ♔e4-e5 ♖b6-b4) +9.05/32 155)
score for White +9.05 depth 32. |
|
| Dec-28-22 | | Brenin: Did both players miss 32 ... Bxc5 33 Rxc5 Nd3, forking White's two Rs? It was on again a move later, but 34 Be2 stopped it. |
|
| Dec-28-22 | | jrredfield: Easiest POTD of the week so far for me. Saw 43 Bxf5 and the next four or five plies in just a few seconds. 41 ... Nd5 would have kept Black in the game, only about the equivalent of a pawn down. |
|
| Dec-28-22 | | Brenin: <jrredfield>: 41 ... Nd5 is certainly better than the move 41 ... Bd5 played, but after 42 Rc4 Bf5 43 Bxf5 gxf5 44 Rxa5 White is a P up with three passed Ps, one of them protected on the 6th rank, and Black's K is still looking very lonely. I'd hate to have to play Black in this position. |
|
| Dec-28-22 | | King.Arthur.Brazil: My line is: 43. ♗xf5 gxf5 44. ♕g5+ ♔f8 45. ♕f6 ♔e8 46. ♖g3 ♖b7 47. ♖g8+ ♔d7 48. ♕e7#. But Black has the defense: 3. ♗xf5 ♗e6 44. ♗xe6 fxe6. Then my move is: 45. ♕g5. Then I see the following sequence: ♖f8 46. ♖xa5 ♕e8 47. ♖g3 ♔g8. White win 2 ♙ and still has attack. I didn't study other moves like 45. h5!?. |
|
Dec-28-22
 | | PawnSac: <43.Bxf5> is the move after which the black king is naked. The theme is demolition of defense. |
|
Dec-28-22
 | | al wazir: The move 43. Bxf5 was pretty obvious.
<Brenin: Black unwisely accepts the sacrifice with 43 ... gxf5, allowing 44 Qg5+.> There wasn't anything much better. If, e.g., 43...Be6 44. Bxe6 fxe6 45. Qg5 Kg8 46. R-
g3 Rg7 47. h5, I don't see any future for black. |
|
Dec-28-22
 | | An Englishman: Good Evening: Black's reply to the text move was not the best. 43...Be6 would have lasted much longer, although White eventually wins, as <al wazir> and Stockfish have noted. |
|
| Dec-28-22 | | jrredfield: <brenin 41 ... Nd5 is certainly better than the move 41 ... Bd5 played, but after 42 Rc4 Bf5 43 Bxf5 gxf5 44 Rxa5 White is a P up with three passed Ps, one of them protected on the 6th rank, and Black's K is still looking very lonely. I'd hate to have to play Black in this position.> Agreed, but I just meant White would have to play more accurately with a closer game, but it certainly would have been a tough situation for Black unless White blundered somewhere. |
|
| Dec-28-22 | | stacase: <perfidious: All fairly obvious for a Wednesday POTD> The least obvious was noting that White's d6 Pawn made the back rank mate a certainty. Well a certainty if Black takes the Bishop. If he doesn't he loses a Rook for the Bishop and can soldier on for a while. A won game for White, but as those little homilies say, The most difficult game to win is the "Won Game" |
|
| Dec-28-22 | | saturn2: 43.Bxf5 gxf5 44.Rg3 and mate is coming. |
|
| Dec-28-22 | | AlicesKnight: 43.Bxf5 would win a P and the exchange, and if the B is captured the Q check on g5 leads to mate (Rg3 available also helps where needed). |
|
| Dec-28-22 | | agb2002: White has the bishop pair for a bishop, a knight and a pawn. Black threatens fxg4.
The dark squares around the black king are defenseless. This suggests Bxf5 and Qg5. In the case of 43.Bxf5:
A) 43... gxf5 44.Qg5+
A.1) 44... Kf8 45.Qh6+ Ke8 (45... Kg8 46.Rg3#) 46.Qh8#. A.2) 44... Kh7 45.Qh5+ Kg7(8) 46.Rg3+ Kf8 47.Rg3+ Kf8 48.Qf8#. A.3) 44... Kh8 45.Qh6+ Kg8 46.Rg3#.
B) 43... Be6 44.Bxe6 fxe6 45.Qg5 Rf8 (due to the double threat Qf6+ and Rg3) 46.Rg3 Qe8 47.Be3 B.1) 47... Rh8 48.h5 looks winning (48... Rxh5 49.Qxh5). B.2) 47... Rg8 48.h5 Kh7 49.hxg6+ Rxg6 (49... Qxg6 50.Qh4+ wins) 50.Qh5+ Kg7 51.Qh6+ wins. |
|
| Dec-28-22 | | Refused: The black position looks so suspect, that there are a couple of ideas, which may or may not work. 43.e6 and then trying to punish black along the a1-h8 diagonal is one idea. Maybe with the insertion of Rxd5 At least that was my first idea.
Then I saw that the more brutal
43.Bxf5 does a pretty good job at wrecking the black position. Accepting the sac is the critical line white has to calculate. 43...gxf5 44.Qg5
a)44...Kh7 45.Qh5+ Kg8 46.Rg3+ Kf8 47.Qh8#
b) 44...Kf8 45.Qh6+ Kf8 (Kg8 46.Rg3#) 46.Qh8#
Declining the sac is just plain bad too.
43...Rcd8 just drops an exchange for nothing.
43...Be6 44.Bxe6 fxe6 45.Qg5 and black is just getting murdered along the g-file. |
|
| Dec-28-22 | | agb2002: I missed a mate in two in my line B.2: 48.Qh6+ Kf7 49.Rf3#. |
|
| Dec-28-22 | | Mayankk: 43 Bxf5 gxf5 44 Qg5+ Kf8 45 Qh6+ Bishop sac and impending mate is quite easy to find. The real hero in this position is the protected d6 pawn which blocks the key e7 escape square for Black King. Hence Black needs an additional move to clear space for King's escape, a luxury it can't afford. |
|
| Dec-28-22 | | goodevans: Seems I'm alone in choosing 43.Bxf5 gxf5 44.Rg3+. Turns out it's just as quick as the game line. |
|
Dec-28-22
 | | HeMateMe: Does white also win with 45.R-g3? |
|
| Dec-28-22 | | goodevans: <HeMateMe: Does white also win with 45.R-g3?> He does, but 45...f6 covers both of the mating squares so it's a few moves slower: 46.Qxf6+ Ke8 (else 47.Qh8#) 47.Rxd5 Rg7 48.d7+ Rxd7 49.Rg8# |
|
| Dec-28-22 | | TheaN: A bit more sophisticated than some make it out to be, obvious is <43.Bxf5! Be6> given gxf5 leads to mate with Qg5+, another queen check and then either the back rank or Rg3+, or otherwise losing the exchange outright or allowing Qg5 <44.Bxe6 fxe6>:
click for larger view
The structure and piece play is obviously in White's favor, but I played this a bit carelessly with <45.Qg5?! Rf8 46.Rg3 Qe8>. I missed the idea of sliding the rook over and playing Qe8. White will probably have to find <47.Be3 +-> for a huge advantage which I didn't. Slightly better is 45.Rg3! straight away, given after 45....Rf8? now, 46.h5 +- ends it there and then. With the queen in front, it's not as strong. If Black plays around this with 45....Rh8:
click for larger view
White has the absolute stunner 46.Rxa5! which is a puzzle on it's own: if the queen moves to the defense of the king White wins the knight, and after 46....Qxa5 47.Qg5 +- decides, ie 47....Rh6 48.Be3 +-, else Qxg6+ and Black won't escape the mate net. |
|
Dec-28-22
| | HeMateMe: Thanks, G. Evans! I hope to get partial credit and not fail the course. |
|
| Dec-28-22 | | Cellist: I had the same line as <goodevans>: 43.Bxf5 gxf5 44.Rg3+, mate in two after that. Just as fast as the game line. |
|
Kibitzing
Annotations by 
sac: 43.Bxf5