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| Jan-18-06 | | HelaNubo: Ok, I missed it, and also the attractive (but losing) 36. Qxe6, Qxe6; 37. Bg4, f5 etc. But I was looking for a forcing line (especially since today it is wednesday, and not saturday). I couldn't even understand what Capa had in his mind in the case of the obvious 36. Qxc4, Qxg3 37. Bg2. He has nothing more than a draw after 37... Kb8 38. Qc5, Bxh3 39. Qf8+. Well, and I do not understand why e.g. 36. Kh2 is not good, menacing to capture the knight with no Qxg3-revenge. |
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| Jan-18-06 | | Steppenwolf: Patzer 2, in your analysis 39...Qd6 is much superior to QxQ, and Capablanca would have gone for it. It then boils down to the fact that black has 3 pawns for the exchange. The game becomes unpredictable but with Capablanca'a technique, black is certainly not lost already! |
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| Jan-18-06 | | simsan: This was way too difficult for me. The idea of allowing the enemy Q to get to g3 - and the many continuations that may follow - just seemed to complex for a wednesday puzzle. Based on this, I looked for a successful attacking strategy that would deflect the Q from the diagonal or protect g3. Found neither :-( I looked at Ne7+ for a while, hoping that something like Qxe7 Bd6 would lead to something..
.. but Ne7+ looses the N to Kd7/8, and even after Qxe7 Bd6 black can play Ne5 and I'm hoplessly lost :-( |
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| Jan-18-06 | | avidfan: 
click for larger view
36.Bf3-g4 produces the unusual position where Capa's bishop is pinned on the h3-c8 diagonal and the e-file because 36...Bxg4 37.Qe8+ Qd8 38.Ne7+ wins the queen. On 36...f5 37.Bxf5 leads to the same situation. If 36...Qxd5 37.Bxe6+ wins the queen again. So he played 36...Qxg3+ and Kb8 and even managed to snatch a win after losing the bishop. But why 38...Nxb2 ? |
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| Jan-18-06 | | awfulhangover: I found Bg4, but I really struggled and felt stupid, since it's only wednesday. Hard one for a wednesday puzzle, heh ..? |
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| Jan-18-06 | | SamuelS: I didn't get it. I was trying the greedy 36. Qxc4 c6 37. Nb6+ Kc7 38. d5, but obviously Black can play 36...Bxg4 37. hxg4 Qxg3+ or something? |
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| Jan-18-06 | | DexterGordon: <legi>, correct me if I'm wrong here, but in your line <36. Qxc4 c6 37. Nb6+ Kc7 38. Qc5 Qxg3+ seems to be good for black>, after 39. Bg2 Bxh3, 40. Nd5+ seems to produce a draw by perpetual check after 40...Kb8 or a mate for White after other Black king moves. So still no win for White after 36. Qxc4, I guess! |
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| Jan-18-06 | | EmperorAtahualpa: I was thinking of 36.Qxe6+ Qxe6 37.Bg4 Qxg4 38.Nxf3 Nxb2 39.Nxh7 winning pawns for White. (Black's pawn at g5 is also en prise). Is this line better of worse than actually played? |
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| Jan-18-06 | | SamuelS: <EmperorAtahualpa>, there is something with your line. Do you mean 38. hxg4 Nxb2 39. Nxf6 which is still better for Black? I guess you forgot to take back the queen? |
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Jan-18-06
 | | LIFE Master AJ: White won a piece ... but it cost him too many Pawns. |
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| Jan-18-06 | | EmperorAtahualpa: <there is something with your line. Do you mean 38. hxg4 Nxb2 39. Nxf6 which is still better for Black? I guess you forgot to take back the queen?> <SamuelS> Ooooops, I got confused, sorry! Thanks for pointing that out! The line I had in mind is the following:
36.Qxe6+ Qxe6 37.Bg4 Qxg4 38.hxg4 Nxb2 39.Nxf6 Nd1 40.Nxh7... But I guess I already know the answer that my line is worse, because Black can now easily advance and promote his a-pawn. Right? |
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| Jan-18-06 | | DexterGordon: <EmperorAtahualpa>, after White takes back the queen as <SamuelS> suggests, I don't think White is going to have time to go pawn-grabbing with his knight, since Black can begin pushing the a-pawn immediately. Then I think it'll be Black who mops up White's pawns and/or wins the Black knight after a sequence like 39. Nxf6 h5 40. Nd5 Nd1 41. Kf1 h4 42. Ke1 h3 43. Nb4 Nxc3. |
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| Jan-18-06 | | EmperorAtahualpa: <DexterGordon> right, yes, indeed as I started to suspect. Thanks for your reply! |
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| Jan-18-06 | | nescio: <HelaNubo: the obvious 36. Qxc4, Qxg3 37. Bg2. He has nothing more than a draw after 37... Kb8 38. Qc5, Bxh3 39. Qf8+. Well, and I do not understand why e.g. 36. Kh2 is not good> I think you're right. Both 36.Qxc4 and 36.Kh2 are good moves, especially the latter, but they do not give White a real advantage like the game continuation. |
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| Jan-18-06 | | mikejaqua: Well I'm confused. White to move and lose?? Could the folks at chessgames.com please be sure to let us know what the answer was supposed to be? |
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| Jan-18-06 | | Averageguy: I got 36.Bg4 fairly quickly and I think that it does win, but white might have misplayd the endgame. |
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| Jan-18-06 | | dakgootje: Nice puzzle, think it the first one where the player-to-play didnt win or draw. Very easy, saw it in matter of seconds as i saw that it would be game over after Qd8, so just wanted to deflect (dunno whether it called here and if so, in the right way used) or win the bishop and thus i solved the game in matter of seconds, with maybe half a minute checking if it was really the best move instead of Qxe6, but convinced myself that this move was better. |
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| Jan-18-06 | | dakgootje: <Averageguy> Yup as several people posted earlier, Marshall made a little mistake with 39. ♘e3. |
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| Jan-18-06 | | YouRang: I missed it. I looked at 36. Bg4, but didn't (until I looked at the game) see the point: if 36...Bxg4 37. Qe8+ Qd8 38. Ne7+, winning the queen. This is the first time I can recall where the player making the "puzzle move" ended up losing! |
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| Jan-18-06 | | apoorv: This is the hardest Wednesday puzzle I have ever seen. At first, the best I could do was Kg2. Even after I saw Bg4, I didn't think it was completely winning since black gets 3 pawns for his bishop. |
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| Jan-18-06 | | ice lemon tea: <avidfan:.... But why 38...Nxb2 ?> black is offering his knight for white's bishop.
38...Nxb2 39.Qxb2 Qe1 40. Kg2 Qxe6
thus giving him a better chance to advance and promote his pawns. in endgame, bishop is more dangerous than knight because of its ability to move faster. |
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| Jan-18-06 | | esticles: I have NO IDEA what all of you guys are talking about when you try to justify the combination by saying "white is winning but he misplayed the endgame"?! Unless we are all missing a tactic which Marshall also missed, it seems pretty clear that black is better after move 38. Three pawns are better than a bishop in an endgame, never mind the fact black's pawns are connected while white's are easy targets. Thank you <mikejaqua> for being honest and asking <cg.com> for an explanation instead of justing making up crap to sound smart. |
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| Jan-18-06 | | DanRoss53: Crafty thinks 36. ♘e3 loses it for White... instead 39. ♘xf6 h6 40. ♗g4 h5 41. ♘e4 ♕h4 42. ♗f5 ♕f4 43. ♗g6 ♕c1+ 44. ♔h2 looks very promising. |
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| Jan-18-06 | | patzer2: <I have NO IDEA what all of you guys are talking about when you try to justify the combination by saying "white is winning but he misplayed the endgame"?!> After 39. Qe3! White has a clear advantage with winning chances and is in no danger of losing. The question of whether White has a win after 39. Qe3! is IMO unclear, as Black may well be able to force the draw. |
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| Jan-18-06 | | patzer2: <Marshall correctly applies the pin with 36. Bg4! since this is his best chance.> After some reconsideration and reflection, I'm not so sure about this part of my assessment from Aug, 2004. Certainly, after 39. Qe3! (instead of Marshall's 39. Ne3?) White has some winning chances. However, after the line <39...Qxe3 40.Nxe3 Na4 41.Nd5 and now 41...h6! 42.c4 c5  > cited by <Cali>, I doubt whether White has enough advantage to force a win. Also, following <beatgiant>'s <39...Qxe3 40.Nxe3 Na4 41.Nd5 h5!? 42. 42. c4 c5>, Black may be able to force the draw described <extra piece without pawns doesn't win> after 43. 42. c4 c6 43. Nxf6! (not <43. Bd7??> cxd5 44. Bxa4 dxc4 45. d5 b5 46. Bd1 a5 47. d6 a4  ) 43... b5 44. cxb5 cxb5 45. Ne4 b4 46. Kg2 Kc7 47. Kf3 Nb6 48. Nxg5 a5 49. Ke4 a4 50. h4 Nc8 51. Bxc8 Kxc8 52. Kd3 a3 53. Kc2 Kd7 54. Nh3 a2 55. Kb2 b3 56. Nf4 Kc6 57. Nxh5 Kd5 58. Ng3 Kxd4 59. Ka1 Kd3 60. Nf1 Ke4 61. Nd2+ Kf5 62. Nxb3 Kg4 63. Nc5 Kxh4 = 1/2 1/2 (draw). While I still think <36. Bg4!> is an excellent try to complicate for practical chances, this move may well be cooked as a sure winning solution to today's (36. ?) puzzle. So instead of <36. Bg4!>, I might prefer Fritz 8's defensive move choice 36. Kh2!: 36. Kh2! c6 (36... Bxd5?? 37. Qe8+ Qd8
38. Bg4+  ; 36... Nxb2? 37. Bg4 Na4 38. Bxe6+ Kb8 39. c4 c6 40. c5 Qd8 41. Qc4 ) 37. Nxf6 Bf7 (37... h6 38. Ne4 Qd8 39. Nxg5 Bd5 40. Bxd5 Qxd5 Ne6  ) 38. Nxh7 Qh6 39. b3 Qxh7 (39... Nb6? 40. Qe4 g4 41. Qxg4+ Kb8 42. Ng5 ) 40. bxc4 (+1.06 @ 16 depth & 3662033kn). While Black may well be able to hold the draw either way, White may have better winning chances with the extra pawn in the 36. Kh2! line than with the extra piece against Capa's extra pawns in Marshall's 36. Bg4! line. |
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Kibitzing
sac: 37...Kb8