In bad call 20...qb4 no need languish in kg8 it out foxed in clever it zeal in f7.

Tal ask in god gift him bless in gild the lily what I browse avid black

queen away rushing mix in knight takes pawn fasheze it almost in geist

f6 un-buckle Speelman tis pray flat in con it an tricky for cajoled it

to mount a thwarted lance in danger it alarm in tremble gash in queen

feck nf7 owl edge Tal you shall give the scarob queen in afore tease

medicine guard f6 crick it enact in cadence turfed in see jack for

droopy in ever it house file gun in e7 knight i gabbed rb3 opening b7

lewd in den im really pressed for every it is tactic in well it shock

for one afraid in creeps it bramble in e7 twice then suffer it's f6 in

sick it as ten for method bishop hanging ate knightg8 ash in bury it the

hatchet re3 row bearing up it tacky jig mack too nf7 and rb3 anvil e6

queen ie jams it dead in good suffer it flush up queenc4 bd6 ace in as

well it dream in kingg7 qxf6+ dine off fin it's wine have g8 and e7 will

Try 22.Bxd6 and now (A) 22...exd6? 23.Nh7+ Kg8 forced 23.Nxf6+ Bxf6 24.Rxe8+ Rxe8 25.Qxe8+ shouold win easily on material; so (B) 22...hxg5 23.Bxe7+ Kg8 24.Qxg5 with three Pawns for the piece. White's threats include 25.d6 followed by d7 and 25.Bxf6. Time to check:
====
Missed it. Here's the puzzle position

click for larger view

set up interactively on Crafty End Game Simulator:
http://www.chessvideos.tv/endgame-t...

The position of the black queen suggests the maneuver Rb3-Rb7 combined with a sacrifice on f7. Therefore, 22.Nxf7:

A) 22... Kxf7 23.Rb3 Qa4 24.Qe6+ Kf8 25.Rb7

A.1) 25... Qxc4 26.Bxd6 Ng8 (26... exd6 27.Qf7#) 27.Re4 Qc8+ 28.Kh2 g5 29.Re3 and the threat 30.Rf3+ looks decisive.

A.2) 25... Rad8 26.Rxe7 Rxe7 27.Qxe7+ Kg8 28.Qxd8+ + -.

<In the position 24.Rb7!,below, beats Crafty ES, 24.Qe6+ does not.

click for larger view

... The ES saves its Queen with 24...Qxa2 which (like Speelman's 25...Qxc4) costs that vital defensive tempo, and the White attack crashes through.>

There is even more richness to this puzzle. <ernie cohen>, in the earlier kibitzing back in June, found 24...Rab8, below, as better than 24...Qxa2 for black. His post is worth reviewing.

click for larger view

Another minor but still noteworthy observation IMO is that there is difference between playing 22 Nxf7 vs. 22 Rb3.

The reason is that black can follow 22 Rb3 with 22...hxg5!?, in effect giving up his queen for a rook and a knight.

click for larger view

I remember that day I tried it for myself 3-4 hours later and could only do about 13. My memory is like that. Now it is completely washed out.

Yesterday (its overnight here) when I started with this <Tal - Speelman> puzzle the first thought that came from seeing the famous names was that I may have this game in my collection or have seen it before. But there was no way of knowing unless I opened the game.

I had no clear memory but looking at the home page diagram 2-3 things came to my mind that I reproduce here from my kibitz;

<First thoughts:

There's a pageant of moves parading in front of my mind's eye. In the order these occurred;

i) Ne6+?
ii) Rb3 but the Q is not trapped but...
iii) Bxd6

I can fairly conjecture it may be none of the above.

Besides it being Tal, Q sac is no taboo. Brilliant! That kicks up an idea or two. I just wonder... One or the other, for sure.

22.

i)Nxf7

or

ii) Rxe7 >

I first tried the Rxe7 line. As you will notice I could not make good progress and came upon the problem of Black Q's threat to my e1 R.

That is when I switched to the Nxf7 line. The N was hanging anyway and e1 R had to be protected by keeping the Q on e file as long as possible. The moves slowly started flowing.

These were my thoughts;

<<22. Nxf7 Kxf7 23. Rb3> (in order to push the Q off e1 R and get to the now hot 7th rank) <23...Qa4 only move 24. Qe6+ Kf8 25. Rb7>

The point of having pushed the Black Q off kilter. It would now have liked to be eying e1. The R maneuver has forced it to be satisfied doing the <next best>.

<25...Qxc4 26. Bxd6>

A tactical coup that I saw in the beginning but in a different context. Having made it, it has started looking quite an obvious move now.

Black can now only flail about. Though Ng8 defends e7 and it has to be deemed a very effective move, Black is cornered and hard put to defend.

Ng8 does force White to think of reinforcements.

<26...Ng8 27. Re3> threatens check from f3. 27...Bf6 is an obvious defense, though a bit lame on a/c of the pin that the R move to f3 will create.>

By this I had a strong sense of deja vu. I was not absolutely certain but I suspected I may really have seen the game before. There are myriad ways the human mind works. That is why it was here that I decided to leave (though I still could not be sure).

I started the POTD at 10:30 and was able to post my solution only at 1 P.m. (IST).

Then I followed my suspicion and had to turn some pages before I found my comment of Jun-27-11. It was a nothing comment but it confirmed I had been to the game, though not in my collection. The reason for deja vu.

I do not know whether you'll believe the foregoing, but that is the absolute truth.

I have never tried to peek. There are some poor moves too that sometimes come in but those are my moves. I have never claimed percipience. I never have presumed myself to be clever enough to get away with anything underhand.

I know I am part of an extremely intelligent and a knowledgeable set. I would never expect to fool (a disrespect) them even if I tried my damnedest. Not a trace of dissemblance or dissimulation will escape them.

That is how I look at life in the forum. Trying to be too clever can only be a losing prospect. I know that kind of thing will forfeit anyone the love and affection of the fellow kibitzers, his peers. You just cannot con this lot.

I cannot expect to enjoy the facility if I just read and post the answers. What would I be getting out of it. Everyone sets his own standards of rectitude, morality and conduct. If I am below par no one else is going to reform me. I have to think on my own feet.

So, no matter how confident you feel, your conclusions in my case are hasty and rash. I'll request you to review them.

22.Nxf7 Kxf7
23.Rb3 Qa4
24.Rb7 Qxa2
25.Qe6+ Kf8
26.Bxd6 Ng8
<if 26...exd6 27.Qf7#>

27.Qxg6 Bf6
28.Be5 Ra6
29.Bxf6 Nxf6
<if 29...Rxf6 30.Rexe7 Rxe7 31.Rb8+ Re8 32.Qxe8+ Kg7 33.Qxg8#
Also, the same fate is for Black if White Queen is taken : 29...Rxf7 30.Rexe7 Rxg6 31.Rf7#>

so, back to the game:
30.Re6 Qa1+
31.Kh2 Qc1
32.Rxa6 Qf4+
33.Qg3 (now that White is ahead in strength, he can afford Queen exchanges)

33...........Qd4
34.d6 Kf7
35.Raa7 Ng8
36.d7 Rd8
37.Rb8 Nf6
38.Rxd8 h5

What more can one say about Tal? He's truly one of the greats. An Olympian as it regards Chess' greatest masters.

<22. Nxf7 Kxf7>

[22...Nxd5 23. cxd5 Kxf7 (23...Qxf4 24. Rf3 Qxf7 25. Rxf7+ Kxf7 26. Qe6+ Kf8 27. Qxg6 ) 24. Rb3! Qd4/Qa4 (24...Qxf4 25. Rf3 ) 25. Qe6+ Kf8 26. Rf3 winning]

<23. Rb3 Qa4>

(23...Nxd5 24. cxd5 wins for White as already demonstrated)

<24. Rb7! Qxa2>

(24...Rab8 25. b3! Qa3 26. Bc1 Qxc1 27. Rxe7+ Rxe7 28. Qxe7+ Kg8 29. Rxc1 ; 24...Nxd5 25. Qe6+ Kf8 26. Qxd5 and White has restored material parity, has an attack, threats on e7 and d6, and a better position overall)

<25. Qe6+ Kf8 26. Bxd6> and White wins due to all the threats along the seventh rank and his excellent piece coordination.

So that means that I'm on a 5 straight streak, including today Wednesday March 7th's puzzle.

Furthermore, I finished the puzzle week of Feb. 27th to March 4th with 6/7 for a pass!

This being said, even here White has the advantage, so I'm not going to take away from my result, but just keep my eyes peeled for stronger continuations next time.