White to play (34?) "Difficult" (3 stars)

White is down a bishop for two pawns, but he has the move and a weakened king to attack -- plus Black's rook on a4 is seriously out of play, and the one on h8 is the only thing preventing mate in two (starting with Rxc8+). With this in mind, combined with the fact the Black is threatening to trade queens, leads me to...

34. Qh6! The rook is attacked and must move or be defended (by 34...Qd4), since it can't capture the queen (34...Rxh6? 35. Rxc8+ Qb8 36. Rcxb8+ Ka7 37. R3xb7 mate).

A) 34...Qd4? 35. Rxc8+ Rxc8 36. Qxa6+ Qa7 37. Qxc8+ Qb8 38. Qxb8 mate. So the rook must move!

Actually, for most of this week I saw or at least considered the first two moves. Not so for this puzzle... and I even said to myself "hmm... a Tal game, might be a flashy Queen sac in there somewhere". In fact so badly did I fail at this one that even if the final position had been given as a puzzle I couldn't have figured it out. Given 37 Bxc8 it has taken me this long to figure out the response to 37 ... Rxc8.

So here's how I now think it would play out:
38 Ra6+ Rxa6
39 Qxa6+ Qa7
40 Qxc8+ Qb8
41 Qxb8 #

Welcome! Sorry I didn't spot your question sooner or I would have answered it straight away.

There is no official solution to these puzzles. The "truth" unfolds as we all chew over the variations, argue, chat and generally build on each others' analysis. Someone will spot a possible defence and then someone else will find an answer to it, and so on.

Most of us treat these puzzles in two ways. First, we try and solve in "human mode" as we would over the board. Then some of us will fire up chess engines to dig a little deeper.

In the simpler puzzles, say Monday to Wednesday, the puzzles are fairly easy. Then the best line is usually the one that was played in the game. Sometimes, the best line is a move that one of the players missed, but that is quite rare. Either way, it nearly always comes out in the kibitzing.

When we get to the end of the week, the positions get progressively harder all the way to sunday's insane level. Then the variations become seriously complicated.

I liken chessgames puzzles to a fine meal. The starter is the puzzle position, trying to work out what you would play in a game. Some folk spend over an hour on this, others limit themselves to a few minutes, cos that is what they would allocate in a game.

Then you have the main course, which is watching the kibitzing unfold.

Finally, you get the dessert, which is playing over the full game from start to finish.

Tal's Queen maneuver makes Black's Rook on h8 an overworked piece, tied to the protection of the Bishop on c8 it cannot stop the Queen from dominating the sixth rank and now has no safe place to hide on the 8th rank.

Here's my computer checked breakout:

<34. Qh6! Rd8>

If 34... Rg8, then White is winning after 35. Rxa6 Bxa6 36. Bxa6 Qg1+ 37. Ka2 Qc5 38. Bb7+ Kb8 39. Bc6+ Ka7 40. Qf6 Rf8 41. Bxa4 e3 42. Bc6 e2 43. Qf5 Rb8 44. Qd7+ Ka6 45. Rxb8 Qc4+ 46. Rb3 Qxb3+ 47. cxb3 .

If 34... Re8, then White wins with 35. Rxa6 Bxa6 36. Qc6+ Bb7 37. Qxe8+ .

<35. Bxa6 Bd2 36. Qf6 Qd7 37. Bxc8> 1-0

Tal after 26 Rc3!?:

"After 26 Nxd8..Qxd8 White has no attack and Black would have the better position. Therefore I decided to sacrifice a piece. Because of the sacrifice I was criticized considerably, and heard "It was incorrect..Tal was lucky..It was a bluff..Tal was dead lost" - but I did not see at what point I was dead lost; and concerning other accusations of the wise critics, I console myself with pleasure that the chess fan, the spectator, are happy only when the grandmaster risks, rather than just pushes wood."