Jan-07-18
 | | ChessCoachClark: This game was included in LEARN CHESS TACTICS by John Nunn, Chapter 1, Fork. |
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| Dec-02-21 | | Brenin: White is a piece for a P ahead. However, his Q is overloaded, defending the B on e4 and the N on h4, so 18 ... Rxe4 19 Qxe4 Qxh4 leaves Black with B+P vs R, and White with an exposed K. Black now has the initative, and seems have created good drawing chances from an apparently lost position. All rather simple for a Thursday, or am I missing something? |
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| Dec-02-21 | | Brenin: 24 Re1, giving back the exchange, looks like a mistake; White needed to prevent 24 ... Be4 pinning the R, but surely 24 Rg3 is a better way of doing this? |
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Dec-02-21
 | | OhioChessFan: <Brenin> yep, I had trouble with 24. Rg3. |
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Dec-02-21
 | | raymondhow: Of course I saw that I could win two pieces for a rook, but nothing clear after that. Didn't seem puzzle-worthy, so I convinced myself that 18...Qd7 must be the move. No solve for me :( |
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| Dec-02-21 | | mel gibson: I saw that move but nothing seemed
to lead to anything great.
Stockfish 14.1 is calling it close to a draw:
18... Rxe4
(18. .. Rxe4
(♖e8xe4 ♕e1xe4 ♕d8xh4 ♔h1-h2 ♗h5-g4 ♕e4-g2 ♗g4-f5 ♖a1-e1 ♖a8-d8 ♖e1-e3
f7-f6 ♕g2-e2 ♔g8-f7 b3-b4 ♖d8-d6 a2-a3 ♖d6-e6 ♕e2-f3 ♗f5-g4 ♕f3-g3 ♕h4xg3+
♖e3xg3 ♗g4-f5 ♗b2-d4 ♗f5xc2 ♗d4xa7 ♗f8-d6 ♗a7-c5 ♗d6-c7 ♔h2-g1 ♗c2-e4 h3-h4
h7-h5 a3-a4 b7-b6 ♗c5-d4 ♖e6-d6 ♗d4-c3 ♖d6-d5 ♖g3-e3 ♗e4-f5 a4-a5 b6xa5
b4xa5 ♗c7xa5 ♗c3xa5 ♖d5xa5 ♖f1-c1 ♖a5-a4 ♖c1xc6) +0.22/43 312) score for Black +0.22 depth 43. |
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Dec-02-21
 | | Gregor Samsa Mendel: As <Brenin> said, this all seems rather simple for a Thursday. 18..Rxe4 is the only move worth considering, even if it doesn't lead to a clear win; it's far better than the other options. |
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| Dec-02-21 | | jes47: Silly puzzle. 18 ... Re4 is an obvious possibility, but I couldn't find anything after 18 Qe4
Qh4 19 Kh2. I eventually turned to
stockfish, which couldn't find anything either. So the puzzle is sort of a help-mate theme, where White blunders on the second move with 19 Kg2. If you present it as a puzzle it should start with White's blunder; otherwise black has nothing. |
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| Dec-02-21 | | stacase: I got the first four moves, so I'm happy. Did I solve it? After 22.Rf3 I wouldn't call it a won game, and one of those little sayings when you post says, "The hardest game to win, is the won game." |
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| Dec-02-21 | | Granny O Doul: Even harder to win is a +0.22 game. |
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Dec-02-21
 | | agb2002: Black has a pawn for a knight.
Black can recover some material with 18... Rxe4 19.Qxe4 Qxh4 but White has the defensive maneuver Kh2, Qg2, Rf2, Qg3, etc. and the exchange might eventually tell. I don't know. In any case I'd play 18... Rxe4. |
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| Dec-02-21 | | Dionysius1: Not exactly keeping to its own standards for a puzzle, is it? <The goal is to find the best move, or sequence of moves, in the given position.
You do not always have to find a checkmate! Just find the best move. Usually, this move will lead to a superior position, either by a forced sequence of moves which leads to checkmate, or (more commonly) wins substantial material. By "substantial material" we mean usually winning at least the exchange (i.e. trading a knight or a bishop for a rook).? |
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Dec-02-21
 | | al wazir: <mel gibson: I saw that move but nothing seemed to lead to anything great.> Same here. After the obvious first two moves black has ♗+♙ vs. ♖. White has lots of alternative moves, e.g., 21. Qe1. A ♕ swap would kill the attack and move black closer to a losing endgame. |
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| Dec-02-21 | | Dionysius1: Not exactly keeping to its own standards for a puzzle, is it? From "About our puzzles" <The goal is to find the best move, or sequence of moves, in the given position. You do not always have to find a checkmate! Just find the best move.Usually, this move will lead to a superior position, either by a forced sequence of moves which leads to checkmate, or (more commonly) wins substantial material. By "substantial material" we mean usually winning at least the exchange (i.e. trading a knight or a bishop for a rook).> 6 moves after the original position, Black is still material down and there's no forced win that I can see. |
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| Dec-02-21 | | paavoh: This was a disappointment of a puzzle for sure. Two pieces for a Rook but that's it. |
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| Dec-02-21 | | Autoreparaturwerkbau: Unusual puzzle. After solution 18...Rxe4 black has drawish position with best play. The game line is a complete draw until <24.Re1?> (SF13 @Depth37 says <-3,4>), that with best play leads to black being a pawn up and more active position few moves later:
click for larger viewMuch better is <24.Rg3> (SF13 says <-0,3>).
click for larger view
that leads to much better position for white, since it remains with R vs B+P advantage:
click for larger view |
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| Dec-02-21 | | Brenin: To understand this rather puzzling puzzle, one needs to go back to White's 14 f4, which seems to me to be premature. (I would have prepared for it with something like f3, Qf2 and Rae1.) Black seeks to exploit this opening up of White's K-side with a N for P sacrifice 14 ... dxe4 15 Nxe4 Nfxe4 16 Bxe4 exf4 17 gxf4 (further exposure of White's K) Nxe4 18 Bxe4. Now we meet the POTD position, in the middle of Black's combination, which is completed with 18 ... Rxe4 19 Qxe4 Qxh4. Black has now regained some material, and is down by only the exchange for a P. However, his B pair and White's exposed K give him plenty of compensation, and probably better chances OTB, in that his next few moves are much easier to find than White's. Indeed, White soon goes wrong with 24 Re1 (Rg3!) and loses 12 moves later. The engines (and some kibitzers) may not be impressed by Black's combination, but against a fallible human opponent it was very effective. |
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| Dec-02-21 | | syracrophy: I pulled up this funny sequence: 36...♗c5 37. ♕f4 ♕d1+ 38. ♔g2 ♕g1+ 39. ♔f3 ♕f2+ 40. ♔e4 ♕c2+ 41. ♔f3 ♕xb2 Picture of pain:
click for larger viewThere is no good way holding the Queen against an exchange! 42. ♕g5 ♕xf6+ 43. ♕xf6 gxf6
click for larger view |
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Dec-02-21
 | | chrisowen: Doyens key i Rxe4 fetish abridge axled its a faith key photon doyens key i spumante cog v its laters key i him jif flow its quibble duckies v its u z it sap pou key gravely melvins christ frowned z klaxon its bog key off edicts i key decked its feed its sediment key foggies its a cog mug its a dib nob cub key flicks him hot happiness key sir it right failsafe chi fooled its dt colm key bog bop crooky freshy beg c craggied its dr cig frees its a bad let can't cut key fetchy fts key gas it's no joke defang hut dready ifs key greedy brush pod dip c key do pet doctor hardy its tire drain its warriors key stunner key breaky fast its a mod nit now geez its i go pretty Rxe4 out it ear: |
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Dec-02-21
| | chrisowen: X anon number hp no? |
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Dec-02-21
| | chrisowen: Alpha x bet st u h4 v |
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| Dec-02-21 | | Whitehat1963: I saw the first three moves, but I am sure I was supposed to see way past that! |
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Dec-03-21
 | | steinitzfan: This is an equalizing puzzle. If you saw that the first two moves are necessary to avoid loss you can congratulate yourself. |
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Kibitzing
sac: 18...Rxe4