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| Mar-08-10 | | zooter: This is interesting
33.Qxe8+ (yes queen sac) Kxe8 34.Ng7+ K moves 35.Nxf5 gxf5 and white should win the endgame due to the connected pawns and better king position The endgame requires technique and I think CG has upped the level this Monday unless i'm mistaken |
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| Mar-08-10 | | BKITU: Qxe8+ wins the knight outright. Capture = Royal Fork Yay for Mondays so that even we patzers can get one now and then! =D |
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| Mar-08-10 | | zb2cr: Strange. The only "very easy" style move I see is 33. Qxe8+, Kxe8; 34. Ng7+ forking the Queen--but then after 34. ... any, 35. Nxf5, gxf5. White is only ahead by a single Pawn, and it's a backward one at that. To my eyes, this doesn't look like an easy endgame win for White. Checking.
Looks as though I may be first. I look forward to being enlightened as to how easy the endgame win is.... |
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| Mar-08-10 | | AccDrag: <BKITU> Qxe8+ doesn't win the N, it simplifies into a won K+P ending. This seems a pretty tough Monday. The simplifying combo is simple, but to get "full credit," one must correctly evaluate the resulting position. And while a P advantage in K+P endings is usually quite sufficient for victory, many exceptions exist. |
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| Mar-08-10 | | zooter: Ok, for all those who are unable to evaluate the resulting endgame, here is why white will win with correct technique 1) Black has f and h pawns while white has connected g-h pawns 2) White has a protected d pawn (connected c and d pawns). Both are stopped by the black d pawn 3) Both white and black have a pawns
Now the endgame technique is simple but needs correct execution. Plan is as follows: a) Exchange gh pawns for f and h pawns
b) Bring king to center
c) Exchange c pawn for d pawn and push the d pawn
d) Fix the a pawn of black
e) Once the d pawn is sufficiently forward abandon it and eat the b pawn
f) March king forward to grab control of queening square (remember a pawn can easily turn into a draw)
g) March the a pawn to victory
So, as you can see this is quite a task and not at all easy as it looks. I'm not sure if there is a simpler plan |
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| Mar-08-10 | | tjshann: White sacs his Queen, and then captures Black's Queen with the ensuing Knight fork. White will eventually win the King and Pawn endgame. Meulders, facing an opponent rated 2540, decided not to stick around and watch. |
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| Mar-08-10 | | lost in space: I love Mondays!
33. Qxe8 Kxe8 34. Ng7+ Ke7 35. Nxf5+ gxf5 with an easy endgame win for white. |
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| Mar-08-10 | | AccDrag: Here are the results of a few seconds of clicking the mouse: 34...Kf7 35.Nxf5 gxf5 36.Kf3 Kf6 Black does not want White to get the K to d4 37.Kf4 - Now, each side would like to force the other to give ground and allow an advantageous K advance. Black must be careful not to wander too far from the center, as White always has the c5 lever to force a passed P. So now each side tries to "pass."
37...h6 38.a3 h5 39.a4 a5 40.h3 - So, White wins the first battle. As 40...h4 is hopeless (White uses to front h-P, after gxh4, to drag black's K away, and then White can gobble the P/f5 with an easy win), Black must give ground.
40...Kg6 Now, White has two ways to win:
a) 41.Ke3
a1) 41...Kg5 42.Kd4 h4 43.gxh4+ Kxh4 (If Black tries to get cute and avoid White promoting with check by playing something like 43...Kh5, White can just run over to f4, eat f5 and win) 44.c5 dxc5+ 45.Kxc5 f4 46.d6 f3 47.d7 f2 48.d8=Q+ Kxh3 49.Qd1 and Black cannot even dream of a stalemate.)
a2) 41...Kf6 42.Kd4 Kd6 43.h4  No breakthrough for Black, and White wins trivially.
b) 41.c5 dxc5 42.Ke5 c4!? Seems to be the only chance to confuse White, as 42...Kg5 43.d6 and White is promoting with check again.
43.Kd4 h4 44.gxh4 f4 45.Kxc4 Kf5 Trying to use the K to stop White's P and advance his own. 46.d6 f3 47.Kd3 Ke6 48.Ke3 and White takes and then while Black deals with the h-pawns, White heads to the Qside, eats a5 and clears the way for the other Rook pawn to promote. |
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Mar-08-10
 | | NM JRousselle: This was a bit tough for a Monday puzzle.
I have not put this pawn ending into Fritz, but White can easily win by shuttling his king between e3 and d3. When Black's pawn moves are exhausted, his king must leave e5. White plays Kd4 followed by c5, winning easily. |
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| Mar-08-10 | | vdgreat: I believe getting the king to d4 via f3 and e3 should be enough for a win. Since the black king cannot come below the 5th row (due to c4)there is not much he can do to prevent an easy win... |
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| Mar-08-10 | | AccDrag: zooter, all your steps save for one illustrate a winning plan. The only dangerous part is the "advance the d-P" part. If you place White's K at d4, Black's at c7, and White Ps at a4/c4/d5 and Black's at a5/d6, then simply 1.c5 dxc5+ 2.Kxc5 Kd7 3.Kb5! wins handily, as Black must spend two tempos to get to d5, which gives White time to take a5 and get out of the way of his own P. However, if we push the d-P: 3.d6 (no problem yet) Kd8 4.Kc6?! (heading down the wrong path) Kc8 5.d7+?? Kd8 6.Kb6 Kxd7 7.Kxa5 Kc7 and Black draws. Skip step "E" and it's a solid plan to victory. :-) |
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| Mar-08-10 | | KNIGHTSTALE22: It certainly isn't the easiest Monday, but still, it would be easy to find over the board. I see some comments referring to 33.Q*e8 as a sac, why???. I wish people would clear up the difference between a sac and a combo. A sacrifice is giving up a piece for no clear compensation, a combo is forced exchanges for a clear advantage or at least an equal position. So many people show me games of an amazing queen sac, when in reality it is a forced combination. I have seen millions of games, but only one or two games where there has been a REAL queen sac. |
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| Mar-08-10 | | AccDrag: <KNIGHT> There is more than one way to use the term "sacrifice." If you read the notes of GMs, often they refer to placing any material en prise as a sacrifice, even if it is not taken. As far as "combinations" go, some GMs have defined it as "a forced sequence involving a sacrifice," again referring to the offering of material, in any context, as a form of sacrifice. GM Spielmann, in The Art of Sacrifice in Chess, sought to list types of sacrifices so the student might more fully understand the concept. He called sacrifices that repaid immediate dividends "sham" sacrifices, and those where the outcome could not be clearly foreseen as "true" sacrifices. So, you see, there is some room for contextual interpretation when using the term "sacrifice." |
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| Mar-08-10 | | KNIGHTSTALE22: AccDrag: I am sorry but I don't know how to reply to comments directly on this site. I understand that every player has his own definition of what a sacrifice means in the game of chess, and I respect that, but to me personally, it just doesn't feel truthful to call a move a sacrifice when it can produce such obvious results, but it doesn't take any glory away from breathtaking combo's that I would never have found myself. |
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| Mar-08-10 | | kurtrichards: Knight Fork.
33. Qxe8+ Kxe8 34. Ng7+ 1-0. |
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| Mar-08-10 | | patzer2: For today's Monday puzzle solution, White has an easy Knight Fork combination with 33. Qxe8+ as noted by <Kurtrichards>. However, as <Zooter> observes, winning "easy" in the endgame requires a bit of knowledge. For those unfamiliar with the technique, practice against a good Chess program might be a good idea |
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| Mar-08-10 | | Once: <KNIGHTSTALE22> We've spent a lot of time on this site debating the definition of "sacrifice". Some believe as you do that a "real sacrifice" has to involve giving up material for unclear compensation and a considerable amount of time. Others believe that any combination involving a temporary loss of material is also a sac. <AccDrag> has described it well - there is more than one way to use the term. I tend towards your definition, but it is by no means fully accepted. Back to today's puzzle, and we have an old friend - the "drag the king onto a fork square" tactic. White is already a pawn up, so this eliminates all the pieces for a fairly straight-forward king and pawn endgame. |
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| Mar-08-10 | | gofer: White has a pawn majority, so trading off into an endgame is going to win... 33 Qxe8+ Kxe8
34 Ng7+ Ke7
35 Nxf5 gxf5
Now its all over, but the following is one way that it could end... 36 Kf3 Kf6
37 Kf4 h5 (h6 38 h3)
38 h4 a5
39 a4 ... black is in "Zugswang"
39 ... Kg6 (protecting f5, but allowing the white king to d4!)
40 Ke3 Kf6
41 Kd4 Ke7
43 c5 Kd7
44 c6+ Kc7
44 Ke3 winning as the f and h pawns are going to be taken and the black king is tied to
stopping Pc6 from promotion.
Time to check... |
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| Mar-08-10 | | agb2002: White is a pawn ahead. Black would have perpetual chances if the white queen leaves the light squares unprotected. However, the white knight so close to Black's king and queen suggests 33.Qxe8+ Kxe8 34.Ng7 Ke7 35.Nxf5+ gxf5 36.Kf3 with a won endgame. For example, 36... Kf6 37.Kf4 h5 38.h3 Kg6 39.g4 fxg5 40.hxg4 hxg4 (40... h4 41.c5 dxc5 42.d6 Kf7 43.g5 c4 44.g6+ Kxg6 45.d7 c3 46.d8=Q c2 47.Qd3+) 41.Kxg4 Kf6 42.Kf4 Kg6 43.Ke4 Kf6 44.Kd4 Ke7 45.c5 dxc5+ 46.Kxc5 Kd7 47.Kb6 Kd6 48.Kxa6 Kxd5 49.Kb6 Kd6 (49... Kc4 50.a4 Kb4 51.a5) 50.a4 Kd7 51.Kb7. |
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| Mar-08-10 | | patzer2: <NM JRousselle> Fritz 10 pretty much follows your idea of locking up the position, manuevering the King to d4, and pushing the c-pawn. It does seem to help to also advance the a-pawn early: 33. Qxe8+ Kxe8 34. Ng7+ Kf8 35. Nxf5 gxf5 36. Kf3 Ke7 37. Kf4 Kf6 
click for larger view38. a4! h5 39. a5 Kg6
click for larger view40. Ke3! Kg5
click for larger view41. Kd4! h4 42. c5 hxg3 43. hxg3 dxc5+ 44. Kxc5 Kg4 45. d6 Kxg3 46.
d7 f4 47. d8=Q . |
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| Mar-08-10 | | nuwanda:
indeed, a bit unusual for a monday. the pseudo-sac 33.Qxe8 isnt hard to see, but you have to have a closer look at the resulting position to ensure yourself that the pawn-up-pawn-ending is won. i think <NM JRousselle>'s method maybe easiest, but <gofer>'s should win too. i dont understand <zooter>'s plan, here i cannot see how to establish even part a) ... |
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| Mar-08-10 | | zooter: <nuwanda> You're correct. Exchanging g and h pawns for black's f and h pawn is not possible unless black makes a mistake. The outside h pawn can be tricky to handle from white's perspective. Once you realize that hopefully you would have switched to one of the other plans and not given away the victory! |
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Mar-08-10
 | | OhioChessFan: I think the expectation is that you find the moves that get the pieces off the board and leave the Pawns. Black has to be hoping for a perpetual, and White dismisses that thought quickly by taking all remaining pieces off the board, leaving a won endgame. |
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| Mar-08-10 | | patzer2: Taking chess terms and assigning ones own meaning in place of standard definitions reminds me a little of Alice in Wonderland: <Alice
If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?Alice
It would be so nice if something made sense for a change. Doorknob
Read the directions and directly you will be directed in the right direction.> In regard to the term sacrifice, the most precise, meaningful and authoritative definition is that of Rudolph Spielman from his classic work "The Art of Sacrifice in Chess," where he describes a "real sacrifice" as the situation where a "player gives up material, but is unable to calculate the consequences with accuracy..." as opposed to a "sham sacrifice" (which Spielman also refers to as "no sacrifice, only an advantageous business deal") or combination for advantage where a clear advantage is calculated in advance. |
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Mar-08-10
 | | LIFE Master AJ: Got it, I spent at least five minutes calculating the K+P endgame ... which Black did not even bother to play. |
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Kibitzing
sac: 33.Qxe8+