Jan-07-19
 | | Penguincw: Not the easiest Monday puzzle out there, for the first one of 2019. Surprised the puzzle went only 1 move. So one line is 34...Rb1+. 35.Nxb1 Rxb1+ 36.Rc1, clearing the way for the queen to block on f1. 36...Qxc1+ and white will run out of pieces to block with. Best line might be 35.Rc1, but black is still winning. 35.Nf1 is also possible. Seems like taking hanging pieces is a good idea. |
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| Jan-07-19 | | nalinw: !!! Some Monday puzzle
35. Nf1 leads to mate in six - which I didnt bother to look for at all It is our fault - we should switch only half the brain on just because it is Monday .... |
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| Jan-07-19 | | nalinw: I mean "we should NOT switch ..." |
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| Jan-07-19 | | jith1207: <penguincw>: wouldn't better line be to sac the bishop on h2 for a pawn, clearing the way for king? Rather than sacrificing rook and queen to stop mate, anyway it's all looking grim. |
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| Jan-07-19 | | Cheapo by the Dozen: Perceptions differ; I thought this was a particularly easy puzzle even by Monday standards. :) The first move is completely obvious; the only challenge is counting up material at the end of the sequence. |
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| Jan-07-19 | | saturn2: I saw 34...Rb1+ 35. Nf1 with two possible black followups 35...Rxf1+ 36. Kxf1 Qd3+ 37. Ke1 Rb1+ 38. Bd1 Rxd1# 35...Qd3 36. Nd2 Qxd2 37.f3 (or g3 f3) Qe3 |
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| Jan-07-19 | | ChessHigherCat: Here's the trickiest variation (excluding the kamikaze interpositions): 35. Nf1 Rxf1+ 36. Kxf1 Qd3+ 37. Kg1 Rb1+
Certainly not particularly easy for a Monday in terms of the number of moves until mate, but I saw it as soon as I stopped looking for some way to win material |
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Jan-07-19
 | | Once: Tricky for a Monday.
<ChessHigherCat> has the line that stumped me. After 35. Nf1 Rxf1+ 36. Kxf1 we get to here: 
click for larger viewNow 36...Rb1+ doesn't work because of 37. Ke2 when white has enough to defend. Fritzie says that the only move for black after 36. Kf1 is 36...Qd3+ 
click for larger viewThis denies White the e2 escape square. Rf1+ is coming with an unstoppable mate. That seems a little more involved than your typical Monday. |
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Jan-07-19
 | | malt: 34...Rb1+ 35.Nf1 R:f1+ 36.K:f1 Qd3+ 37.Kg1
(37.Ke1 Rb1+ 38.Rc1 R:c1+ 38.Bd1 R:d1# )
37...Rb1+
Not your average Monday. |
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Jan-07-19
| | Once: Oops. I meant Rb1+ is coming. |
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| Jan-07-19 | | vermapulak: one more line after :
35. Rc1 |
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| Jan-07-19 | | vermapulak: Mate will be difficult after 35.Rc1
Any thoughts ? |
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| Jan-07-19 | | Lambda: After 35.Rc1 black just takes it and has a decisive material advantage, no need to check whether there's mate. |
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Jan-07-19
 | | whiteshark: Good enough for Game Collection: 610_Backrank mating tactics |
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| Jan-07-19 | | TheaN: Monday 7 January 2019
<34....?>
Yikes. I guess I'm not in bad company that this Monday took me at least a minute to completely see, and then I even played a sub-optimal variation in the main line. Queen sac seems out of the question, mostly because White's threatening Qe6+, and a Monday puzzle would never allow a Queen check zwischenzug (with or without an escape for White, to be honest :>). So the obvious move is <34....Rb1+>. Hm. Some ways to defend this, still. It's a very good example of back rank troubles though. A) <35.Nxb1> I'd say this is the 'main line', besides it being the one going obviously wrong. <35....Rxb1+ 36.Rc1> all other interposing will lead to mate <36....Rxc1+?!> yeah I don't know why I played this. Obvious material gain, but Qxc1+ is just as obviously mate in a few <37.Qf1 Rxf1+ 38.Kxf1 Qxa4 -+> and Black's up a Queen. Enough, but I'd lose a try in Puzzle Rush :>. B) <35.Nf1> such sneaky moves don't belong in a Monday! This one I <did> see from start to finish simply because Black has no choice <35....Rxf1+ 36.Kxf1 Qd3+ 37.Kg1 (Ke1 similar) Rb1+> and White can interpose three more pieces before mate (note that the Queen is now blocked from f1, but this would have still been mate). C) Perhaps oblivious to some, White's <best> (ie no mate) is <35.Rc1!?>. Black can go about this in two ways. The obvious one is <35....Rxc1+ 36.Nf1 -+>, up two exchanges and a terrible White Bishop on h2, but Queens are still on the board. Perhaps just as good, or maybe better, is <35....Qxc1+?! 36.Nf1 Qxf1+! 37.Qxf1 Rxf1+ -+> and now Black's only up one exchange, but White still has that horrible piece and Queens are off. Typically though, a <non-mate Monday>! |
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| Jan-07-19 | | zb2cr: I missed this one! I could not see the correct procedure after 35. Nf1. |
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Jan-07-19
 | | agb2002: Black has a rook for a bishop and a knight.
White's weak back rank suggests 34... Rb1+:
A) 35.Nxb1 Rxb1+ 36.Rc1 Rxc1+ 36.Qf1 Rxf1+ wins. B) 35.Nf1 Rxf1+ 36.Kxf1 Dd3+ 37.Kg1 (37.Ke1 Rb1+ and mate in two) 37... Rb1+ and mate in three. C) 35.Rc1 Rxc1+ 36.Nf1 Qd6 wins decisive material. |
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| Jan-07-19 | | landshark: I agree with those who say this is an unusually complex situation for a Monday - I solved it but had to check myself several times before clicking on the game. And I didn't see <Thea N>'s best line, returning one exchange to stamp out White's counterplay - my line after <35.Rc1!> was ...Rxc1+ 36.Nf1 .... without any further calculation because on Mondays you're not supposed to have to - even though I still felt uneasy about some of White's threats still on the board - |
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| Jan-07-19 | | Olsonist: I love Wednesdays. The week is flying by. |
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Jan-07-19
| | Penguincw: < jith1207: <penguincw>: wouldn't better line be to sac the bishop on h2 for a pawn, clearing the way for king? Rather than sacrificing rook and queen to stop mate, anyway it's all looking grim. > 34...Rb1+ comes with check so no time to sacrifice the bishop. |
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Kibitzing
sac: 33...Rab8