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Later Kibitzing> |
| Dec-23-10 | | Dr. J: I thought the solution was 27 Rxc2 Nxf4 28 gxf4. Right idea, seriously wrong execution. Black answers 28 ... Rxc8; then 29 Bxc8 Qxc8 (threatening Qg4+) or 29 c6 Rc7 30 Nxc7 Qxc7, and Black has at least a draw either way. |
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| Dec-23-10 | | estrick: <thathwamasi: I found the Queen Sac . . . But . . . I thought Im being silly.... something like what Fischer would have said - A patzer sees sac, patzer proceeds to sac> As the queen and rook were forked, the sac was more or less forced. Otherwise White loses even more material. |
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| Dec-23-10 | | M.Hassan: "Medium" White to play 27.? White has a Knight for a Bishop and is ahead by a pawn. Black Knight is forking Queen and the Rook. Passed pawns on c5 and d5 could be advantageous for both but White's route to promotion from c5 is clear and this can be a great advantage for White.White can continue with: 27.Qxb8 Qxb8
28.Rxc2 Bxb2
(White gets a Rook and a Bishop and gives away Queen and a pawn: not too bad!) 29.c6 Be5*
30.Nxe5 Nxe5
31.c7 Qb7
32.c8=Q+ Qxc8
33.Bxc8
White is now ahead by a Rook and a Bishop for a pawn and wins At move 29, Black's move(shown thus *) the game could have continued differently as below:
29..........Nb4
30.c7 Qc8
31.Bxc8 Nxc2
32.Bf5 g6
33.c8=Q+
Black could not stop promotion of the c pawn
1-0
time to check
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| Dec-23-10 | | Once: Well, what do you want for Christmas?
World peace or just a bigger piece of the world? A gazillion-inch 3D plasma or something unfeasibly expensive that begins with "i-"? Maybe your tastes are a little closer to Eartha Kitt's: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFfx...
Me, I'd settle for Quentin Tarantino doing a remake of the Magnificent Seven. Let's see, we could have Samuel L Jackson as Chris, Antonio Banderas as the bandit, Tom Cruise could take the Steve McQueen part and John Travolta as the Man from Uncle. Just imagine the dialogue: "Pleez meester, won't you help our poor village? Pleez come and come strike down upon them with great vengeance and furious anger..." "Okay, but do I get a foot massage?"
"Sorry, meester, but we are very poor. All we can give you is a quarter-pounder with cheese." "Man, that is one tasty burger... a Royale with cheese..." No? Maybe it's just me then.
Today's puzzle is all about a pawn, and what a pawn wants for Christmas. As we start the action, the white c5 pawn isn't having a good time. He's an innocent bystander as all the major characters leap into a massive kung fu battle with swords and Uma Thurman in a Bruce-Lee-alike yellow tracksuit. The pawn can see his way clear to the c8 square, but there seems little chance he will ever get there. There are too many black pieces defending the queening square. 27. Qxb8 Qxb8 One defender dies in a hail of bullets from a colt 45. 28. Rxc2 And now the pawn has a supporter - a rook standing behind him to shoo him all the way to a coronation. And that's when we notice the sharpshooter Bh6, firing down on the queening square and making it hard to black to defend. Exchange off pieces, push the pawn, it's time to get medieval on yo *ss. Okay, so in the end the pawn dies defending the villagers. It turns out that he wasn't Steve McQueen or Yul Brynner, he was James Coburn or Charles Bronson. "Only the farmers won. We lost. We always lose."
Happy Christmas everyone. |
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| Dec-23-10 | | tacticalmonster: 1 Qxb8 Qxb8 2 Rxc2 Nb4 3 c6! Nxc2 4 c7 Qxc7 5 Nxc7 Bxb2 6 Nxd5- White is up a knight for a pawn |
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| Dec-23-10 | | agb2002: White has a bishop, a knight and a pawn for the bishop pair. Black threatens 27... Nxf4 and 27... Nxc1.
The advanced c-pawn suggests 27.Qxb8, removing part of Black's back rank defenses: A) 27... Qxb8 28.Rxc2
A.1) 28... Bd8 29.c6
A.1.a) 29... Nb4 30.c7 Bxc7 (30... Qa8 31.cxd8=Q+ Qxd8 32.Rc8 + - [B+N]) 31.Rxc7 followed by 32.Rc8 + - [B+N]. A.1.b) 29... Bc7 30.Nxc7 Qxc7 31.Nd4 Nb4 32.Nb5 Qxc6 (32... Nxc2 33.Nxc7 Nb4 34.Bd7 + - [B]) 33.Rxc6 Nxc6 34.Bg2 + - [B]. A.1.c) 29... Kf8 30.c7 Bxc7 31.Rxc7 Qb6 32.Nfd4 + - [R+B+N vs Q] (32... Nxb2 33.Rc6 Qb7 34.Rc8+ Ke7 35.Rc7+, etc.). A.1.d) 29... f6 30.Be6+ Kf8 31.c7 Bxc7 32.Rxc7 Qb6 32.Rf7+ Ke8 (32... Kg8 33.Rxf6+ Qxf6 (33... Kh8 34.Rf8#) 34.Rxe6 + - [R+N]) 33.Nc7+ Kd8 34.Rd7+ Kc8 35.Rd6+ Kxc7 36.Rxb6 Kxb6 37.b3 Kc5 38.Kf1 + - [B]. A.1.e) 29... g(h)6 30.c7 Bxc7 31.Rxc7 Qb6 32.Nfd4 Nxb2 and White has draw at least with 33.Rc6 Qb7 34.Rc7 Qa(b)6 35.Rc6, etc. A.2) 28... Nb4 29.c6
A.2.a) 29... Nxc2 30.c7 Qxc7 31.Nxc7 + - [N].
A.2.b) 29... Bd8 30.c7 transposes to A.1.a.
A.2.c) 29... Nxc6 30.Rxc6 Bd8 31.Rc8 Qb6 32.Nfd4 followed by 33.Nc6 + - [R+B+2N vs Q]. A.3) 28... Be5 29.Nxe5
A.3.a) 29... Qxe5 30.c6 Qe1+ 31.Bf1 followed by c7, etc. A.3.b) 29... Nxe5 30.c6 Ng6 31.c7, there's no time for ... Ne7. A.4) 28... Nxc5 29.Rxc5 Bd8 30.Rc8 Qb6 31.Nfd4 is similar to A.2.c. B) 27... Nxc1 28.Qxd8+ Bxd8 29.c6 Bxa4 30.c7 Bxc7 31.Nxc7 + - [N vs P]. |
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| Dec-23-10 | | ruyv: <27...Qxb8
What else? I mean, white was threatening 28 Qxd8+ remaining a full rook up.>Interesting to notice that Black can try 27...Nxc1 but after 28. Qxd8 Bxd8 29. c6 the result is the same. |
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| Dec-23-10 | | TheBish: R Vera vs M Sisniega, 1984 White to play (27.?) "Medium"
White is up a pawn, but with the Nd3 fork, it looks like he's losing material (27. Qd2 Nxc1 28. Qxc1 Bxa4 is great for Black). Desperate times call for desperate measures! 27. Qxb8! Qxb8
The most natural move, but 27...Nxc1 also loses to 28. Qxd8+ Bxd8 28. c6 and after c6-c7 Black will have to part with the dark bishop. 28. Rxc2
Now material is even, but the c-pawn will cost Black a piece, i.e. 28...Nb4 29. c6! and now either 29...Nxc6 30. Rxc6 or 29...Bd8 30. c7 Bxc7 31. Rxc7 or worse, 29...Nxc2 30. c7 will cost Black his queen. Also bad is 28...Nxc5 29. Rxc5 Bxb2 30. Rc8+ Qxc8 31. Bxc8. If Black attempts to blockade the c-pawn with 28...Bd8 29. c6 Bc7, simply 30. Nxc7 Qxc7 31. Nd4 followed by 32. Nb5 removes the blockade -- the queen is a poor blockader! |
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Dec-23-10
 | | igiene: Why not 27. Qg4? Does'nt White gain the bishop? |
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Dec-23-10
 | | chancho: <igiene> 27.Qg4 leaves the c1 Rook hanging |
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| Dec-23-10 | | gofer: White has been caught by Nd3 forking both Q and R. Doh! Looking at the position, after trying to save the queen, things look rather difficult, (i.e. 27 Qe3 Nxc1 28 Qxc1 Bxa4)
and the house of cards that is white's position starts to tumble! So lets go on the attack and see if threat of promoting Pc5 will win the day. 27 Qxb8
Is this a sacrifice or a sham sacrifice... ...I do not care! It is giving up a big bit for a small bit or maybe two small bits and the potential
to get a big bit...
27 ... Qxb8
28 Rxc2 ...
I think this is the important point. White has to get in the threat of promotion EARLY, but not too early. Having played Rxc2, white has
secured the future of Nb5 which is now an immoveable rock. Black has to now contend with Pc5 with just Nd3 and Bf6, but if black takes Pc5
while it moves down the c file this opens up the possibility of Rc8+! (i.e. 28 ... Nxc5 28 Rxc5 Qb6 29 Rc8+ Bd8 30 Nfd4 leaves black
facing N + N + B + R v Q which is no fun for black!)
28 ... Ne5
29 Nd4! ... (Nxe5 leads to more work for white)
Now black is in real trouble, white is about to play c6 (finally) and black is helpless 29 ... Bd8
30 f4 Nd3 (better than Ng6?!)
31 Nc6 Qa8
32 Nxd8 Qxd8
33 c6 winning!!! finally c6 gets played and black is dead dead dead. Time to check...
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
P.S. I failed horribly with yesterday's puzzle. I looked at Re6, Rg4 and
Qc3, but it all took far too long for Wednesday, so I gave up... :-( |
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| Dec-23-10 | | stacase: Took me a little while to notice a few things:
1. White's Rook & Queen forked
2. White's passed Pawn
3. White's Knight & Bishop cover the passed pawn's route to stardom. After that, 27 Qxb8 looked pretty good (-: |
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| Dec-23-10 | | kramputz: <Dec-23-10 rilkefan: Spent a while looking at 27.Qc2 before noticing the c pawn. 27.Qxc8 Qxc8 28.c6 would be thematic but sadly 28...Nxc1 wins so I guess 28.Rxc2 is forced, taking away the romance and leaving just a could-be-grubbier won endgame.>......There is no move such as 27.Qc2 or 27.Qxc8...You must learn the notation before you post. // |
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| Dec-23-10 | | patzer2: <Once>'s amusing vignette, about a peasant farmer dying to defend his village, vividly illustrate today's Thursday puzzle solution 27. Qxb8! is actually a deep passed pawn combination. As <Once>'s analogy suggests, sometimes the purpose of a combination to free up a passed pawn is not to promote a Queen, but rather to gain decisive material by forcing the opponent to sacrifice a piece to prevent it. What this combination, beginning with the sham sacrifice 27. Qxb8!, also demonstrates is the decisive power of a well coordinated Rook, Bishop and Knight against a lone Queen. On the surface, the 27. Qxb8! Queen sham sacrifice appears to be a desperado move to avoid the loss of the exchange. However, things are not really what they seem. Instead of being a desperate defensive move, 27. Qxb8! is actually a well planned sham sacrifice. Do doubt White knew this when he played 26. Rc1!, allowing Black to fall into his trap with the ill fated Knight Fork 26...Nc3? 27. Qxb8!  . P.S.: If 27. Qd2!?, Black's best reply is not 27...Nxc1?, as 27.
Qd2!? Nxc1?! 28. Qxc2!  actually gives White a difficult advantage. Of course much stronger than the amusing 27. Qd2!? is the clearly winning 27. Qxb8! . |
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| Dec-23-10 | | DarthStapler: I at least considered the first two moves |
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| Dec-23-10 | | WhiteRook48: I missed it, I tried c6 |
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| Dec-23-10 | | Patriot: <patzer2> I agree that 26.Rc1 was probably well planned. What I'm not sure about is how much white actually calculated. From the puzzle position, 27.Qxb8 is forced--whether it works or not. From a practical standpoint, not much calculation is needed there. It seems that move 26 is where precision was needed. Perhaps white intuitively knew he had good chances or maybe white, at that point, calculated in <agb2002>'s style. <agb2002> Around midnight I rushed through the problem, trying to be the first poster. I stated that I didn't see a good defense for black. I typically use your analysis as a benchmark to see what I missed. It turns out that "A.1" (28...Bd8) was a big one. Also, "A.3" (28...Be5) and "B" (27...Nxc1) were other reasonable tries. "A.4" (28...Nxc5) may not be so unreasonable at that point in your analysis, with the idea of snapping off the pawn early. I might add that <gofer>'s idea (28...Ne5) is another interesting try since it threatens 29...Nxf3+ and on 29.Nxe5 Bxe5, black is getting a grip on c7. |
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| Dec-23-10 | | VincentL: "Medium"
The first thing that occurs to me is to sac the queen on f4 and push the c pawn - so starting 27 c6 (leaving the rook on c1 en prise as well). But this does not work (black has Nxh3+, etc).
Some variation on this theme is surely the answer.
The next move that occurs to me is 27. Qxb8. Then 27.....Qxb8 28. Rxc2. Now white is only marginally down in material and has significant threats - promoting the c pawn and also bank rank mate. After (a) 28....Nxc5 29. Rxc5 white has R + 2N for Q, and should win (although I would not like to try playing the white side in the endgame - not a very common one). Black can try other moves at 28; let´s examine them. (b) 28......Nb4. Now I think white can play 29. c6 !. If 29...Nxc6 30. Rxc6 white has R + 2N for Q as above, and should win. (c) 28.... Nxb2. After this black can play Nc4, blocking the c file. But it is not enough.. 29. c6 Nc4 30. c7 Nb6 31. x8=Q+ Nxc8 32. Rxc8+ Qxc8 33. Bxc8 and white has a material advantage of 2 N for P. (d) 28.....Bd8 29. c6 Bc7. Now it is not so easy. I think 30. Re2 ! h6 (to prevent 31. Nsc7 Qxc7 32. Re8 mate) 31. Re7 and white will lose at least the B on c7, resulting in a similar ending to those above (this time R + N + B for Q). Other black defences (eg. 28....Kf8) result in similar continuations. This must be it. Let´s check |
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| Dec-23-10 | | dzechiel: <Jimfromprovidence: <dzechiel> Our lines were very similar, but I believe you went wrong with 32 Na6? ... > What a killjoy. |
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| Dec-23-10 | | rilkefan: <patzer2>: <If 27. Qd2!?, Black's best reply is not 27...Nxc1?, as 27. Qd2!? Nxc1?! 28. Qxc2! actually gives White a difficult advantage> That's the line I looked at first. I guess 27...Ba4 is the refutation you mean? <kramputz>: [is that a serious handle?] <There is no move such as 27.Qc2 or 27.Qxc8...You must learn the notation before you post.> What a killjoy. |
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| Dec-23-10 | | MiCrooks: Wonder about using this position as a puzzle. As others have mentioned, with the Queen and Rook forked the "sack" at b8 is pretty much forced. White gets R+B for the Q but what gets as well is a monster passed pawn that has its two final squares (c7,c8) support by minor pieces in addition to the Rook. This means that Black will have to invest another minor piece for Q+P at which point White has a won game. But since the moves are forced it seems a prett odd puzzle. For me the big question was does Black have any way of blockading the pawn? His Queen move seems like a waste of time to me. I thought that an immediate Ne5 was Black's only chance but that doesn't work either. |
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Dec-23-10
 | | Jimfromprovidence: <dzechiel> <What a killjoy>. I'm not the grinch, I'm full of holiday joy.
Anyway, this is a really interesting position, Daves's <27 Qxb8 Qxb8 28 Rxc2 Bd8 29 c6 Bc7 30 N3d4 Nb4 31 Nxc7 Nxc2 32 Na6>, if followed by 32.. Qxb2!! 
click for larger viewThe threat is after white’s 33 c7, as 33...Qc1+, then 34 Kg2 Ne1+, below, gives black a perpetual. (If 34 Bf1, then 34...Nxd4 wins for black). 
click for larger viewIf white gets cute and plays 33 Nxc2, then black wins outright after 33…Qxc2 34 c7 f5!, below. 
click for larger view |
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Dec-23-10
 | | Penguincw: I would've played Qd2(not a good move I'm assuming). |
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| Dec-23-10 | | wals: The first three moves were no problem.
Rybka 4 x 64
BLUNDERS
BLACK: depth: 21 : 5 min :
(+2.42):26...Nd3. Best, g5, +1.51.
1. (1.51): 26...g5 27.Qg4 h5 28.Qxh5[] Bg6[] 29.Qg4 Nd3 30.Rc2 Nb4 31.Rd2 Qe7 32.Bf1 Qxc5 33.Nxg5 Qc1 34.Qf4 Rf8 35.b3 Be5 36.Qe3[] Bf6 37.h4 Rc8 38.Nd4 Kg7 39.Ne2 Qb1 40.Qa7 Qxb3 41.Nf4 Bxg5 BLACK: depth: 21 : 5 min :
(+3.51):34...Qe5. Best, Qb4, +2.47.
Unable to make up the leeway, Black
resigned move 41... . |
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Dec-23-10
 | | perfidious: This queen sacrifice by Vera isn't even the best he's pulled off! In a blitz event at Montreal in 1996, I was on the other side of the board when he played a less obvious, therefore more elegant one on the Black side of a 6.Qc2 Semi-Slav to gain a winning advantage. The unfortunate thing about that game was that he later blundered, with plenty of time on his clock, while still probably winning. |
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< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·
Later Kibitzing> |
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Kibitzing
sac: 27.Qxb8