Black's back rank is weak due to the bishop on its original square. This suggests 22.Qxf7+ to divert the rook on f8:

A) 22... Rxf7 23.Re8#.

White is two pawns ahead, so just about any non-losing move ought to be fine. 22. Re8 doesn't force mate though, as 22...Ra7 defends.

As puzzle was so Monday-tweazy I spent my time seeing if there was anything wrong with 22. Qxa8. Did black have a fiendish plan in mind when he played 21...Qh3?

As far as I can tell, black has nothing, zip, nada. He might have been thinking of 21...Qh3 22. Qxa8 Bg4 intending Bf3. But that doesn't work. After 22...Bg4 23. Re8 white threatens mate on f8, stays a piece ahead and defends g2.

That was my first thought. But if we look a little deeper we see 22. Re8 Be6 23. Qxa8

click for larger view

Black is a whole rook down, threatened by mate on f8 and doesn't have any tricks of his own. It's not mate in two, but it sure is hopeless.

The book was mostly a compilation of simple one to three move back rank mate combinations. It was a beginner's book written by "programmed learning specialists" for popular consumption, and, as such, was an enterprise to which Fischer only lent his name.

Fischer's real contribution to Chess literature, other than his published games, was his "My 60 Memorable Games" which is one of my favorite Chess books.

One of the joys of CG is that the positions are taken from real life. This means that - unlike artificial problems - there can be more than one "solution".

But that's not necessarily a bad thing. We can choose to see the POTD as pure puzzles or we could use them as sparring partners.

Sparring partners? Let me explain ....

In today's puzzle, the "solution" is clearly 22. Qxf7+ and mate in 2. Black then gets to choose which square to die on. Admittedly, that's not much of a choice. It's a bit like being on death row and about to be frazzled by old sparky. When the jailer gives you one last request, you'd really like to say "hold my hand" or "can I go free purty purlease...?". But what he really means is do you want a hot dog or a macdonalds for your last meal. It's a choice, but not a great one.

If all we want is a puzzle, we could stop there. Mate in 2, the large lass is warbling and all is well with the world.

Or we can furble with the position. Rewind to the last big mistake. Find alternative winning lines. Look for tenacious defences. Try and work out exactly what black was thinking when he played 21. Qh3. Doodle. Dream.