| Sep-19-15 | | greed and death: This feels like the easiest Saturday puzzle in a long time. 29. dxe6 is not that hard to see, and the followup of 30. Rf6 threatening mate on h6 is pretty straightforward, although there are a few variations to analyze. Personally, I would think that the unbalanced endgame that would've occurred after 30... Qxf6 (Q vs. N+N) would've been slightly better for Black than the game continuation, but White's material advantage would be winning anyways. All in all, I got this in under 5 minutes, which is probably a personal best for Saturdays (most Saturday puzzles I don't solve at all), so this was nice for me. |
|
Sep-19-15
 | | sjunto: <greed and death: This feels like the easiest Saturday puzzle in a long time.> So easy that I figured it can't be right, and went with Rf6 instead. Stockfish gives de a 4.72, Rf4 is 2.74, and Rf6 is 2.46 White has a lot of good moves, but of course only one best move. |
|
Sep-19-15
 | | Penguincw: I didn't attempt to solve it, but this solution seems pretty straight forward, like <greed and death> mentioned. All the moves don't require much thought to see why they're logical/make sense. |
|
| Sep-19-15 | | patzer2: Agree with <greed and death>. This is one of the easiest Saturday puzzles ever. I considered 29. Rf4  to  and 29. Rf6 first, but then decided to look for something stronger and 29. dxe6! fell into place for me. P.S.: For improvements for Black, I think we need to look to the opening to equalize with 13...Nf6 = or 13...0-0 =. After 13...g5? 14. Rf6 it's difficult for Black to hold. |
|
Sep-19-15
 | | al wazir: <greed and death: This feels like the easiest Saturday puzzle in a long time.> Truly. I found the first two moves, and the next three are automatic. But what if black plays 30...Nd7 (30...Ng6 31. Rf7+ Qxf7 32. Qxf7+) ? After 31. Rxe6 Nxf8 32. Re7+ Ke6 33. Rxb7 a5, black has ♘+♘ vs. ♖. No win there. But after 31. Rf7+ Kg6 32. Qg8+ Kh5 33. Rh7+, it's all over. |
|
| Sep-19-15 | | patzer2: <al wazir> Also good is 30...Nd7 31. Qh6+ Kg8 32. Rxe6 . |
|
| Sep-19-15 | | agb2002: White has a rook for two knights and a pawn.
Black threatens exd5.
The first moves that come two mind are 29.dxe6 and 29.Rf6. In the first case, 29.dxe6:
A) 29... Qxe6 30.Rf6
A.1) 30... Nf3+ 31.Rxf3 Qe1+ 32.Kh2 Qe5+ (32... Qh4+ 33.Rh3 wins) 33.Rg3 and the threat 34.Qg8+ Kh6 35.Qg6# is decisive. A.2) 30... Qxf6 31.Qxf6 + - [Q vs 2N+P]. Black would probably try to build a fortress with b6 but the advance of the g-pawn supported by king and queen combined with threats against the black king should win. B) 29... Qg7 30.e7 wins.
-----
In the second case, 29.Rf6 Qg7 30.dxe6 Ng6 31.e7 Nxf8 (31... Nxe7 32.Rf7 Nf5 33.Rxf5 and the threats Rf7 and Rh5+ look winning) 32.exf8=Q Qxf8 33.Rxf8 and White ends up with a rook for a knight with a pawn and a won ending due to the passed pawn and the knight tied to the defense of the pawns. -----
I don't know. I'd probably play 29.dxe6. |
|
Sep-19-15
| | al wazir: 20. Qf6+ Kg8/Kh7 21. Re7 looks like a winning line too. |
|
Sep-19-15
| | al wazir: <patzer2: Also good is 30...Nd7 31. Qh6+ Kg8 32. Rxe6.> Better than "good." |
|
Sep-19-15
 | | An Englishman: Good Evening: I suppose one must account for Black's sacrifices to try and obtain perpetual check, but this still felt much too easy. |
|
| Sep-19-15 | | Once: It must be tweazy for a Saturday because I got it almost straight away. The move I wanted to nullify was Qg7, offering an exchange of queens and superglueing a bodyguard to the Black king. So I looked briefly at Rf4 and Rf6, before settling on 29. exd6. If Black recaptures the pawn I get to play 30. Rf6 and he can't play Qg7. Is that it? No hidden resources for either side? |
|
| Sep-19-15 | | Abdel Irada: <Personally, I would think that the unbalanced endgame that would've occurred after 30... Qxf6 (Q vs. N+N) would've been slightly better for Black than the game continuation, but White's material advantage would be winning anyways.> It would be "better" in terms of avoiding immediate mating nets, but it is really no less hopeless. The knights are already on their best squares, so Black can only sit and watch as the queen vacuums up the queenside pawns (eliminating all counterplay) and then escorts in the passed g-pawn. ∞ |
|
| Sep-19-15 | | Abdel Irada: I was interested to see if the alternative 29. Rf4 would also work. If Black grabs with 29. ...exd5?, then White mates in five. But Black can steal most of the fun with 29. ...Qg7, when apparently the best White has is 30. dxe6, when he will force Black to sac a knight to stop the e-pawn. White should win the resulting ending with ♖ + ♙♙♙ vs. ♘ + ♙♙♙♙ thanks to his active rook and Black's exposed king, but it isn't a cakewalk, so it really does appear that the "too obvious" text is the way to go. ∞ |
|
| Sep-19-15 | | consul: Thanks everyone, especially <Once> who made me understand that my idea of Rf6 straight away wouldn't work. |
|
| Sep-19-15 | | morfishine: Its a veritable cornucopian smorgasbord of options. |
|
| Sep-19-15 | | Ratt Boy: Agree with the others. It felt like a Thursday puzzle to me. Truth be told, I don't always get Thursdays, so if this one felt pretty easy, it's crazily easy for a Sat. |
|
| Sep-19-15 | | RandomVisitor: After 17...Kf8:
click for larger viewRybka 4.1 x64:
<[+5.68] d=15 18.Qh5> Nf3+ 19.Qxf3 h6 20.Qf6 Rh7 21.Qf5 Rg7 22.Qf1 Ne5 23.Rxh6 Qa4 24.Nxd6 Qc2 25.c4 b5 26.Be3 Kg8 27.cxb5 Ng4 28.Rh3 Rd8 29.Qf5 Qb2 30.Re1 Qb4 31.Bf2 Nxf2 32.Qxf2 Qd4 33.Ne4 |
|
| Sep-19-15 | | framsey: I'm sure I'm missing something, but here's what I came up with: dxe6
A: ...Qxe6 Rf6
A1: ...Nf3+ 31. Rxf3 (Qe1+ Kh2 Qh4+ Rh3) Qg4 Rf7+ Kg6 Rg7+ Kh5 Qh8#
A2: ...Ng6 Rf7+ Qxf7 Qxf7
A3: ...Ng4 Rf7+ Qxf7 Qxf7
B: ...Qg7 e7
C: ...Qe7 Rf6 Qg7 e7
Time to check. |
|
| Sep-19-15 | | framsey: Ah, -1 for not seeing 32...Qe5+. |
|
| Sep-19-15 | | BOSTER: During the game white sacr. a lot, but in the pos. white to play 28.I'd take e6 pawn playing dxe6.
click for larger view |
|
| Sep-19-15 | | Dr. J: This seems a very beautiful game to me: Black creates serious weaknesses with 8...Bxc3+, 12...exf4, and 13...g5, and White sacrifices a Rook to make him pay for it. I have two questions:
1) What happens after 21...Kg6? If White tries the obvious 22 Qf6+ Kh7 23 Ng5+ Kg8 24 dxe6 Qc7 Black threatens ...Rf8, and now 25 h7+ Rxh7 26 Nxh7 Kxh7 does not look convincing. 2) Earlier yet, does Black do better with 17...Kd8, since his King looks better protected on the Queen side? |
|
| Sep-20-15 | | RandomVisitor: <Dr. J>
1) 21...Kg6 22.Qf6+ Kh7 23.dxe6! Rhf8 24.Qg5 Qc7 25.e7 Rf7 26.Nf6+ Kh8 27.Qg7+ Rxg7 28.hxg7+ Kxg7 29.e8N+!!!2) 17...Kd8 18.Bxg5+ Kc8 19.Nxd6+ Nxd6 20.Rxe5 |
|
| Sep-20-15 | | The Kings Domain: Pretty embarrassing - didn't get the right move even though it was right under my nose. Good game too. |
|
| Sep-21-15 | | kevin86: A nice game- easy for a Saturday, but I missed it! |
|
Kibitzing
sac: 20.hxg5
