| Feb-10-23 | | Brenin: Black has the exchange for a P, but both Rs and his N are en prise. Therefore 54 Rxb4+ Kxg3 55 Rc3+ Kf2 56 Rb2+ Ke1 (otherwise Rc1 with mate) 57 Re3+ and 58 Rxe8, with good winning chances. |
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| Feb-10-23 | | Refused: 54.Rxb4+ is the clear and obvious move.
54...Kxg3 55.Rc3+ Kf2 56.Rb2+ and the mating threat of Rc1# means Black has to run to e1 after which Re3+ picks up material. After that it shouldn't be that difficult anymore to convert. However I am not sure, what happens, if Black decides to reject the Knight on g3 and just goes 54...Kh3 to keep the Bishop pair alive. White should still be better, but the white King himself looks a bit airy after something bf6 or bg6+. Converting this doesn't strike me as trivial. |
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| Feb-10-23 | | jrredfield: The first nine moves were very easy to see for me. I saw them probably quicker than with any of the preceding POTDs this week. However, after 58 Rxe8, I wasn't sure. It came down to a pawn race, a great ending. After 58 ...Bf6 however, Komodo Dragon really doesn't see it as that close: White +8.67: 59.Rb3 Be5 60.a4 Bf4 61.Rb2 Bd2 62.Rb5 Rd4 63.a5 g4 64.a6 Ra4 65.Rb2 Rxa6 66.Rd8 Ke2 67.Rbxd2+ Kf3 68.R8d3+ Kf4 69.Rd4+ Kg3 70.R2d3+ Kh4 71.Kc2 Ra2+ 72.Kc3 Kg5 73.Rd8 Kf5 74.R3d5+ Ke4 75.Rd4+ Kf5 76.Rf8+ Ke6 77.Rxg4 Ra3+ 78.Kb2 Rh3 79.Rd8 Kf5 80.Rdd4 Rh7 81.Kc2 Rc7+ 82.Kd2 Rb7 83.Kc3 Rb1 84.Rg8 Rb7 85.Rgd8 |
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| Feb-10-23 | | King.Arthur.Brazil: My answer is: 54. Rxb4+ Kxg3 55. Rc3+ Kf2 56. Rb2+ Ke1 57. Re3+ Kf1 58. Rxe8. The ♖ must keep the Rank 2 for block the Black ♔ and force a condition where their remaining ♖ will be captured by the double check (e.g. one in h1, interposed by their ♖, followed by another in c1 or d1, conforming to Black answers, which will capture it. |
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| Feb-10-23 | | mel gibson: I saw that in under 3 seconds.
The Knight is poisoned so Black shouldn't take it - but he did!Stockfish 15 says:
54. Rxb4+
(54. Rxb4+ (♖b6xb4+
♔g4-h3 ♖c7-c3 ♗d8-f6 ♖c3-e3 ♗e8-g6+ ♘g3-e4+ ♔h3-h4 ♔b1-c1 ♖d5-d4 ♖b4xd4
♗f6xd4 ♖e3-e1 ♔h4-g4 ♔c1-d2 ♗d4-a7 a2-a4 ♔g4-f4 ♘e4-c3 g5-g4 ♖e1-e6 ♔f4-f5
♖e6-a6 ♗a7-d4 ♖a6-a5+ ♗d4-e5 ♖a5-c5 g4-g3 ♔d2-e3 ♗g6-h5 ♘c3-e2 g3-g2 ♘e2-g1
♔f5-f6 ♖c5-c1 ♔f6-e6 a4-a5 ♔e6-d7 ♔e3-f2 ♗h5-f7 ♘g1-f3 ♗e5-f4 ♖c1-c5
g2-g1♕+ ♘f3xg1 ♗f4-d6 ♖c5-f5 ♗f7-g6 ♖f5-g5 ♗g6-e8 ♘g1-f3 ♔d7-c6 ♘f3-d4+
♔c6-b7 ♔f2-e3 ♗d6-b4 ♘d4-c2 ♗b4-c3 ♔e3-d3) +3.13/45 200) score for White +3.13 depth 45.
However if Black takes that Knight:
54. Rxb4+ Kxg3
55. Rc3+
(55. Rc3+ (♖c7-c3+ ♔g3-f2 ♖b4-b2+ ♔f2-e1 ♖c3-e3+ ♔e1-f1 ♖e3xe8 g5-g4 ♖e8-f8+ ♔f1-g1
♖f8-f2 ♖d5-d4 a2-a3 ♖d4-e4 ♖f2-g2+ ♔g1-h1 ♔b1-a2 ♗d8-a5 ♖g2-h2+ ♔h1-g1
♖b2-g2+ ♔g1-f1 ♖g2-f2+ ♔f1-g1 ♖h2-g2+ ♔g1-h1 ♖g2-g3 ♗a5-c7 ♖g3-c3 ♗c7-h2
♖c3-c1+ ♗h2-g1 ♖f2-f1 ♖e4-e2+ ♔a2-b3 ♖e2-g2 a3-a4 ♔h1-h2 a4-a5 ♗g1-d4
♖c1-c4 ♖g2-g3+ ♔b3-c2 ♗d4-e5 ♖f1-f5 ♗e5-b8 ♖f5-h5+ ♔h2-g1 ♖h5-g5 ♖g3-g2+
♔c2-d3 ♖g2-g3+ ♔d3-e4 ♖g3-a3 ♖g5xg4+ ♔g1-f1 ♖c4-c1+ ♔f1-f2 ♖c1-c2+ ♔f2-f1
♖g4-g5 ♗b8-a7 ♖g5-b5 ♖a3-a4+ ♔e4-d3 ♖a4-a1 ♖b5-f5+ ♔f1-g1 ♖c2-c8 ♖a1-a3+
♔d3-c2 ♗a7-f2 ♖c8-g8+ ♔g1-f1 ♖f5xf2+ ♔f1xf2 ♖g8-g5 ♖a3-a2+ ♔c2-b3 ♖a2-a1
♔b3-b4 ♔f2-e3 ♔b4-b5) +7.72/43 460)
score for White +7.72 depth 43. |
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| Feb-10-23 | | Allderdice83: <Refused: 54.Rxb4+ is the clear and obvious move.
54...Kxg3 55.Rc3+ Kf2 56.Rb2+ and the mating threat of Rc1# means Black has to run to e1 after which Re3+ picks up material. After that it shouldn't be that difficult anymore to convert. However I am not sure, what happens, if Black decides to reject the Knight on g3 and just goes 54...Kh3 to keep the Bishop pair alive.> I was thinking the same thing. Stockfish 11 (Chess.com doesn't give me Stockfish 15 anymore!) rates the position after 54 ... Kh3 as +0.89 -- not exactly a clear win for White. |
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| Feb-10-23 | | Cheapo by the Dozen: I played around a little with other moves before realizing White had so much hanging there was no hope unless the check happened to work ... which it in fact did. |
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| Feb-10-23 | | Cheapo by the Dozen: That said, I didn't see a quick win if Black's king hid behind the knight at h3. And I'm glad I didn't look too hard for it, since in fact there is not one. :) |
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| Feb-10-23 | | stacase: My brother played Charles Weldon in the '60s and lost every game. As I recall the bet was, Weldon would play without his Queen and you without your knights and he would proceed to beat you silly. |
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Feb-10-23
 | | An Englishman: Good Evening: The entire game had much of interest. Can't blame Black for swapping a Rook for minor piece and 2 pawns; it would not surprise me if he actually had the better position at some point. |
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Feb-10-23
 | | Jimfromprovidence: <An Englishman> was on to something. 52... Be5 wins a piece and the game for black.
click for larger viewHere both the c rook and the knight are under attack and the knight cannot check on g3 anymore. |
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Feb-10-23
 | | piltdown man: Hicksville? Really? |
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Feb-10-23
 | | scormus: <Cheapo> Good thinking. It looked to me that W should win after 54 ... Kxg3? but I wasn't sure if B declined the N.
This time I had checked the 1-0 before proceeding, and was happy it followed the text. |
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| Feb-10-23 | | Morphy number 4: After: 52..Be5! white can't play 53.Re7? since 53..Rd1+ 54.Kc2 Ba4# would be mate. |
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Feb-10-23
 | | chrisowen: I goad q with brunt jug fizzy Rxb4+ arrive at oar ie its garcon duff c axiom jig advance dank bit hob Rxb4+ fund :) |
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Feb-10-23
 | | LIFE Master AJ: The first move was easy to find, nearly forced. Nothing else even comes to mind. Blacks irst few moves are very forced, if he varies, he walks into a rolling Rook mate ... |
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Feb-10-23
| | LIFE Master AJ: Can.we stop with the crud?
This stuff of: "I saw it in .000017 seconds," is BS ... and was old over ten years ago ... no one believes you anyway! Give it a rest! |
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| Feb-10-23 | | WickedPawn: Got a Friday puzzle end-to-end! I’m going to the bar tonight. |
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| Feb-10-23 | | agb2002: White has a rook and a knight for the bishop pair and a pawn. Black threatens Bxc7 and Kxg3.
The position of the black king and the defenseless bishop on e8 suggest 54.Rxb4+: A) 54... Kxg3 55.Rc3+ Kf2 (55... Kg(h)2 56.Rb2+ and mate in two) 56.Rb2+ Ke1 57.Re3+ (57.Rc1+ Rd1) and 58.Rxe8 ends up an exchange ahead. B) 54... Kf3 55.Rc3+
B.1) 55... Kf2 56.Rb2+ Ke1 57.Rc1+ Rd1 58.Re2#.
B.2) 55... Kg2 56.Rb2+ Kh3 57.Nf5+ Kg4 58.Ne3+ and 59.Nxd5 wins decisive material. C) 54... Kh3 55.Rc3
C.1) 55... Bg6+ 56.Nf5+ and mate in three.
C.2) 55... Ba5 56.Nf5+ Kg2 57.Rb2+ (better than 57.Ne3+) 57... Kf1 58.Rc1+ Be1 59.Ne3+ Kg1 60.Rxe1#. C.3) 55... Rd1+ 56.Kc2 must be winning. For example, 56... Ra1 57.Ne4+ Kh2 (57... Kh4 58.Nf6+ g4 59.Rxg4#; 57... Kg4 58.Nf6+ Kf6 59.Nxe8 wins decisive material) 58.Kb2 seems to keep the material advantage. |
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May-21-24
 | | perfidious: A rare instance in which I agree with <AJ>. |
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Kibitzing
sac: 54.Rxb4+