User Profile: phony benoni

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Phony Benoni
Member since Feb-10-06 · Last seen Jun-11-22

Greetings, O Seeker After Knowledge! You have arrived in Dearborn, Michigan (whether you like it or not), and are reading words of wisdom from a player rated 2938--plus or minus 1000 points.
However, I've retired from serious play--not that I ever took playing chess all that seriously. You only have to look at my games to see that. These days I pursue the simple pleasures of finding games that are bizarre or just plain funny. I'd rather enjoy a game than analyze it.
For the record, my name is David Moody. This probably means nothing to you unless you're a longtime player from Michigan, though it's possible that if you attended any US Opens from 1975-1999 we might have crossed paths. Lucky you.
If you know me at all, you'll realize that most of my remarks are meant to be humorous. I do this deliberately, so that if my analysis stinks to High Heaven I can always say that I was just joking.
As you can undoubtedly tell from my sparkling wit, I'm a librarian in my spare time. Even worse, I'm a cataloger, which means I keep log books for cattle. Also, I'm not one of those extroverts who sit at the Reference Desk and help you with research. Instead, I spend all day staring at a computer screen updating and maintaining information in the library's catalog. The general public thinks Reference Librarians are dull. Reference Librarians think Catalogers are dull.
My greatest achievement in chess, other than tricking you into reading this, was probably mating with king, bishop and knight against king in a tournament game. I have to admit that this happened after an adjournment, and that I booked up like crazy before resuming. By the way, the fact I have had adjourned games shows you I've been around too long.
My funniest moment occurred when I finally got a chance to pull off a smothered mate in actual play. You know, 1.Nf7+ Kg8 2.Nh6+ Kh8 3.Qg8+ Rxg8 4.Nf7#. When I played the climactic queen check my opponent looked at the board in shocked disbelief and said, "But that's not mate! I can take the queen!"

Finally, I must confess that I once played a positional move, back around 1982. I'll try not to let that happen again.

>> Click here to see phony benoni's game collections.

   Phony Benoni has kibitzed 18634 times to chessgames [more...]

   Jun-11-22 M Blau vs Keres, 1959

Phony Benoni: Not a good recommendation for the DERLD. Out of 59 moves, White makes only three in Black's half of the board. And two of those conist of 3.Bb5 and 6.Bxc6.

   Jun-11-22 chessgames.com chessforum

Phony Benoni: Er, it's back. Karpov vs Timman, 1988

   Jun-10-22 Orlo Milo Rolo

Phony Benoni: Marco!

   Jun-10-22 Lilienthal vs Bondarevsky, 1947

Phony Benoni: Another one for you King Hunters. Black's monarch travels fron g8 to b8, then takes the Great Circle Route back to h3 before calling it a day.

   Jun-10-22 GrahamClayton chessforum

Phony Benoni: <GrahamClayton> I've posted a question for you at L T Magee vs J Holland, 1948

   Jun-10-22 L T Magee vs E L Holland, 1948

Phony Benoni: <GrahamClayton> The source you cite, <Chess Review, May 1948, p. 24>, gives Black's name as <E Holland> "Chess Life" (June 5, 1948, p. 1) has a table of results giving <E L Holland>. That form also appears in USCF rating supplements for a player fro ...

   Jun-09-22 Biographer Bistro

Phony Benoni: SkinnVer Here Among the Fold?

   Jun-09-22 Flohr vs Bondarevsky, 1947

Phony Benoni: Black's bishop makes me think of Godzilla emerging from the depths of the ocean to wreak havoc. However, in the end it's his Two Little Friends who steal the show. Well, maybe not so litt.

   Jun-06-22 W Ritson-Morry vs G T Crown, 1947

Phony Benoni: it was the last round. Rison-Morry was mired in last place. These things happen.

   Jun-06-22 W Adams vs M Kagan, 1947

Phony Benoni: Some more informztion. The game was published in <Chess Review>, March 1948, p. 23. Black's name is given as "M Kagan", and the location as "Massachusetts". There is no other game data, but I think we can now safely assume Black is <Milton Kagan>. Earlier in the ...

indicates a reply to the comment.

Living in the Past

< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 22 OF 914 · Later Kibitzing>
Feb-28-07		Phony Benoni: <Chess Classics> I have this unfortunate habit of putting my fingers one key in the wrong direction when I type. I think it's why I play 1.e4 instead of 1.d4.

Feb-28-07		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN (Composed by A. A. Troitzky, 1909. Published in Chessboard Magic! by Irving Chernev, #136.) click for larger view This study is better known in a simpler form, which you may recognize when we get there. For now, it starts off with a struggle over promoting a pawn. <1.b7 Nc7+ 2.Kd6> 2.Ke5 Rxf5+ and 3...Na6 stops the pawn. <2...Na6 3.Bd3+ Kb6 4.Bxa6> click for larger view Seems to clinch the issue, since 4...Rf8 is answered by 5.Nc8+. But Black has a trick up his sleeve. <4...Rxd4+ 5.Nd5+ Rxd5+! 6.Kxd5 Kc7> click for larger view How can White win this? The Black king just oscillates between b8 and c7, and the approach of the White king will produce stalemate. <7.b8Q+!! Kxb8 8.Kd6!> Uh-oh! <8...Ka8 9.Kc7> click for larger view And 10.Bb7# follows. A very striking theme, which pops up again here and there. See, for instance, Tarrasch vs Reti, 1922

Mar-01-07		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND DRAW (Composed by F. M. Simkovitsch, 1924. Published in Chessboard Magic! by Irving Chernev, #137.) click for larger view A relatively easy draw. White's a rook down, so he simply sacrifices the knight, exchanges off his rook, and forces a draw with king against king, rook and bishop. Nothing to it. <1.Nf7 Re8> 1...Rf8 2.Rf3+ Kg6 3.Ne5+, and Black cannot escape perpetual check without losing the rook. <2.Nd6+! exd6 3.Rf3+ Kg6 4.Rg3+ Kf7 5. Rf3+ Ke7> He has to go to the e-file eventually. <7.Rxe8+! Kxe8 8.a3!!> click for larger view Giving Black something to think about. His bishop is totally useless, but he does have a rook, after all. <8...Bb7 9.Kd1 Kf7 10.Ke1 Ra8 11.Kf1 Rh8 12.Kg1 Re8 13.Kf1> click for larger view OK, that didn't work. Let's try another tack. <13...Kf6 14.g3 Kf5 15.f3 Re3 16.Kf2!> click for larger view And the rook must retreat or get trapped after 16...Rd3 17.Ke2. It's a draw!

Mar-02-07		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND DRAW (Composed by K. A. L. Kubbel, 1922. Published in Chessboard Magic! by Irving Chernev, #138.) click for larger view That's a mighty big pawn on d2, pardner, and White has to do some pretty fancy stepping to stay alive. <1.Kb5> To answer 1...d1Q with 2.Re8+ Kc7 3.Re7+, when Black can only avoid the perpetual check by moving to the d-file and losing the queen after Rd7+. <1...Kd8 2.Kxb6!> click for larger view Black now has two fairly reasonable candidate moves. After 2...Nc4+ 3.Kb7 Nd6+ (if he takes the rook, White promotes with 4.c7+; that's why the king had to be chased to d8 on move 1) 4.Kb8 d1Q leaves this position: click for larger view (Analysis position) 5.c8Q+! Nxc8 6.Rd5+ Qxd5 and stalemate. <2...d1Q 3.c7+ Kd7 4.Re7+ Kxe7 5.c8Q> click for larger view It's not over yet. <5...Nd5+ 6.Ka6 Qa4+ 7.Kb7 Qb5+ 8.Ka7 Qb6+> click for larger view White had alternatives, of course, but Black would always be able to zig-zag into this position. <9.Ka8 Nc7+ 10.Qxc7+! Qxc7> With another stalemate.

Mar-03-07		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN (Composed by V. A. Korolikov, 1934. Published in Chessboard Magic! by Irving Chernev, #139.) click for larger view If you've been following these studies, you'll know that the name Korolikov means something weird is coming. This one features a dancing bishop. For now, White must do something about Black's threat of ...Rd8 and ...Bb2#, not to mention the little matter of that h-pawn. <1.Qb7 e4 2.Qxe4 Re8> click for larger view This doesn't seem to have helped White much. If he takes the rook, Black plays 3...Bb2+ and 4...h1Q; if he moves the queen off the e-file, then 3...Re1+(at least) is available. <3.a7!> White is allowed to promote pawns as well! <3...h1Q 4.a8Q+ Rxa8 5.Qxh1 Re8> click for larger view And the bishop clinches things with a little hopscotch. <6.Be2!> Black can't take the bishop without allowing Qa8#, so he threatens ...Bb2# instead. <6...Rd8 7.Bd3 Re8 8.Be4 Rd8 9.Bd5 Re8 10.Be6 Rd8 11.Bd7!> click for larger view And wins, Black having run out of threats.

Mar-04-07		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN (Composed by K. A. L. Kubbel, 1924. Published in Chessboard Magic! by Irving Chernev, #140.) click for larger view In which White's king plays a vital role without leaving the back rank. <1.e6> With the humorous threat of 2.e5#. <1...Qxe6 2.Bf5 Qe5> Block that check! <3.Kd1> Nailing down Black's king. <3...e6 4.Bg6 Qg7 5.Ne7 e5> click for larger view Black has finally closed the door on e5# and nailed it shut--but now the knight gets uppity. <6.Nc6 a5 7.Nxe5+ Qxe5 8.Bf5!> click for larger view Back in my younger days, I'd deal with this situation by picking up the queen, waving her around in the air, putting her down on several different squares while being careful keep one finger on her at all times, then finally plopping her back on e5 and pressing the clock, hoping that my opponent wouldn't notice. <8...Qxe4 9.Kc1!> 9.Bxe4+ Kxe4 10.d4 looks good, but I don't think it wins after 10...cxd3 11.Kd2 Kf4 12.c4 Kxg4, and Black's king is close enough to catch the c-apwn. <9...Qxf5 10.gxf5 g4 11.Kd1> And White's king gets back just in time to stop the pawn.

Mar-05-07		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN (Composed by M. S. Libiurkin, 1934. Published in Chessboard Magic! by Irving Chernev, #141.) click for larger view Squeeze! <1.b5 Nb8 2.Rh8 Nfd7 3.Kc7 Ka7> click for larger view <4.Re8!> Precisely here! If 4.Rd8 Nc5 5.Rxb8 Ne6+ 6.Kc8 Nc5, and White cannot untangle his pieces. If Blzck tries 4...Nc5 now, White has 5.Re7 followed by 6.Kc8+ and 7.Rb7. <4...Nf6! 5.Rxb8 Ne8+!> Ingenious; 6.Rxe8 is stalemate. <6.Kd7!> Now 6...Kxb8 7.Kxe8, and White will win the pawn ending. <6...Nc7!> click for larger view Now what? 7.Kxc7 is still stalemate, and otherwise Black has 7...Nxb5. <7.Ra8+!! Nxa8> After 7...Kxa8 8.Kxc7 Ka7 9.Kc6, White wins. But the text only delays things by a move. <8.Kc8!> And Black must emcompass his own destruction.

Mar-06-07		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND DRAW (Composed by A. (. Herbstmann, 1927. Published in Chessboard Magic! by Irving Chernev, #142.) click for larger view Good grief--what a perfect mess! And it has about the last conclusion you might expect. <1.Bg8+> Not 1.dxc7, as the king needs h7 as a flight square. Besides, you never know, you know: Black might do something stupid and move his king to the b-file. <1...Kc5> Wait a second--h7 as a flight square? What does that mean? <2.dxc7 Bd4+ click for larger view Now 3.Kf1 gets mated after 3...Ne3+ 4.Kg1 Rxg2+ 5.Kh1 Nf2#, and Black stops the pawns easily after 3.Kh1 N1f2+ 4.Kh2 hxg3+ 5.Kxg3 Be5+. So, it's up the board we go! <3.Kh2 hxg3+ 4.Kh3 N1f2+ 5.Kh4 Bf6+ 6.Kh5 Nf4+ 7.Kh6 Ng4+ 8.Kh7> click for larger view No more checks, but can't Black neutralize the pawns? <8...Rxb7> Capturing one, plus pinning and threatening the other. <9.Nf7!> Unpinning the c-pawn, and there's only one way to stop it from promoting! <9...Rxc7> click for larger view STALEMATE??? Where did that come from?

Mar-07-07		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN (Composed by A. A. Troitzky, 1910. Published in Chessboard Magic! by Irving Chernev, #143.) click for larger view The king may be a fighting piece, but it is generally advisable to confine those attacking activities to the first rank--even when it sits the opponent's first rank. <1.Qb6+ Ke5 2.Qc7+ Ke6> 2...Qd4 3.Nf3+ Ke4 4.Qh7+ skewers. <3.Nf3 Qb3+ 4.Kc8 Qxf3> Not so much to win a piece as to avoid the threats of 5.Nd4# and 5.Qd7#. click for larger view <5.Kd8!> Nasty. Black can't defend the threat of 6.Qe7# by 5...d4, as 6.Qe7+ Kd5 7.Qb7 x-rays. <5...Qa3 6.Qd7+ Ke5 7.Qf5+ Kd4 8.Qxf6+ Ke4 9.Qf5+ Kd4 10.Qf4+!> click for larger view Leaving Black the choice of getting shishkabobbed on the diagonal after 10...Kc5 11.Qf8+, or exhausting my supply of metaphors for this particular tactic along the rank after 10...Kd3 11.Qf3+.

Mar-08-07		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN (Composed by A. A. Troitzky, 1935. Published in Chessboard Magic! by Irving Chernev, #144.) click for larger view A pair of monkey wrenches do the trick. <1.Nc3 e1Q 2.g7 Qg1 3.a7 exd3> click for larger view The queen stops the g-pawn and the bishop the a-pawn, but White promptly screws up the mechanism. <4.Bg2!> The g-pawn prmotes and mates immediately after 4...Bxg2, and does so a move later after 4...Qxg2 5.a8Q+. Black must shift gears in a hurry. <4...Qd4+ 5.Kb5 Qb4+ 6.Qa6 Qc4+ 7.Kb6 Bxg2> click for larger view Everything is under control again--but only for a moment! <8.Nd5!> Now after 8...Qxd5 9.a8Q+ and 10.g8Q#, while the process is reversed after 8...Bxd5.

Mar-09-07		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND DRAW (Composed by H. Mattison, 1924. Published in Chessboard Magic! by Irving Chernev, #145.) click for larger view This one is very strange, but the ending is worth it. <1.Rh8+ Kf7 2.Rb8 Nb5> WIth the slight threat of 3...b1Q#. If White tries to break up the mate with 3.Rxb5, then Black has 3...axb5 4.c8Q b1Q+ 5.Kd4 Qb4+ 6.Kd3 Qd2+ 7.Ke4 Qe3#. <3.Rf8+> click for larger view Playing for 3...Kxf8 4.c8Q+ Kf7 5.Qc2 b1Q 6.Qxb1 Nc3+ 7.Kd3 Nxb1 8.h7 and the pawn promotes. <3...Kg6! 4.Nf4+> What about 4.Rf1? Here's an analysis diagram to try and follow the analysis. click for larger view And the line runs 4...Bc1 5.Nf4+ Kh7 6.Nd3 b1Q 7.c8Q Nc3+ 8.Qxc3 Qb7+ 9.Kd4 Qd5#. Oy. Back to the 4.Nf4+ line, hoping for 4...Bxf4 5.Kxf4, breaking up the mating net. <4...Kh7 5.Rh8+ Kxh8 6.c8Q+ Kh7 7.Qc2> click for larger view No, White is not winning this, especially after: <7...b1Q!> Now 8.Qxb1 Nxc3+ and 9...Nxc1 is a win for Black. Instead <8.Ke3+! Qxc2> is stalemate! And Black can't even try 7...b1B to pin the queen and avoid that stalemate, as 8.Nd3! Bxc2 creates another one.

Mar-10-07		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND DRAW (Composed by T. B. Gorgiev, 1928. Published in Chessboard Magic! by Irving Chernev, #146.) click for larger view White's king and rook get caught in a vise, but the a-pawn turns into Dudley Do-Right and saves the day. <1.Nf7+ Ke7 2.Rxh4 Bxf7+!> click for larger view The dreaded zwischencheck. How can White save his rook? <3.e6! Bxe6+ 4.d5 Bxd5+ 5.Rc4 Be1> click for larger view This is no fun. Any king move abandons the rook, and 6.a4 Ba5 is no help. <6.a3! Be6 7.Ka4!> Saving the day, as 7...Bxc4 is stalemate.

Mar-11-07		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND DRAW (Composed by M. S. Libiurkin, 1940. Published in Chessboard Magic! by Irving Chernev, #147.) click for larger view That's one active Black queen, threatening ...Qa4# as well as both the knight and bishop. The solution? Lure her into a dark corner. <1.Qh1 d2 2.Nxd2!> Now 2...Qxh1 3.Be4+ regains the queen, so Black tries pushing the king to a more vulnerable square. <2...b3+> click for larger view And White is really in trouble. 3.Ka3 allows 3...Bd6#, and moving back to the first rank allows Black to take the queen with check. <3.Nxb3! cxb3+> 3...Qxh1 4.Be4+ Qxe4 5.Nc5+ regains the queen again. <4.Ka1! Qxh1+ 5.Bb1> click for larger view White is stalemated, and the only way to give him a move is to put the queen elsewhere along the long diagonal--whereupon 6.Be4 either pins or forks and produces another stalemate after 6...Qxe4.

Mar-12-07		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND DRAW (Composed by K. A. L. Kubbel, 1929. Published in Chessboard Magic! by Irving Chernev, #148.) click for larger view At least we're not going to have to worry about pawn structure in this one. White's plan is clear: win the queen without going two pieces down--unless, of course, those pieces happen to be knights. <1.Nd7+ Kd6 2.Bf4+ Kxd7 3.Bg4+ Ke8 4.Bh5 Qxh5 5.Nf6+ Kf7 6.Nxh5> click for larger view You can figure out the replies to Black's other moves yourself; they're pretty obvious, and I haven't got a lot of time this morning. White seems to have achieved his goal, but after: <6...Kg6> How does he save the knight? <7.Bg3! Nxg3> Else he's left with the useless knight pair. <8.Nf4+ Kf5 9.Nd3> click for larger view <8...Nc4+> The bishop needs air! 10.Kb3! Na5+ 11.Kc2> click for larger view Amd the bishop comes off the board.

Mar-12-07		RonB52734: <Mr. Benoni> O Ulvestad vs H Steiner, 1946 (from the finals) is now online

Mar-12-07		Phony Benoni: <RonB52734> Great! I need to get back working on the US Open 1946 collection.

Mar-13-07		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN (Composed by N. D. Grigoriev, 1928. Published in Chessboard Magic! by Irving Chernev, #149.) click for larger view OK, let's see now. If we can just promote, it might be possible to draw the queen ending even if we're a pawn down or so... Oh, wait. White WINS this? <1.d4> Black cannot start a race, since White is going to queen with check as things are now. <1...Kg5 2.Kf7 Kf5 3.d5 Ke5 4.e4> click for larger view Now 5...Kd6 6.Kf6, and White gains time with pawn checks to promote first. THerefore, Black has to push a pawn. But which one? <4...a5 5.Ke7 a4 6.d6 a3 7.d7 a2 8.d8Q a1Q> click for larger view And 9.Qh8+ wins the queen. Let's go back to the previous diagram, and try the b-pawn instead, giving this position. click for larger view And 9.Qd6+ Kxe4 10.Qg6+ wins the queen. One more time, with the h-pawn! click for larger view You got it. 9.Qd6+ Kxe4 10.Qc6+.

Mar-14-07		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN (Composed by E. Ratner, 1926. Published in Chessboard Magic! by Irving Chernev, #150.) click for larger view One of those studies where everything just fits. <1.Be2!!> I'm sure your computer could find this move, but can it tell you why this alone and not 1.Bd3 or 1.Bf1 do the trick? At any rate, Black's plan is to deliver a discovered check with his king, then fork the knights with ...Bd4. 1...Ka5+ is out of the question, since White will have 3.Nb3+ available after 2...Bd4. <1...Kb7+ 2.Kg2! Bd4 3.Nb3 Bxe5 4.Na5+> click for larger view To avoid a fork, Black has to move the king to either a8 or c8, and the latter allows 5.Bg4+ forcing the king to a fatal dark square. And now we can see why 1.Bd3 didn't work; Black would then play 4...Kb6 5.Nc4+ Kc5 5.Nxe5 Kd4 with a saving fork of his own. As for 1.Bf1, White would not have 4...Kc8 5.Bh3+ in this position--and, as we'll see, the White king had to go to g2 on move 2. <4...Ka8 5.Nc6 Bd6 6.Ba6!> click for larger view And White simply light-squares his king around to c8 to play Bb7#. One last point: had White played 1.Kh1 or 1.Kf1, Black could now survive with 6...g5 and 7...g4. White would have to advance via e4, but once he played Kf5 Black could push ...g3 and promote in time to stop mate. In this position, the pawn has to hang back for a couple of moves to avoid capture, giving White just enough time. For example: <6...g5 7.Kf3 Bh2 8.Kg4 Bf4 9.Kf5 Bd2 10.Ke6 g4 11.Kd7 g3 12.Kc8 g2 13.Bb7#>

Mar-15-07		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN (Composed by T. B. Gorgiv, 1929. Published in Chessboard Magic! by Irving Chernev, #151.) click for larger view With all his pieces either under attack or on the verge of being en prised, White has to step lively here. <1.Ne4+ Ke5> On 1...Kd7, White has 2.Rxg8 Rb5+ 3.Rg5, keeping his two piece advantage. Or 1...Kd5 2.Nc3+ stops the check on b5 and saves everything. <2.Ng5 Bf7+> Might as well, as the bishop was trapped. And the move sets a nasty trap. <3.Nxf7+ Kf6> click for larger view Your first instinct here might be 4.Ne5, with lines like 4...Kxe5 5.Bc3+, or 4...Rh2+ 5.Kg4 Kxe5 6.Bc7+, or 4...Rb5 5.Bc3. But that last line only draws after 5...Rxe5+! 6.Bxe5+ click for larger view Because after 6...Kf7!, moving the rook to safety stalemates Black! Instead, go back to the previous diagram and play: <4.Nd8! Rb5+ 5.Kh6 Rxb5 6.Rf8+ Ke5 7.Nc6+> And the simple fork decides matters.

Mar-16-07		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN (Composed by B. A. Bron, 1929. Published in Chessboard Magic! by Irving Chernev, #152.) click for larger view With Black's king cooped up on the side of the board, there are plenty of stalemate chances; for example, 1.b7 Rxd6+ 2.Kg5 Rd8 3.Re7 Rb8, and 4...Rxb7 will draw. So it appears that White has too much force, and has to give some away. <1.Re5 Rxe5 2.d7 Re6+ 3.Kg5 Rxb6> click for larger view 3...Rd6 4.b7 would have ensured a winning promotion for White, but now what? Queening or bishoping produce stalemate, and rooking is just a draw as White's extra pawn is purely cosmetic. <4.d8N!!> click for larger view Black can only move his rook, but it has no safe squares to avoid capture or forking.

Mar-17-07		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND DRAW (Composed by A. S. Gurewitz, 1936. Published in Chessboard Magic! by Irving Chernev, #153.) click for larger view On a totally open board, Black's rook cannot escape a pesky knight. <1.e7+ Nxe7> There are knight forks after 1...Kd7 and 1...Kc7 2.Nf6 Rxe7 3.Nd5+. <2.Nxe7 Nh2+> For our purposes here, you can assume that R v. N is generally drawn. That would be the situation after 2...Rxe7 3.Kxf3, or 2...Ne5+ 3.Kf5 Rxe7 4.a7 Rxa7 5.Kxe5. <3.Kg3> White doesn't want to play to the same file that the knight sits on, as Black can then protect the knight by checking with the rook and then play ...Kxe7. <3...Nf1+ 4.Kg2 Ne3+ 5.Kf3 Rxe7 6.a7 Rxa7> click for larger view Now what? Black is a rook ahead, and White can't go in for 7.Kxe3 Ra3. <7.Nd4!> Threatening 7.Kxe3 and 7.Nc6+, the latter being the answer to 7...Re7 as well. <7...Ra3 8.Nb5> click for larger view And draws, as the rook cannot escape the knight's influence without abandoning his own knight. If 8...Ra5, then 9.Nd4 threatening the knight and 10.Nc6+. After 8...Rb3 10.Nd4 Rc3 11.Nb5 Rc5 12.Nd4, and this time the fork threat is on e6. After 8...Rd3, 9.Ke4 drives the rook back into the trap. Simply amazing.

Mar-18-07		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN (Composed by T. B. Gorgiev, 1928. Published in Chessboard Magic! by Irving Chernev, #154.) click for larger view "Will nobody rid me of this annoying king?" <1.Nf1+ Kh3 2.Nbd2 Kxh4 3.Nf3+ Kh3 4.Nxg1+ Kg2 5.Ne2> click for larger view Black can't go in for 5...Kxf1 6.Nf4+, so he needs to deliver check with the bishop to get it out of danger. Since 5...Be4+ 6.Kc5 Kxf1 7.Ng3+ doesn't help, there's not a lot of choice. <5...Be8+ 6.Kc7 Kxf1 7.Kd8!> click for larger view This would be a good time to put Elvis's song "Stuck on You" on the old Victrola. <7...Bf7 8.Kxe7 Bg8 9.Kf8 Bh7 10.Kg7> click for larger view And we observe a moment of silence in honor of the doomed bishop.

Mar-19-07		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN (Composed by G. Sachodakin, 1939. Published in Chessboard Magic! by Irving Chernev, #155.) click for larger view The extra piece is nice to have, but White does need to be careful not to lose his last pawn. After all, he can't mate without it. <1.Nb6+> Obvious, since Black can't afford to trade knights due to something like 1...Nxb6 2.Bxb6 Kc6 3.Bg1 Kb5 4.Kg6 h4 5.Kg5 h3 6.Kg4 Kb4 7.Kxh3 Kb3 8.Bd4, protecting the pawn. But he can play better than that. <1...Kc6! 2.Nxa4 Kb5 3.Bc3 Kxa4> click for larger view Now a win looks impossible. White's king can't catch the pawn, and after 4.Be5 Kb3, Black just advances the pawn until White has to take it and then snips the button on b2. However, there is still the Reti maneuver: by moving along the diagonal, White's king can execute two threats simulataneously: catching the h-pawn while coming to the queenside to protect his b-pawn. <4.Ke6 h4 5.Kd5 h3 6.Kc4! h2> click for larger view "Reti this!", says Black. <7.Bb4> Uh-oh! <7..h1Q 8.b3#!>

Mar-20-07		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN (Composed by K. A. L. Kubbel, 1929. Published in Chessboard Magic! by Irving Chernev, #156.) click for larger view Looks easy enough. <1.h7 d2! 2.Bxd2 Ne7 3.Kg5> Of course, queening allows a fork on g6. <3...Ng6! 4.Kxg6 Bd3+ 5.Kg7 Bxh7 6.Kxh7 Kb6> click for larger view Oops; that didn't work. Rewind! click for larger view <1.Ba5+! Kd6 2.h7 Ne7 3.Kg5 Ng6 4.Kxg6 d2 5.h8Q> click for larger view White has a skewer after 5...d1Q, so Black has to shield the queen. <5...Bd3+ 6.Kf7 d1Q 8.Qd4#!> click for larger view

Mar-21-07		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND DRAW (Composed by T. C. L. Kock, 1933. Published in Chessboard Magic! by Irving Chernev, #157.) click for larger view With his king out of play, White is figiting for a draw against Black's passed pawns. Your first thought might be the old Burial Alive tactic, but 1.Rf3 b3 2.Rh3 b2 3.Rh5 b1Q 4.h4 Qg1# falls a move short. <1.Rf2+> With the idea of gaining a move after 1...Ka3 2.Rf3+ to achieve the above-mentioned stalemate. Black avoids this, and over the next few moves White struggles against the pawns. <1...Ka1 2.Rf3 b3 3.Rh3 b2 4.Ra3+ Kb1 5.Rxa4 Kc2 5.Rc4+ Kb3 7.Rc8 b1Q 8.Rb8+ Kc2 9.Rxb1 Kxb1> click for larger view White's problems are not over, as Black's king is in back of the White pawns and can attack them. For instance, after 10.Kh4 Kc2 11.Kg3 Kd3 12.Kf3 Kd4, White will eventually get zugged out of his f-pawn and it will soon be all over. <10.h4! Kc2 11.Kh5 Kd3 12.Kg5 Ke4> click for larger view Now, after 13.h5 Kf3 Black wins, but after... <13.Kh5!> ...taking the f-pawn is stalemate. The Black monarch can waltz around all he wants, but White's king just oscillates between g5 and h5 and no progress can be made.

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