[blind-chess] Chess Problem BWTC001
- From: "Paul Benson" <paul.benson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <blind-chess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2012 16:13:11 +0100
Hello all,
This posting is divided into various parts. You can jump to the headings of the
sections by search/find for **, a pair of asterisks
.
** Positional evaluation of the problem
.
White: Two pawn islands, and a large deficit of a bishop and 3 pawns. What
pawns white has remaining, have no weaknesses. The king is safe, though white
must always be aware of the black battery of queen and bishop on the f2 pawn.
The queen is centrally placed, a positive asset, however she is also under
attack from the black queen. With the material deficit, white should avoid the
exchange of queens, which would significantly reduce any attacking options. The
white rooks have achieved doubling down a central file, a positive asset, and
are ready to invade into the black position. However, remember black has a
threat against the f2 pawn, so if white moves the e2 rook, the capture of that
pawn with check must be carefully calculated. The bishop on g6 is aggressively
placed, though white must be aware that if the queen moves off the a2-g8
diagonal, then the black f7 pawn will be no longer pinned, and the bishop could
be captured. The f3 knight is ready to advance, and could capture the
unprotected black g5 pawn, should tactics across the whole of the board permit
.
Black: Three pawn islands, and a material gain of a bishop and 3 pawns. The
doubled d-pawns will be weak, but more importantly, they are preventing the
development of the a8 rook and c8 bishop. The g5 pawn is doubly attacked, and
will be difficult to defend. The f7 pawn is doubly attacked by the white queen
and bishop, but is doubly defended by the f8 rook and king. The king is lacking
defensive support, not a minor piece nearby, to counter the active white
forces. The queen on c5 is challenging the white queen, a piece which can not
be allowed to remain active should the opportunity to kick her away arise. The
a8 rook is several moves away from achieving development. The f8 rook is the
only unit trying to defend the black king. The b6 bishop is supporting the
black queen to place pressure on the white f2 pawn. The c8 bishop will need
several moves to develop. The a5 knight has decentralised, but is preventing
the white queen from retreating down the a2-g8 diagonal
.
** Hints section, 5 hints
.
Hint 1, to find the key move
.
Look for some heavy action on the light squares
.
Hint 2, to find the key move
.
The black king needs exposing,but how?
.
Hint 3, to find the key move
.
Here is a checkmate in 4 moves, so something dramatic is required
.
Hint 4, to find the key move
.
The white and black queens are opposing each other, and the white queen is
needed for this checkmate, right?
.
Final hint, to find the key move
.
To receive the biggest reward, make the biggest investment
.
** Proposed solution to BWTC001
.
White demonstrates the power of developed heavy pieces, with a light-square
destruction, beginning with, 1. Qxf7+. Black has 2 moves, if, 1. ... Kh8, then,
2. Qxf8+ is mate. So, black must capture with, 1. Rxf7. White invades with, 2.
Re8+, and the reply of, 2. ... Rf8, to block the check is forced. The black
defending rook is now eliminated with, 3. Rxf8+, forcing the reply, 3. ...
Kxf8. White concludes the combination with, 4. Re8+ mate
.
** Condensed proposed solution
.
1. Qxf7+ Rxf7 2. Re8+ Rf8 3. Rxf8+ Kxf8 4. Re8+ mate
.
** Other tactical variations considered, and rejected
.
Option 1: The only other tactical move to open up the black king, is, 1. Bxf7+.
This seems to give white a strong position, but will not produce an immediate
win. Black must play carefully with, 1. ... Kh8. If instead, 1. ... Rxf7, white
invades on the light squares with, 2. Re8+. Black is forced to play, 2. ...
Kh7, and now white regains some material with, 3. Qxf7, when white has many
threats. There is the mate with, 4. Qh5+, there is, 4. Rg8, pressuring g7, and
there is also, 4. Qg8+, which will win a piece on c8, if there is nothing
better. The black queen can snatch the white f2 pawn with check, but this does
nothing to assist the peril of the black king. Black will find the multiple
white threats too much to handle. So, after black leaves the white bishop alone
with, 1. ... Kh8, it is now for white to keep up the pressure. Simply, 2. Re8,
a further invasion which is difficult to counter. If black tries, 2. ... Qxd5,
white wins the f8 rook with, 3. Rxf8+ first, and waits until move 3 to
recapture with, 3. Bxc5, white is winning here. Instead, black can again snatch
with, 2. ... Qxf2+, but after, 3. Kh1, the black attack falters, and black has
to try to fend off the white attack. So, after white invades with, 2. Re8,
black must capture with, 2. ... Rxe8. This does not relieve the pressure since,
3. Rxe8+, another white attacker joins in, and the reply, 3. ... Kh7 is forced.
White now concludes matters with a queen retreat, 4. Qd3+, leaving black with 2
replies. If 4. ... g6, then, 5. Qxg6+ is mate, and if instead, 4. ... Kh6,
then, 5. Rh8+ is mate.
The only reason the, 1. Bxf7+, variation is not a proposed solution, is that it
is not an immediate checkmate in all lines. Black at some point, when allowed a
free move, could play Qxf2+, and follow up with a spoiling, Qxe1+, which would
break any immediate mating patterns, but the ultimate white win would not be
stopped
.
Option 2: Any white queen retreat, perhaps, 1. Qd3, releases the pin on the
black f7 pawn, permitting black to win another piece with, 1. ... fxg6. The
black kingside pawn structure appears ugly, but white is running out of
attacking options, and black can slowly regroup pieces into the kingside,
ideally Qf5, and then complete development of the queenside
.
Option 3: Any move which permits a queen exchange, such as, 1. Be4, would throw
away all attacking prospects, white, a piece and 3 pawns down, needs the queen
on the board for any chance to save the game
.
** Alarm bells
.
1. Black has accepted material, a bishop and 3 pawns, and consequently
development has been neglected. Accepting material is not automatically a
losing plan, but if material gain appeals, be prepared for some rude shocks
from time to time
.
2. The doubled white rooks on the e-file may appear to be a long way from the
black king. Appearances can be deceptive. Rooks are designed to move the full
length of the board, which is a strong reason for placing rooks on a fully open
file when allowed
.
3. The white bishop, excellently posted on g6, controlled the light-squares
around the black king, once the black f7 pawn had been spectacularly removed
.
Paul Benson.
-----Original Message-----
From: R Dinger - Email Address: rrdinger@xxxxxxxxxx
Sent On: 25/06/2012 16:51
Sent To: chess - Email Address: blind-chess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-chess] Chess Problem BWTC001
Good Morning Puzzlers,
We are resuming the chess problems today. I now have two sources for most of
the problems so future interruptions should be avoided.
Edward suggested we try mixing up the type of problem among mating, tactics and
end game,so we will try that approach. The first few problems will be mating
problems to work, since eventually you must perform the "coup de Grace" to win!
My apologies to Olivier for my poor French.
This problem is from Mario Lang's puzzle web page at:
http://delysid.org/chess/epd.cgi
and is reported to be from Fred Reinfield's book "1001 Brilliant Ways to
Checkmate" .
This problem can also be obtained from G. Ossimitz's chess page at:
http://wwwu.uni-klu.ac.at/gossimit/c/chess.htm
Problem BWTC001
White to move
FEN Problem Setup:
r1b2rk1/
pp1p1pp1/
1b1p2B1/
n1qQ2p1/
8/
5N2/
P3RPPP/
4R1K1
w - - 0 1
Short Algebraic Problem Setup:
White: Kg1, Qd5, Re1, Re2, Bg6, Nf3, Pa2, Pf2, Pg2, Ph2
Black: Kg8, Qc5, Ra8, Rf8, Bb6, Bc8, Na5, Pa7, Pb7, Pd6, Pd7, Pf7, Pg5, Pg7
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