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: Three pawn islands. The shattered queenside pawn structure is that typical of the Winawer Variation of the French Defence. White will have to play actively with pieces during the middlegame, and if no advantage is found, these pawns will be weaknesses in the endgame. The king is in no immediate danger, and should queens be exchanged in the next few moves, might choose to forego castling and remain in the centre of the board. The queen has made a typical Winawer Variation invasion on g7, creating some tactical possibilities. She is unprotected and challenged by the black queen, a decision is needed by white here. The a1 rook is ready to move to a semi-open file, the b-file seems logical. The h1 rook is several moves away from development. Both bishops have good options for development, the dark square c1 bishop has no black counterpart, and will have much control over the dark squares for a while to come. The g1 knight is presently not advised to move to the f3 square, it's most favourable post for development, since black could trade knights, and give white a poor kingside pawn structure, as long as the black e5 knight remains where it is . Black: Three pawn islands. The c-file will become a point of activity for black in the middlegame, the doubled white c-pawns being targets to attack. The h-pawn is isolated, but will not be an weakness until the endgame. The king has several pieces nearby, suggesting safety from the invading white queen. The queen on f6 is challenging the white queen, seeking her removal from the black kingside, and is also giving an x-ray defence to the h8 rook. The a8 rook is a couple of moves away from contributing, the c-file beckons. The h8 rook will need several moves to develop, and depending on how play continues, could be placed either on the semi-open g-file, or consider doubling down the c-file. The c8 bishop has restricted development options, due to the typical French Defence pawn structure. The e5 knight appears to have a pleasant post, however it is not secure on e5, and can be soon pushed away. The g8 knight is presently immobile, being tied down to defending the queen . ** Hints section, 5 hints . Hint 1, to find the key move . Is there an overloaded piece to be exploited? . Hint 2, to find the key move . Paradoxically, defending can be attacking . Hint 3, to find the key move . Is it time for some development? . Hint 4, to find the key move . Winning ideas are not always tactically aggressive . Final hint, to find the key move . Royalty and the Church are in agreement here . ** Proposed solution to WAC093 . White can seriously increase the pressure on black, by apparently offering a piece with, 1. Bh6. Yes, the h6 bishop protects the white queen, but surely this bishop is doubly attacked, by the black queen and the g8 knight? Tactics save the day for white. Black has 7 replies to consider, 3 of which are immediately catastrophic . Variation 1: This is chosen as the main line for the solution, simply because it produces an interesting mating pattern. Black plays, 1. ... Ng4, refusing to take the bait, and instead attempting to achieve piece coordination on the kingside. Of course, this knight can be captured with, 2. Qxg4, after which black can either play safe with, 2. ... Nxh6, material equality is re-established, and white has lost the initiative, or, instead black can try the much riskier, 2. ... Qxc3+ 3. Ke2 Qxa1, but now, 4. Bg7, forks the black queen and rook, and white will have a material gain, but an uncomfortable king for a while . . So, with, 1. ... Ng4, the knight is immune from capture, and black is also placing a 3rd attack on the once-defended white h6 bishop. This would seem to resolve matters on the kingside dark squares for black, as not only is the h6 bishop seriously threatened, the f2 pawn has suddenly become a target of a double attack by black. It might seem as if white can only relieve the pressure with a queen trade. This is not the case, the black knight in trying to resolve matters on the kingside, but has deserted the queenside, and this offers white a clever win with, 2. Bb5+, which leaves black with 3 replies. Firstly either, 2. ... Kd8, or, Ke7, both of which are met with, 3. Bg5, pinning the black queen to the black king, white wins. Instead, after, 2. Bb5+, black can interpose with, 2. ... Bd7, and white must do something about the kingside. However, the black bishop on d7 has shut in the black king, the d7 square was a potential flight square. So, white plays, 3. Qf8+ mate. Had the black e5 knight not wandered into the kingside, with the best of intentions of course, then that knight would have had the option to block a check from the white f1 bishop, by retreating to c6, and the pattern of incarceration of the black king could not have been created . Variiation 2: Black tries, 1. ... Qxh6, but this removes the black queen's previous x-ray defence of the h8 rook. Simply, 2. Qxh8, white is an exchange up, and black also has the problem of both knights being attacked by the white queen. The only reply to avoid further immediate material loss is, 2. ... Qg5, leaving white to decide which way to win a piece. The black queen is overloaded, protecting knights on e5 and g8, and as such if she can be attacked by white, which would deflect her from the g5 square, then one of the black knights will fall. White has 3 moves here. The simplest is, 3. h4, also good is, 3. Nh3, and lastly, the slightly riskier, 3. f4, all 3 white moves forcing the black queen to move off the g5 square, and these deflections all win a piece for white. Note, after any of the 3 suggested 3rd white moves, black could try to meet an attack with a counter-attack. The idea is, 3. ... Ng6, and now both queens are attacked. However, this knight retreat has interfered with the black queen's backward protection of the g8 knight, and so, 4. Qxg8+, the white queen evades the attack with a capturing check, which will be followed by the capture of the black queen next move . Variation 3: Black tries, 1. ... Kd7, attempting to remove the king from the active white pieces. White plays, 2. Qxf6 Nxf6, and now, 3. Bg7, forking the black f6 knight and h8 rook. There are no tricks for black here, white is winning either the f6 knight or the h8 rook . Variation 4: Black plays, 1. ... Qxg7 2. Bxg7, and white forks the black e5 knight and h8 rook. If now, 2. ... Ng6 3. Bxh8, is simplest. White is an exchange up and is essentially winning, black has no compensation for the material . Variation 5: Black plays, 1. ... Ke7, protecting the queen on f6, which means the white h6 bishop can now be captured by the g8 knight. Sadly, black has walked the king into dark-squared doom, white plays, 2. Bg5, pinning the black queen to the king, white wins . Variation 6: Black could blunder with, 1. ... Nxh6, and this knight capture leaves the black queen defenceless, so, 2. Qxf6, and white has won a queen for a bishop, white is winning . Variation 7: Black tries, 1. ... Bd7, developing and intending to move the king to queenside safety. This is well motivated, but is tactically flawed. This is an awful blunder, as black has just denied his king it's only flight square. White plays, 2. Qf8+ mate . ** Condensed proposed solution . 1. Bh6 Ng4 2. Bb5+ Bd7 3. Qf8+ mate . ** Other tactical variations considered, and rejected . Option A: White could trade queens with, 1. Qxf6, and after, 1. ... Nxf6, black would have a lead in development. This is not particularly desirable for white, even though black will have to play well to contain the white bishop pair in the coming middlegame. By exchanging queens, pressure has been removed from black, and a winning opportunity has been overlooked . Option B: White retreats with, 1. Qg5, which gains white nothing. Black could play, 1. ... Qxg5 2. Bxg5, and now, 2. ... f6, and black can slowly proceed with development. White has the bishop pair in a position with pawn structure imbalances, slightly advantageous but not decisive . Option C: White tries a different retreat with, 1. Qg3, which does at least leave white the option of, Bg5, to gain some good dark square control. The position has good imbalance, white has the bishop pair but a weakened queenside pawn structure. There are opportunities for both sides, the player with the better positional understanding would be expected to handle this better, and slowly begin to make slight gains as the game proceeds . ** Alarm Bells . 1. Overloading can apply to protecting squares as well as protecting material. The g8 knight was protecting the queen, and probably thought it had the h6 square covered as well. Clearly, it did not . 2. Black chose to demolish the white pawn centre of a French Defence, instead of completing development. The white pawn centre was always going to be there, the early demolition could have waited until development was complete. By delaying central demolition, black would also have the advantage of having white committing the minor pieces, before knowing black intended to attack the centre . 3. Black has traded bishop for knight on c3, hoping to exploit the weaknesses later in the game. This is fine, however giving the white bishops such opportunities, so soon in an open position, seems undesirable . 4. The white queen has embarked on an early invasion, before developing the minor pieces, this style of play is double-edged and consequently dangerous to the unwary. If theory shows this plan can be played, then one could research to determine if this suits your style of play. However, if you have no theoretical knowledge of playing early with the queen, then perhaps completing development is a safer plan . 5. Bishops are long-range pieces. Black has traded one off, and the other has only one move, in contrast, the white bishops have good potential mobility. These factors encouraged white to search for a means to exploit the advantages . Paul Benson. -----Original Message----- From: R Dinger - Email Address: rrdinger@xxxxxxxxxx Sent On: 14/08/2012 16:19 Sent To: chess - Email Address: blind-chess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [blind-chess] Problem WAC093 Good Morning Puzzlers, This time a tactics problem continuing the WAC series of problems. This problem is from Mario Lang's puzzle web page at: http://delysid.org/chess/epd.cgi Problem WAC093 White to move FEN Problem Setup: r1b1k1nr/ pp3pQp/ 4pq2/ 3pn3/ 8/ P1P5/ 2P2PPP/ R1B1KBNR w - - 0 1 Short Algebraic Problem Setup: White: Ke1, Qg7, Ra1, Rh1, Bc1, Bf1, Ng1, Pa3, Pc2, Pc3, Pf2, Pg2, Ph2 Black: Ke8, Qf6, Ra8, Rh8, Bc8, Ne5, Ng8, Pa7, Pb7, Pd5, Pe6, Pf7, Ph7