tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7067401836144518837.post1079220772727068617..comments2024-02-07T03:18:23.921-05:00Comments on Livingston County Chess Blog: Quick Tournament 10/24/16 - Free Entry! - Come Join the Fun!Nik Faldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11612344156293368237noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7067401836144518837.post-85215396879443352782016-10-26T11:59:02.238-04:002016-10-26T11:59:02.238-04:00The first puzzle is fairly easy, black plays 2 fai...The first puzzle is fairly easy, black plays 2 fairly obvious moves, then has a somewhat tricky 3rd move that traps the white king for checkmate (make sure to notice the bishop on b6).<br /><br />The second puzzle is extremely difficult because some of the lines are unclear and eventually I needed to get help from Fritz.<br /><br />The best line of play according to Fritz goes 1...Rxb7 2.Qxb7 Bc6 3.Rac1 Bxb7 4.Rxc5 bxc5 and black ends up a bishop ahead with a fairly easy victory.<br /><br />But what if white refuses to trade queens and instead chooses to fight on?<br /><br />so 1...Rxb7 2.Qxb7 Bc6 3.Qa6 Qd5 (Black threatens mate with Qg2) 4.Kf1 Qg2+ 5.Ke2 Re8+ 6.Kc1 Qd5 (Qxf2 seems obvious, winning the pawn and threatening to take the e1 rook, but Fritz says Qd5 is better by 3.5 pawns) 8.Qe2 (anything else gives white a forced mate in 15 moves or less) And Fritz shows white being down by 16 pawns even though white is ahead in material having traded a bishop for a rook. So in this line black ends up down in material but with a crushing positional advantage that will win the game for any player strong enough to play it right without blundering. So while this is a win for a world championship strength grandmaster playing black, I think the position is much less clear for average club players.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com