Monday’s 5-second tactics
“I knew it would soon be the end, so I played the part, you know, the part of-how shall I say, I don’t know.”
― Samuel Beckett
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gm Zherebukh, Yaroslav:
gm Herraiz Hidalgo, Herminio
Montcada Open 2014.6.29 Position after 36 moves. White has an obvious advantage and must win. Indicated is 37.b5! (threatening Bb4) and Black must retreat. If 37…e3!?, 38.Bb4! anyway: 38…Qf2+ 39.Kh1 Bf8 40.Qc1! etc.
INSTEAD, probably running short of time ,White faltered:
37.Bf1?
BLACK TO PLAY AND WIN!
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Martorell Aguado, Joan
gm Arun Prasad, S.
Montcada Open 2014.6.27 Position after 28 moves of play. Black has just played 28…Nf5, attacking the White Queen. In another situation Black might not have been doing so badly, but here the actively placed White pieces are poised to exploit a small detail that slipped Black’s attention…
WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN!
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gm Vishnu Prasanna, V
im Das, Sayantan
Montcada Open 2014.6.27 Position after 26 moves of play. A cut and thrust fight as both sides pursue initiatives on opposite sides of the board. In such skirmishes, victory often goes to the one who is a half-move ahead…that is, to the one with the move. Black was only counting on 27.Bxf6 Rxf6, when Black is perfectly ok.
WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN!
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Montcada Open 2014.6.29 Herraiz Hidalgo, Herminio–Zherebukh, Yaroslav: 37…Be3+! This move must have been overlooked, as the Bishop can not be taken because of mate on f1. Now all of the Black pieces infiltrate and score the point quickly: 38.Kh1 Bxf1 39.Rxe3 Qf2 0-1
Montcada Open 2014.6.27 Arun Prasad, S.–Martorell Aguado, Joan: 29.Rxf5! gxf5 30.Nxf7+Rxf7 31.Qxd6 The White Queen will prove to be vastly superior to the two Rooks. 31… Rxe1+ 32.Kd2 Re8 33.Qg6 Black is all tied up. The game ended quickly: 33… Ree7 34.d6 Rd7 35.Nd5 b5 36.Qxh5+ Rh7 37.Qe8 bxc4 38.Qe5+ Rhg7 39.h5 1-0
Montcada Open 2014.6.27 Das, Sayantan–Vishnu Prasanna, V: 27.Rxg7!! b3 ( Black realizes he is lost and can not do anything, so atleast he threatens mate in one move. Not that 27…Bxg7 gets mated after 28.Bxg7+ Kxg7 29.Rg1+ Kxh7 30.Bxf5+ and useless is 27…Qa1+ 28.Kd2 ) 28.Rg8+! Rxg8 29.Bxf6+ Rg7 30.Bxg7+ Kxg7 31.Rg1+ 1-0