Saturday’s winning chess quiz!
SPRAGGETT ON CHESS
Outdoor Bronze Chess Sculpture by Lloyd Lillie – John Marshall Park Washington DC
Here are 4 little teasers for my readers this Saturday. I will post the solutions later this evening. GOOD LUCK!
1.
POSITION AFTER WHITE’S 20th MOVE
Lim, Yee
Kananub,W
From the last round of the Istanbul Olympiad. Things are not looking very nice for White. Here he was braced for the loss of the exchange: 21…RxR 22.QxR Ne2-ch, when he can still resist. HOWEVER, Black has something much nastier up his sleave!
BLACK TO PLAY AND WIN THE HOUSE!
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2.
POSITION AFTER 27 MOVES:
gm Solomon
gm Vachier-Lagrave
From the last round of the Istanbul Olympiad. Solomon –the first South African grandmaster– has been defending very solidly and seems to have everything under control. White can try 28.Nh6-ch but it only leads to further exchanges. HOWEVER, in the position above, Black overlooked a strong move by White.
HOW CAN WHITE GET A DECISIVE ADVANTAGE?
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3.
POSITION AFTER 21 MOVES:
gm Nisipeanu
gm Atalik,S
From Friday’s Black Sea Countries Final in Bulgaria. An unusual game up to now, with White being worse for most of it. However, things are not so bad: should White now play 22.Qb3!, which seems to force the exchange of Queens, he would have reasonable chances of drawing.
HOWEVER, grandmaster Atalik thought that his opponent had just blundered a piece and so he decided to grab it:
22.Rxd8-ch? KxR 23.Qa8-ch Kc7 24.QxR
BLACK TO PLAY AND FORCE MATE IN 11 MOVES!
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4.
POSITION AFTER 21 MOVES:
gm Nisipeanu
gm Malakhov
Also from Friday’s Black Sea tournament.
WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN!
SOLUTIONS
A) 20…Qg5!
B) 28.Rd7! g6 (nothing better) and now simplest is 29.Rxc7 with a decisive advantage.
C) Start with 24…Qb1-ch 25.Bf1 Ne2-ch! and 26…Qxe4-ch
D) 22.Bh6! Black resigned!