Tuesday’s 5-second tactics
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im Scholz, Christian
fm Thiel, Thomas
Bundesliga this past weekend. Position after White’s 22nd move. The game continuation saw 22…Rhg8?! 23.Rxf7! winning immediately (the coming Bxe6+ will win the Queen). Ofcourse, a better defence is 22…Rhf8, leading to the following position:
WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN!
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gm Tiviakov, Sergei 
gm Jaracz, Pawel
Bundesliga. Position after 24 moves of play. White has played aggressively on the Kingside, sacrificing a pawn for the initiative. Now all of White’s pieces are on the optimum squares…it is time for the show.
WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN!
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gm Efimenko, Zahar
gm Kraemer, Martin
Bundesliga. Position after 20 moves of play. Black has sacrificed a pawn for play on the Queenside. Correct for White now is 21.Rg3!, when Black must still prove that he has enough compensation. INSTEAD, White played
21.Rd3?
Planning to double on the d-file. A good idea–in general–but not in this position!
BLACK TO PLAY AND WIN!
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gm Hoffmann, Michael
Zajogin, Alexander (2390)
Bundesliga. Position after White’s 28th move. It has been a manoeuvring game so far. White has successfully blockaded the weak c-pawn, while Black has created good Kingside chances, his Knights nicely ready to pounce at the first opportunity.
But the real problem in White’s position is his e-pawn: it is the only thing that stops Black from immediately breaking thru! Black, having the move, found a very clever way to solve this problem…
WHAT IS BLACK’S BEST ATTACKING LINE?
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Solutions:
Thiel, Thomas–Scholz, Christian: 23.Rxf7!! wins anyway! After 23…RxR 24.Bxe6+ Rd7 25.Ne4! it is all over.
Kraemer, Martin–Efimenko, Zahar: 21… Rxc3! 0-1 After 22.RxR Bxd4 wins the house
Jaracz, Pawel–Tiviakov, Sergei: 25.Bxg6! Rxh3 26.Bxf7+! Kxf7 27.Qg7+ Ke8 28.Qxc7 now it is all over. Tiviakov played on a few more moves for show: 28…Be4+ 29.Nc2 Rxh6 30.Qxe5+ Kf7 31.Qc7+ Kf8 32.Kc1 1-0
Zajogin, Alexander–Hoffmann, Michael: 28… a5! 29.Bxa5 Rxc5! 30.dxc5 Be5 31.Qb4 (it makes little difference where the Queen goes) 31…Bxa1 32.Rxa1 Rxe3 and Black has a winning attack: The game ended quickly: 33.Rf1 Re2 34.g4 Qe5 35.f4 Qe3+ 36.Kh1 Rxh2+! 37.Kxh2 Qe2+ 0-1