Thursday, February 01, 2007

Pinch, Punch

White to play, and mate in 5.
(Théodore Herlin, La Régence 2nd prize, 1860.)

So, pretty much that was the warmest January in Europe on record. One morning of snow in London - but Dutch daffodils already up, and fires in Hungary. The ice skating looks over for another year - which for me is something I don't mind missing out upon; the inelegant sliding around by the rails, the tumbles in the rink's corners - while others gracefully show how it should be done.

Anyhow, chess. Have fun solving this witty one.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It might be stating the bleedin obvious (Sybil Fawlty style) but I can't actually do this one.

Tom Chivers said...

I'll give you a clue: the whole post is a clue.

Anonymous said...

I think I found the solution

White's moves: (Black's are forced)
Kb2, a7, Ra1, Ra8, Rh8++