1Ng2 was the first move I thought of. But then I did know it was a puzzle and it seemed a puzzle answer, especially with dislodging the black N if black takes the pawn or the knight. Andrew
Anyway, it is indeed 1.Ng2. It's from Pfleger-Larsen, Manila 1974 (the Great Snake Variation, it says here) and I personally nabbed it from a copy of Chess Today (number 2829) some weeks ago. Alex and the boys give these lines:
I would have thought the Great Snake would only occur if the a pawn got to a6 establishing a "snake" of e2-a6. In the game it got to a6 but only on move 52, when they snake had long since been chopped up. Andrew
Ng2?
ReplyDeleteWe'll have some supporting variations thanks, otherwise we'll think you've just looked it up on a database...
ReplyDelete1 Ng6
ReplyDeleteIf 1...Kxh3; 2 Nf4+ Nxf4; 3 Kxa7 and 4 Kb6 queening
If 1...Nb4; 2 h4 Nxa6; 3 h5 and I guess the h-pawn gets through
If 1...Nb4; 2 h4 Kg4; 3 errr, hhmm
There's something here, I just know it - or not, it appears
David
Atticus CC
Ah...OK, try 1 Ng2 with the same ideas as my first go, but now the N is invulnerable
ReplyDeleteI reckon 1.Ng2 suggests itself on purely positional grounds! It drags the black pieces in the wrong direction, in one way or another.
ReplyDelete1Ng2 was the first move I thought of. But then I did know it was a puzzle and it seemed a puzzle answer, especially with dislodging the black N if black takes the pawn or the knight.
ReplyDeleteAndrew
Anyway, it is indeed 1.Ng2. It's from Pfleger-Larsen, Manila 1974 (the Great Snake Variation, it says here) and I personally nabbed it from a copy of Chess Today (number 2829) some weeks ago. Alex and the boys give these lines:
ReplyDelete(a) 1...Kxg2 2.h4
(b) 1...Nb4 2.h4 Kg4 3.Kxa7
(c) 1...Kxh3 2.Nf4+! Nxf4 3.Kxa7 Nd5 (3...Ne6 or 3...Nd3 4.Kb6) 4.Kb7.
Larsen resigned after the key move.
(CT also give 1.Ng6? Nb4! 2.h4 Kg4=.)
I would have thought the Great Snake would only occur if the a pawn got to a6 establishing a "snake" of e2-a6. In the game it got to a6 but only on move 52, when they snake had long since been chopped up.
ReplyDeleteAndrew