Updated every Monday, Wednesday and Friday ... and maybe other days too.
Monday, January 04, 2010
The twelve puzzles of Christmas
Afek, 1978
White to play and win
4 comments:
Anonymous
said...
I didn't get very far with this. I eliminated the obvious 1.Ba4 because it simplifies to a knight v pawn ending where the black knight gets back in time to stop the white pawn.
I then found myself attracted to the grotesque-looking 1.Nc2, which limits the scope of both white minor pieces and leaves them both en prise. It's so weird it has to be right...
Unfortunately I couldn't see a way past Black's forced response 1...Nb3. I needed computer help to find the beautiful sequence of moves that follows. When you play through the whole line, it all seems wonderfully clear.
The solution is, as suggested above, 1. Nc2! Nb3 2.Na1! and I sourced it in Jan Timman's column in New In Chess 2004/8, wherein it is stated that it previously appeared in an earlier edition of the magazine (1997/6).
4 comments:
I didn't get very far with this. I eliminated the obvious 1.Ba4 because it simplifies to a knight v pawn ending where the black knight gets back in time to stop the white pawn.
I then found myself attracted to the grotesque-looking 1.Nc2, which limits the scope of both white minor pieces and leaves them both en prise. It's so weird it has to be right...
Unfortunately I couldn't see a way past Black's forced response 1...Nb3. I needed computer help to find the beautiful sequence of moves that follows. When you play through the whole line, it all seems wonderfully clear.
James
1 Na5(d3) also doesn't work: 1...Kxd1 2 Nxc5 Ke2 3 Ke4 Nc2 4 Nd3 Na3 5 c5 Nb5 looks like a draw.
No computers. I suppose 1 Nc2 Nb3 2 Na1! is it. 2...Nxa1 (2...N-other 3 Nb3+) 3 Ba4 Kc3 4 Kd5 Kb4 5 Bd1.
This just reminds me of one of my favorite tactical themes -- meeting a threat to occupy a square by placing a piece on that square(!).
The precision of ejh's posts is alarming. Quite bot-like.
Think of me as a modern-day Immanuel Kant.
The solution is, as suggested above, 1. Nc2! Nb3 2.Na1! and I sourced it in Jan Timman's column in New In Chess 2004/8, wherein it is stated that it previously appeared in an earlier edition of the magazine (1997/6).
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