Tactics Laboratory #7
White is of course winning, but wants to finish the game quickly. How did he do it?
White to play and win… quickly! 😉
White is of course winning, but wants to finish the game quickly. How did he do it?
White to play and win… quickly! 😉
1. Rc6 Qxd5 2. Rh3+ Nh6 3. R3xh6+ gh6 4. Qg6+ Kh8 5. Qh6+ Kg8
6. Rg6+ Kf7 7. Rg7+ Ke8 8. Qh8+ mate-in-1
1. Rc6 Qf4 2. Qxd7 or Rh3+ win
Instructively, after white plays 1.Rc6, I want to play the Black Queen to f5 to defend but oops it would have to be a knight for
one move to accomplish that. However, this idea of placing the Queen on f5 for defense and counterattack is useful if players should happen to be in a similar position.
Interesting method Kimani! This was actually a game I played a while some years ago in the World Open and I honestly did not consider your sequence. I was concerned about my backrank and didn’t want to give him time to capture the d-pawn and activate his knight.
In your line, 1. Rc6! Qxd5 2. Rh3+ Nh6 3. Rxh6+ gh6 4. Qg6+ Kh8 5. Qh6+ instead of 5…Kg8 6.Rg6+ mating in two, black can play 5…Rh7 and white gets a rook for a queen with 6.Rc8+. Black is totally lost, but he has a rook and one cheapo left… the back rank mate.
Here is how the game actually went: 1.Rc6! Qxd5 2.Qg6+! Kh8 3.Rh3+ Nh6 4.Rxh6+ gxf6 5.Rc8+ Rd8 6.Qf6+ Kh7 7.Rxd8 when black has no back rank cheapos… and has to give the last piece or get mated.
This may be a trivial exercise, but it certainly shows there are different methods to winning a won game. While it is unlikely that anyone would fall for a backrank mate, strange things happen in chess. 😮
Bloggers… if you have any nice combinations you’ve played or “mate in ??” positions, send them to me at webmaster@thechessdrum.net.
Yes, for brevity I did not include the variations where Black loses
material. Your method is best with 2. Qg6+.
Shout Out to the Chess World:
More people should participate in these!! For example,
Brothers and Sisters, I squeezed in time(2-3 minutes) to solve
this after coming home from a hard day at work. I knew that
even if I got something wrong, the discussion would improve me.
Yes, most people don’t like to be wrong, but trust me chess
world, when I am rested, can focus only on chess, and have
eaten well or timely, I don’t make the same level of mistake that
I may make in blog participation. One reason may seem obvious
as I have just described, however, in future another could be
that I tried to improve when I could without fear of being
wrong. I embrace constructive criticism, i.e. chess growth!
Many of us do alot(are successful) on our own, and that is
great, but remember that Grandmasters benefit from the
efforts of many. We should be able to put many hands
together to pass to a child of the future or present (no
matter the age), the chess toolbox for becoming a
grandmaster!!!