Sunday, March 10, 2013

Practical tactic

White to move. Can you find the winning plan for white?

Source: ChessToday.net

14 comments:

James I. Hymas said...

1. Qg4+ N:g4
2. R:c7 wins a Knight for a pawn.

Lucymarie said...

It's a good thing for White that his knight is on f3. Otherwise, this wouldn't work!

1. Qg4+ Nxg4 2. Rxc7 Winning a piece.

Anand Gautam said...

Very neat!
1. Qg4+!! Nxg4 (forced)
2. Rxc7 1-0
(The knight is trapped and White is a piece up!)

Anonymous said...

1 Qg4+ Nxg4
2 Rxc7 Ne3
3 fxe3 Rxe3...

Anonymous said...

Is this a zwischenzug?
1.Qg4+! (worth the exclamation mark)
If K moves then Rxc7 and black's N
gets trapped taking white's Q
If 1....Nxg4
2.Rxc7 and black's N is still trapped.

0-0-0
-0-0-

Anant said...

Qb2 will force black Q to retreat
after which white can capture black knight.

Ein Steppenwolf said...

1. Qg4+

1. … Nxg4
2. Rxc7 and the black knight is trapped.

1. … Kf8 or Kh8 or Kh7
2. Rxc7 Nxg4
3. hxg4, up one knight.

Anonymous said...

1.Qh7+,Kxh7 2.Rxc7 Nc4 3.Rd7 Nb6 4.Ra7

Yancey Ward said...

Took me a while to solve this- short as it is, I had to get out the chess board before I could see it. I saw the first move almost immediately, but didn't realize that the black knight has no retreats afterwards:

1. Qg4! Ng4

A king move allows Rxc7 and white will recapture the knight at g4. However, it doesn't really matter much:

2. Rc7 and now where does black move the knight that it can't be captured?

Vishnu Vardhan Reddy. G said...

1.Qg4+ NxQ 2. RxQ
and now Black Knight cannot escape to a safe square and will perish.

Anonymous said...

1.Qg4+, Nxg4
2.Rxc7,..
black loses knight

pht said...

Curious about the alternative:

1. Qb1
I see no black move to save the knight here? E.g.

1. ... Qe7
Trying to get payed for the knight.
2. Re1
Then Rxe3 will follow.
Or:
1. ... Qf4
2. Re1
Also pinning the knight, then fxe3 will follow.

To get at least a pawn for the knight, I guess:
1. ... Qd8/Qd7
2. fxe3 Rxe3

But of course, Qg4+ has the advantage of exchanging queens, and is clearer, when you see it.

Ein Steppenwolf said...

@pht:

1. … Nc4

pht said...

Thank you, Steppenwolf.