The Chess Mind

Yesterday, I offered these three positions, all of which exemplify a common tactical idea:


White to move and win


Black to move and win


Black to move and win

If you're still working on it, then don't click below; if you have, or if you're after a (big) hint, proceed:

Here are three not quite unrelated problems:


White to move and win


Black to move and win


Black to move and win

The solutions will be given tomorrow.

Here's a neat little position, given yesterday, from the game Pavlov-Sidorchuk, Ukraine 2008:



Can White (to move) win here, and if so, how? Enlightenment, if needed, is here.

There's tactics and there's technique. We often think of these as separate categories, but in all but the simplest positions the two are inseparable. Take the following example, from the game Pavlov-Sidorchuk, Ukraine 2008:



Can White (to move) win in this position? He has an extra pawn, but with such limited material that's not a guarantee by itself. See what you can come up with, and we'll present the answer sometime Wednesday.

In this post I challenged all of you to make the best sense of this position, from the game Alekhine - J. Morrison, Manchester (simul) 1923:



It's White to move, and promising tactical possibilities are afoot on the h-file and the b1-h7 diagonal. In the game, Alekhine chose 20.Rxh7 and won, but lamented this move in his notes. During the game, he calculated 20.Nxg4 Bxg4 21.Rxh7, but found only a perpetual with 21...Kxh7 22.Qxg6+ Kxg6 23.Be4+ Kh5 24.Rh1+ Bh3 25.Bf3+ Kg6 26.Be4+ etc. The problem is that the otherwise desirable 25.Rxh3+ Kg4 leaves both the Bf4 and the Rh3 hanging. An impressive calculation in a simul, but Alekhine claims in his notes that 20.Nxg4 was the right move, as long as 20...Bxg4 is met by 21.Be3. Black's queen will presumably run away from the various possible discoveries, and then White goes back to the Rxh7 idea. The bishop won't be hanging on f4 after 22.Rxh7 Kxh7 23.Qxg6+ Kxg6 24.Be4+ Kh5 25.Rh1+ Bh3 26.Rxh3+ Kg4, so White can conveniently and attractively finish Black off with 26.Bf5#.

Now that you know a little of what Alekhine saw and was thinking, you might want to return to your chessboards (or monitors) and see what else you can come up with. When you've worked it all out, you can have a look here.

From the game Alekhine - J. Morrison, Manchester (simul) 1923:



It's White to move, but not necessarily to win. Some analysis will be presented at some point the next few days, but see what you can come up with in the meantime - it's a really fascinating position. For those of you who would like a hint at a couple of places to start investigating, click below.