Chess thread

[titaniumbean]

dear lord that was frustrating.

kept thinking i'd seen good moves, nope not right. arse.

really enjoying reading up on these, i'm so clueless at chess!

[Tal]

White to move, mate in 3

I can't get this one!

http://gameknot.com/chess-puzzle.pl?pz=14349&daily=1

Elegant. Like it.

[kinboshi]

White to move, mate in 3

I can't get this one!

http://gameknot.com/chess-puzzle.pl?pz=14349&daily=1

Elegant. Like it.

Only got it so quickly because you said it was elegant! 'Tis very nice though.

[Tal]

Me and my helpful adjectives

[EvilPie]

Is there some levelling going on here?

Can't see the point of this puzzle at all. I've wasted more time wondering if it's a level than I've spent on the puzzle so I thought I'd just ask.

[kinboshi]

Is there some levelling going on here?

Can't see the point of this puzzle at all. I've wasted more time wondering if it's a level than I've spent on the puzzle so I thought I'd just ask.

No level, there's a mate in three main moves.

[Tal]

Is there some levelling going on here?

Can't see the point of this puzzle at all. I've wasted more time wondering if it's a level than I've spent on the puzzle so I thought I'd just ask.

No level, there's a mate in three main moves.

It is quite a difficult puzzle. It starts with a non-check, which makes it harder. There are two different checkmates, depending on whether Black moves his king or the pawn.

[EvilPie]

So with the first queen move there's 100% no way that black can avoid the 3 moves mate?

Cool.

[Tal]

So with the first queen move there's 100% no way that black can avoid the 3 moves mate?

Cool.

Exactly. After your first move, Black gets mated 2 moves later one way if he moves his king next and another way 2 moves later if he moves his pawn.

[Tal]

Click to see full-size image.

[titaniumbean]

lol could only be better if you could see each board and he was in a stalemate from repetition at best on each board!

[Tal]

White to move, mate in 3

I can't get this one!

http://gameknot.com/chess-puzzle.pl?pz=14349&daily=1

At the risk of spoiling anyone's hard work, start with Qh7.

As I'm sure by now you've discovered, you have the facility to ask for a hint and that will guide you through the answers.

The more I look at it, the more I'd reinforce what I said before: it is a very difficult puzzle.

[Tal]

There used to be a pretty big tournament this time of year in Bucharest which this year almost didn't happen. However, the organisers - with an almost DTDesque level of tenacity and resilience, located 4 top players (including Romanian number 1, Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu and the comp goes ahead.



Caruana plays but then I think we have two players our thread has yet to encounter (at least over the board): we know of Vessilin Topalov, who was once world number 1 and famously challenged Vladimir Kramnik for the world title (see "toilet-gate" from a while back).



Completing the lineup is Vassily Ivanchuk, known as "chucky", who is known for his breadth of opening theory. He's also a tireless workaholic.



Over the board, in round one, Topalov drew with Caruana and Ivanchuk produced a lovely game to defeat Nisipeanu.

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=8615

Have a look at the position from move 30. White is a pawn up, but when bishops are of opposite colour, it can be difficult to make progress at times, as you have to put your extra pawn on squares your bishop can't defend. Black does the right thing in keeping the rooks on, because he needs to keep counterplay chances alive, but chucky was not to be stopped, and aggressive play in the endgame paid off.

[curnow]

lol looked at Ivanchuk game , & thinking how did he win opposite bishops endgame

[Tal]

lol looked at Ivanchuk game , & thinking how did he win opposite bishops endgame

Extra queenside pawn made all the difference.