Saturday, January 9, 2016

Chess960 puzzle no.18

One of the most amazing queen entrapment tactical scenarios I've seen in Chess960 yet. Enjoy the puzzle.

SP598 White to play: Can white catch the queen
and get back to material equality?

Solution below



Solution: NO! Black's queen cannot be captured without significant losses. Best is to sacrifice the exchange to keep black's queen out of play.

Wrong solution:
6.Be3...cxd4 7.cxd4...Ng6! 8.f3...Bb4+ 9.Ke2...Nf4+ 
now follows the amazing line:
10.Bxf4 b6 11. Ndf2 Ba6+ 12. Ke3 Bxf1 13. Rd1 Nc6 14. Ng3 Bxg2 15. Rxg1 Bxh3

Correct solution:
6.Ng3...e5!! 7.Ne2...d6! 8.Qh5...Bg4!! 9.Qxg4...Qh2 
white is down an exchange but black's queen is out of play