We’ve been doing some tough puzzles of late, so we’re going to go back to basics for a while. What’s White’s best move here?

Solution:

This position is from a game, Mieses-Oehquist, 1895. You may be familiar with the opening sequence 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Bg4 4.Nc3 h6 where White now plays 5.Nxe5 Bxd1 6.Bxf7+ Ke7 7.Nd5 mate. Pinning that king knight of White’s can be dangerous if you allow yourself to fall into that Nxe5 idea. This game got here by a different route: 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd8 4.d4 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.d5 Ne5

See Diagram

7.Nxe5 Bxd1 8.Bb5+ c6 9.dxc6 and Black Resigned. There are some cute mates here: 9..Qc7 [9...Qa5 10.cxb7+ Kd8 11.bxa8=Q+ Kc7 12.Qc6+ Kb8 13.Nd7#; Black can spoil the mates with 9...a6 10.c7+ axb5 11.cxd8Q+ Rxd8 12.Nxd1 but White is a piece up with an easy win] 10.cxb7+ Kd8 11.Nxf7# Very pretty!

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