ArcaMax

Today’s position is one of the most famous in all of chess history. Even if you recall the first move, try and work it all through to the end.

Picked this up off the internet. Couldn’t resist posting it here. White wins this!

A game attributed to Boden in the 19th century.

Chalupetzky in 1932 reached this position after move 30. How did he continue?

The first thing that hits you about this position is that the Black g-pawn can race down to queen before White can queen. So, how do you win?

After the two-mover extravaganza last week, we’re going to try more practical looking positions. I enjoyed this one because it would be good to use in chess class.

We’re making this Comins Mansfield week. This one is an early one—from 1926. There was probably a misprint in the diagram of my resource book because they had no pawn on g4 to prevent the Black king from escaping to f5 in one line (1…Rf1+, so I put it in. It’s a great two-mover.

We’re making this Comins Mansfield week. This mate in two composition won first prize in British Chess Magazine in 1941.

We’re going to make this Comins Mansfield week. He was a master composer of the mate in two chess compositions. We all think we can solve two-movers and it drives us nuts when we can’t. So, have fun with these—either way!

First, a happy Veterans’ Day to those who served. Chess is a game of war. Military service is not a game. Our position today is from a blitz game I played years ago. It fits in with our attack on f7 theme this week. The question here is which capture on f7 is best?

Most games in chess don’t end in mate. It’s usually someone resigning because they’re considerably down in material, as in today’s game.

This position is one of the more important in chess--the isolated queen pawn attacking position. The knight, bishop and queen prove to be a formidable foe.

There are some mates in two that I try and then swear can’t be solved. Then, I see the solution and am fascinated by how the composer does it. Today’s composition is a mate in four—longer than I usually do. You’re probably not going to get it. I didn’t either. As I went through the solution, I was in awe of how this person composed ...

That Black is in serious trouble on h8 is quite obvious, yet an English amateur, W.H. Sparkes of Sheffield, England, a hundred years ago managed to save the game. How?

Here’s a scary position for Halloween. The “witches” on the queenside are ready to do damage to the white king, but White throws a big bucket of water on that with a mating attack.

British legend Jonathan Penrose performed a majestic king hunt all the way down to a1 in this game from the Zonal Tournament in 1963 at Enschede. It goes for 17 moves! Give it a try at least. Very instructive to play through. Remember he had to figure it all out over the board with the clock ticking away.

Here’s a really early king hunt game from 1842. Again, we give the whole game because it’s exciting. 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 Be7 4.Bc4 Bh4+ 5.g3 fxg3 6.0–0 gxh2+ 7.Kh1 Bf6 (Best is 7...d5 8.Bxd5 Nf6 9.Nxh4 Nxd5 10.exd5 Qxh4 11.Qe2+ Qe7 and there is no attack left.) 8.Ne5?! (8.e5 d5 9.exf6 Nxf6 10.Qe2+ Be6 11.Bb3 0–0 White has some ...

This one of the great king hunt games of all-time. Everyone should play through it a couple of times. Thus, the whole game is given here. Lasker,Edward - Thomas,Sir George Offhand Game London, 1912

1.d4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 e6 5.Nxe4 Be7 6.Bxf6 Bxf6 (Note that he takes the knight to get rid of the most important defender of h7, where ...

This game is so much fun to play through I’ve included all the moves and some key notes. You are left with a diagram that asks you to find the final mating attack. There are several variations, so make sure you cover all the bases: 1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e5 Ne4 5.Qe2 Nxc3 6.dxc3 b6 7.Nd4 c5?? 8.e6! fxe6 (If 8...cxd4 9.Qb5+ Bd7 10.exf7+ ...

A win looks on first sight rather remote: Bishops of opposite color and the White rook pawn still a distance away and Black can give up the bishop for the a-pawn and draw. However, White can win here.