ArcaMax

Register for your free account:

Subscribe to any feature and receive your newsletter directly in your inbox.
Easy email subscription management.
Claim your rewards from the Reader Perks section!

White to Play

Pete Tamburro on Jun 19, 2013

Our theme this week is attacking the weakness that can arise in the opening on f7 (or f2) and how you can take advantage of it. Can you see it all to a mate or decisive win of material ( a piece or more) ?

Solution:

1.Bxf7+ Kxf7 2.Qb3+ (Seeing this follow-up check is a necessity as 2.Ng5+ Kg8 3.Qb3+ Nd5 4.exd5 cxd5 is OK for Black) Kg6 [The alternative loses the queen: or mates: 2...Kf8 3.Ng5] 3.Nh4+ Kh5 4.Qd1+ Kxh4 5.Kh2 Nh5 6.Qg4# Did you consider the king escape to g6 and see the mate that followed along with the threat of 6.g3 mate? This is from a game Troger-Pelzer, 1937. The weakness along the a2-g8 diagonal is important and the lack of protection of f7 is the first key to watch for. Being able to visualize the king hunt is worth practicing if you didn’t get it the first time.

Send questions and comments to PTamburro@aol.com.

More Chess Puzzles

White to Play

Chess Puzzles / June 09, 2026

This is a mate in two from the 1870s. Theop key first move becomes the precursor for a good many other problems. To solve it, you have to look at the Black king position. Look at where he can and can’t go. When you look ...Read More

White to Play

Chess Puzzles / June 05, 2026

Black wants to hide in the corner and hope that White will stalemate him by Kf7 or Kf8, so White has to come up with a different approach.

White to Play

Chess Puzzles / June 03, 2026

Mate in Two

White to Play

Chess Puzzles / June 01, 2026

See the threats for your opponent and you and decide on the best course.

White to Play

Chess Puzzles / May 29, 2026

An ingenious mate in three. One editor a long time ago wrote, “We do not remember to have ever met with a more pleasing, accurate or difficult conception. The problem contains a number of tries, and the key is obscure ...Read More