White to Play
Pete Tamburro
on
Published in Chess Puzzles
Solution:
This is a great lesson, even for grandmasters, as to why you should not leave castling for later. Kamsky sees that the queen is defending two key squares—d6 and e8—and makes a “decoy” move of 1.Qb5, whereupon Black has to resign. The queen can’t leave its protection of d6 because an immediate 2.Bxd6+ followed by 3.Re8 mate happens. If he retreats with 1…Nhf6 then 2.Qxd7 Nxd7 3.Bxd6+ Kg8 4.Re8+ Nf8 5.Bxc5 with not only material gain, but a dominating position.
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