White to Play
Pete Tamburro
on
Published in Chess Puzzles
The “raindrop” theme is evident if you play out the solution: 1.Rb1 [If White tries to invade by a more direct route, it doesn't work in time for mate in 11. 1.Rxf5 a4 (1...Bd4 2.Rf8 c4 3.Rb8 Bc5 4.Nxb5+ Ka6 5.Bxe5 Bb6 6.Nc3 h4 7.Nxd5 Bg1 and White can't mate in less than 11 moves.) 2.Rf8 a3 3.Rb8 a2 4.Rb7+ Ka8 5.Rb8+ Ka7 6.Rb6 a1Q 7.Nxb5+ Ka8 8.Rb8#]1...a4 [1...Bd4 2.Rxb5 Bc3 3.Nc8+ Ka8 (3...Ka6 4.Rb6#) 4.Rb8#] 2.Rxb2 b4 3.Rc2 c4 4.Rd2 d4 5.Re2 e4 6.Rf2 f4 7.Rg2 g4 8.Rh2 h4 9.Rxh4 a3 10.Rh5 a2 11.Ra5#
Send questions and comments to PTamburro@aol.com.