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White to Play

Pete Tamburro on

Published in Chess Puzzles

Some chess games have started out this way: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Nc3 Nxc3 5.dxc3 [We are now in the famed Boden-Kieseritsky Gambit.] 5...d6 [A losing move. 5...f6 is best, but people unfamiliar with the line are very reluctant to play it because it opens the whole diagonal for white's B on c4.] 6.Nxe5 [Also working is 6.Ng5 but the way chosen is much more fun!]6...Qe7 7.Bxf7+ Kd8 8.0–0 Qxe5 9.Re1 Qf6 [and now it's a forced mate where we will ignore the possibility of Black throwing is queen away for free to forestall it by a move. It's a mate from this position. SEE DIAGRAM]


Once, I taught this to a student on my chess team only minutes before he was to play against another school, and, to our surprise and delight, his opponent played right into it. My student just reeled off the moves. The foe didn’t even have time to finish filling out his scoresheet. It ends with 10.Re8+ Kd7 11.Qg4+ Kc6 12.Bd5+ Kxd5 13.Qe4+ Kc5 14.Be3+ Kb5 15.a4+ Ka6 16.Qc4+ b5 17.Qxb5#

 


Send questions and comments to PTamburro@aol.com.

 

 

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