White to Play and Win

Pete Tamburro on Aug 20, 2008

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This is a very instructive attacking position. Black has not taken the bait, otherwise known as the knight, because it would open the h-file for the king rook. However it is good to know there are options for White. Pick the best winning line, an actual continuation from Vezer-O'Hanlon, 1930.

Solution:

1.Bh7+ Kf8 [1...Kh8 2.Nxf7#] 2.Nxf7 Qa5 [2...Kxf7 3.Qg6+ Kf8 4.Bxg7# or he loses the queen] 3.Bxg7+ Kxg7 4.Qg6+ Kf8 5.Qg8# The keys for those of you new to chess are for you to remember that important item in the introduction that showed the role of the knight at g5, the pawn at h4 and the rook at h1. The other key is that by moving his rook, Black only had the king to defend f7. That is a big weakness that can be taken advantage of as shown here.

Send questions and comments to PTamburro@aol.com.