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White to Play

Pete Tamburro on Jul 1, 2026

You might think White’s task is to draw here; however, White, despite being a rook down, wins this. All Black has to do is give up one of its pieces to draw, but White makes that impossible. To get full credit, you have to play the best defense for Black.

Fritz in 1933 composed this gem. 1.b7 Ra5+ 1...Ke7 2.b8Q Ra5+ 3.Kf4 Rh5 4.Bg6 Rd5 5.Qe8+ Kf6 6.Be4 Rd1 7.Qh8+ Ke7 8.Ke5 Bf7 9.Qc8 Bh5 10.Qc5+ Kd8 11.Bf5 Re1+ 12.Kf6 Re6+ 13.Bxe6 Bd1 14.Qc8# 2.Kd6! not 2.Kxe6? Ra6+ 3.Kd5 Rb6= 2...Rb5 2...Ra6+ 3.Bc6+ 3.Bc6+ Kd8 4.Bxb5 Bc8! 5.b8=B! Bg4 5...Bb7 6.Bc7+ Kc8 7.Bd7# 6.Bc7+ Kc8 7.Ba6 mate. Not something you see everyday. Did you see Black’s 4th move?

Send questions and comments to PTamburro@aol.com.

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