ArcaMax

Don’t ask me what the white king is doing up there, but Black knows what to do with it.

Here you are presented with a famous position type. It often appears in various forms in the Ruy Lopez. You just have to know this one.

There’s only one first move that wins. It’s one of the most important K+P endgames you can study. This is from two years ago. Do you remember how to win this?

White seems to be in dire straits here; however, there is a way out.

Here we have a wonderful lesson game, so you get the whole game. It’s worth taking out your board to play over. One of the key lessons is the way White develops very naturally and then—BAM! He sees the whole line to mate. Arnason-Dreev, Iceland, 1990: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 a6 4.Ngf3 c5 5.dxc5 Bxc5 6.Bd3 Nf6 7.0–0 Qc7 8.a3 Be7 9.Re1 0–0 ...

Black is loaded for bear, so to speak; however, Black has to sacrifice a couple of pieces to clear the way for a mating attack.

Black is threatening to win your e4 pawn. What should you do?

A mate in two. Should be easy on the brain this day after New Years.