I’m still keeping you safe from what is happening in the real world.
So it is hear no rumours, see no rumours and speak no rumours.
And by pure luck when I was googling about I can across this;
Three players, no idea of the name or the team all doing the same.
This weeks puzzle comes from;
A book full of good advice and well chosen positions. (Black to play).
To stop the mating threat Black tactically removes the h3 Rook.
[FEN "r4r1k/p5pp/1p4Q1/2p1Bp2/2P2Pn1/7R/PP3qPP/R6K b - - 0 1"]
1... Qe1+ {and now you should see the idea .} 2. Rxe1 Nf2+ 3. Kg1 Nxh3+ 4. gxh3 hxg6 {From staring at defeat Black has a won endgame.}
And now a smart ‘what have could been’ idea from a 2022 RHP game.
L.A Woman - Contenchess RHP 2022 (Black to play)
Black played g6 and did go onto win. But there was a more dramatic and very
instructive way to stop the mate on g7. Get rid of the g3 Rook with a check.
[FEN "1r4k1/p4ppp/q3p2Q/Prppn3/R6P/6R1/5PP1/6K1 b - - 0 1"]
1... Rb1+ {Correct, the idea is to unpin the g7 pawn and take the White Queen.} 2. Kh2 Rh1+ {Allowing to Queen to get in on the fun with a check.} 3. Kxh1 Qf1+ 4. Kh2 Nf3+ {It looks desperate but Black will be getting a Rook and a Queen for their trouble.} 5. gxf3 {4. Kh3 Qh1+ 5.Kg4 would have blocked the g3 Rook making gxh6 possible.} 5... Qxf2+ 6. Rg2 {Or 6.Kh3 Qxg3+} 6... Qxg2+ 7. Kxg2 gxh6 {Black coasts home in that end ending. ‘Check All Checks.’}
Joy of joys last week as I stumbled into a charity shop and picked up for £3.50
Page 118 and we meet Anish Giri v Sam Shankland at the 2019 Tata Steel Masters.
White to play
Here, Giri spotting Sam’s body language was portraying that of a player already
lost played 45.b6 which actually give up all hope of the slim winning chances.
Sam could have just moved his King to c8 and there is no way to dig the King out.
[FEN "8/1p6/8/1P1k1K2/1P6/4B2n/8/8 w - - 0 45"]
45. b6 {Sam resigned. However.} 45... Kd6 46. Kg4 Kd7 47. Kxh3 Kc8 {That is a book draw. A fortress. Sam thought it only worked if the King reached a8.} 48. Bf4 {Stops the King from reach a8 but it is still a draw.} 48... Kd7 49. Kg4 Kc8 50. Kf5 Kd7 51. Ke5 Kc8 52. Ke6 Kd8 53. Kd6 Kc8 {And even with the extra pawn you can see there is no way to win this.} 54. Ke6 {Ke7 was stalemate. and it is either that or keep repeating the position.}
And yes, of course a few RHP players have made the same mistake.
dmcassel - Rajk999 RHP 2012
Black to play resigned.
tuf - Ceddybear RHP 2011
[FEN "8/6p1/5kP1/8/8/1K6/1p6/1B6 w - - 0 63"]
63. Kxb2 {All Black need do is head for f8 and it's a draw.} 63... Kg5 64. Kc3 {There is still time to reach f8.ny playingKf6 here.} 64... Kh5 65. Kd4 {But no now, now it is a loss.} 65... Kg5 66. Ke5 Kh6 67. Ke6 Kg5 68. Kf7 Kh6 69. Bc2 Kh5 70. Kxg7 {That is 1-0.}
But it’s not doom and gloom and Red Hot Pawn. Sometimes we get it right.
jayaitch - cmsMaster RHP 2006
[FEN "8/8/4b3/8/3B4/1p3K2/1P4p1/7k w - - 0 1"]
1. Ke2 g1=Q {Black has nothing better than this.} 2. Bxg1 Kxg1 {As we have seen. players have been resigning in similar positions to this.} 3. Kd2 {The King reached c1 and after few more move Black was convinced they could not win it.}
We move on after taking a peek at Costad - lepik RHP 2013 It is very possible
that Black knew of the Kf8 Fortress but missed a far more easier way to draw.
[FEN "8/6p1/BK6/4k1P1/8/8/8/8 w - - 0 1"]
1. Bd3 {All Black need do is 1...g6 to fix the g-pawn 2.Bxg6 Kf4 and 3...Kxg5.} 1... Kf4 {This loses as the King is not allowed to reach f8.} 2. g6 Kg5 3. Kc7 Kf6 4. Kd8 {The White King picks up the g7 pan and 1-0.}
Last weeks new feature where we looked at a chess stamp proved very popular
Look at this. Next week we will look at another one.
A round 7 game ‘G. Perez - E. Moradiabadi,’ was a 10 mover which though reached
by a perfectly logical sequence of moves has only been seen once on Red Hot Pawn
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 {4.Nxf7 the Cochrane Gambit is an interesting try here. 4...Kxf7 5.d4 and the fun begins.} 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Be7 7. O-O Bf5 8. c4 {So far all good theory. Black should now play 8...dxc4.} 8... O-O {This automatic move is the blunder.} 9. cxd5 {Black has lost a pawn and winning it back could leave a pieces misplaced so...} 9... Qxd5 {Black wins it back the right away. But the e7 Bishop is now undefended.} 10. Bxe4 {Black resigned. 10...Qxe4 11.Re1and the e7 Bishops falls. so try...} 10... Bxe4 11. Nc3 Qf5 12. Nxe4 Qxe4 13. Re1 {The e7 Bishop is lost.}
How do these things happen to the grandmasters. Like everyone else who has been
caught in an opening trick, by going though the motions without being ‘warmed up.’
‘Castle first and then do the thinking’ is a risky rule of thumb which has many victims.
The thread accompanying this blog is
Thread 195152
