The Queen's Gambit and the Isle of Man

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10 Nov '23 19:59

greenpawn34
e4
Joined
06 May '08
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42492
10 Nov '23 19:59

A picture of two chess books I recently picked up.

Two puzzles from the same diagram. Imagine it is two different
boards. I am doing my best to cut down on my carbon footprint.

Black to play in the top left game and then mate in five moves.
White to play in the bottom right game and mate in three moves

Then a brief (very brief) report on the Isle of Man Fide event
to find two qualifiers for the 2024 Candidates. I use positions
from the event and then link them too Red Hot Pawn examples.

The Red Hot Pawn game inevitably involves a blunder.

Bart Foster 2 - Sistematico RHP 2023 (Black to play)

Black can clear the path for the g-pawn in six different ways but only
one move avoids the Queens coming off and the a-pawn promoting.
The Red Hot player player chose one of the five wrong squares.

Blog Post 587
FMDavidHLevin
Joined
15 Dec '20
Moves
53
11 Nov '23 13:28
For the upper left quadrant of the two-puzzle diagram, my solution was 1.Ra5 Kxb6 2.Rcc5 Kb7 3.Kd7 and 4.Rcb5 mate.
greenpawn34
e4
Joined
06 May '08
Moves
42492
11 Nov '23 14:40
Hi David,

Yes a few mates in four. I have a mate in five without pushing the pawn.
The important thing there is no mate in 3, I originally had it you were not
allowed to give any checks just moves and a mate. Or White can mate in
three but Black cannot mate in three which is possibly the best was to go.
(I was more worried about Big Dogg pulling me up for making merry
with one of Sam Loyd's famous problems....is nothing sacred?)

I showed it to the kids I coach on two different boards a few days ago.
They were baffled until one of them shouted out. 'White can Castle.'
and they triumphantly showed me the mate in three.

Next week I am going to suggest that none of them can mate me with two Bishops.
I expect them all to accept the challenge. They are quite an advance group.
I will then put this position with two Bishop position on the board.

It's a stunt I've pulled before. It's part of my do trust any chess player routine.

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The Queen's Gambit and the Isle of Man