Chess Problem -4

Submitted by sanjayd1998 on Sun, 06/28/2009 at 3:25am.

White to play and mate in 2.

Hint:Black has a whole range of powerful threats, including 1...Nxd3 and 1...Bxb7 so white's first move has to be fairly blunt. A sacrifice may be necessary.

Since black threatens to play 1...Nxd3 or 1...Bxb7, White's first move must carry a strong threat. Bearing in mind that the sacrifices are appealing to both composer and solver alike, one might be led to try 1 Be4! The multiple bishop sacrifice is the spectacular solution. The powerful threat is Qxe7 mate. If Black plays 1...Kxe4, then Re3 is mate; 1...Rxe4 allows either 2 Rd5 or Qd5 mate, while if Black plays 1...Nxe4 or 1...Bxe4 then the square e4 is blocked and White can mate by 2 Bf4. Thus the sacrifice can't be accepted, but other moves are no help, for example 1...Bd6/Rd6/Rd7 2 Qf5 mate, or 1...e6 2 Qf4 mate.

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