Do You Know This Famous Pattern?

Do You Know This Famous Pattern?

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| 322 | Tactics

Recently, WGM Maria Manakova posted an interesting position on her Facebook page. She wrote: "A fun puzzle for third or forth category players." According to the old Soviet chess classification, it refers to people with a US Chess rating somewhere between 1400-1500.

The very first comment on the post came from GM Emil Sutovsky, FIDE's CEO. He insisted that Manakova overestimated the chess abilities of 1500-rated players, and he would like to see someone from this rating group who would find the whole solution.

Here is the position. Try to find a forced win for White:

Personally, I am with Manakova on this topic. Yes, a 12-move deep solution is long, but there is one important detail that makes solving this puzzle much easier. In fact, I am fairly certain that any master would solve it within 30 seconds. By the way, please post in the comments your rating and the time you spent solving this puzzle, so we'll see who is right in this little chess dispute.

Now let me explain why I think that while this puzzle is challenging for an average 1500 player, it is still quite doable. The main idea of the solution, a windmill, is a very well-known tactical motif, and most chess players learn it pretty early. Just like Sutovsky asked to show him a 1500-rated player who would solve this puzzle, I can ask you to show me a 1500-rated player who has never heard about the windmill.

Moreover, I am pretty sure that most US Chess 1500s will even remember the Torre vs. Lasker game, as it is the most famous example of a chess windmill. 

This game is so iconic that the method Torre used to apply the windmill has become the preferred approach for the vast majority of players, even if there are better alternatives. Let's examine the following position that I created to illustrate the point.

While the first move 1.Rxg7+ is quite obvious, the follow-up is the key!

Method #1

This is the most powerful way of using a windmill, and if it works, it wins the game on the spot:

You can find this beautiful finish in the following classical game:

Can you find how GM Alireza Firouzja brilliantly finished his blitz game?

Method #2

If it works, the game ends almost as quickly as in method number one.

You can find this pattern in many games. 

Method #3

If it works, it usually leads to big material gains.

Please note my little disclaimer for each method, "if it works." In this position, only the first two methods work, but method number three fails:

As I mentioned earlier, method number three is by far the most popular, even if the first two methods are way more efficient. The explanation of this phenomenon is quite simple: the pendulum-like movement of the white rook is truly mesmerizing. Besides, the iconic Torre vs. Lasker game, where this method was used, is practically synonymous with a windmill! 

To summarize, the windmill tactic is so well known that, in my opinion, a player rated US Chess 1500 should be able to solve the position offered by Manakova. 

What is your opinion? What is the minimal rating required to solve the puzzle at the beginning of this article? Please share your opinions in the comments.

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