A Neat Puzzle
Hello there. Today I have for you a very interesting puzzle. This one is cool because it actually isn’t from one of my regular games. It’s actually from…
A game of Chess960.
It does look like a deceptively normal position, but I would argue that the opening was anything but normal. You’ll see…
Just try the puzzle for now.
Okay, so you’ve done the puzzle. It might have been easy, maybe a little unexpected, but overall you’d say it was a decent puzzle, right?
The reason I think it’s unique is because it involves giving away a piece with check, which is essentially equivalent to laughing in the face of your opponent, knowing full well that the inevitable is near as they swiftly yet futilely take your piece.
Of course, as mentioned before, I must show you the game. It is on the Variants server: https://www.chess.com/variants/chess960/game/96471919/46/1
The starting position was as follows:
By move 7, the opening has progressed slightly and the position looks like this:
The central pawn structure kinda resembles a French Defense. Just ignore the fact that everything else is completely different.
By move 16, it actually starts to look like a “normal” game.
Thus it would be surprising to learn that the game ended about 10 moves later.
From this position.
…A lot can happen in 10 moves, can’t it?
Then, on move 20, I trade off the light-squared Bishops.
This is a key element that will become important later.
A few moves later, Black blundered and the puzzle came to be.
Now, take a look at the analysis board after 26. Ka2:
The idea here is that the Queen on a6 is actually perfectly placed to access 3 critical light squares: b5, a4, and b7.
This is shown by the following example lines:
26. Nxb3 27. Qa4+ b5 28. Qa6#
26. Ra8 27. Qb5#
26. Nc4 27. Qb7#
Clearly, the move 25. Qxa6 is the main move behind this puzzle. But what does it do exactly?
Well, it does 3 primary things that lead to the downfall of Black’s position:
1. It threatens Qb5#
2. It prevents Nxb3 (shown earlier)
3. It pins and immobilizes the b6 pawn, preventing bxc5
The Knight on c5 prevents the King from running away to b7 or d7, and the e5 pawn controls the d6 square. Black also has three pawns impeding the King’s escape: the b, c, and d pawns, none of which can move at all. So Black can’t actually move the King or any of the pawns around it, meaning that the King cannot escape.
When you add the fact that the Knight is totally useless, trying to take a Rook that is “immortal”, as well as the fact that Black’s Rooks are not in any good position to defend, it just becomes so… brutal.
The theme here is that, by trading the light-squared Bishops on move 20, the light squares near the Black King were severely weakened, and I was able to take advantage of that with a Rook, Knight, and Queen.
Basically:
-I traded off the light-squared Bishops a few moves earlier, weakening the light squares around the Black King.
-I eventually played Re3, lifting the Rook and intending Rb3.
-I then played Rb3, preventing the b pawn from capturing and intending Nc5+.
-Black made the mistake of playing Na5, allowing Nc5+.
-Nc5+ attacks the a6 pawn with the White Queen, allowing the Queen to reach the a6 square on the next move.
-Black made a big mistake by going forward with Kc6, rather than retreating with Kb8. Black did not realize that if the King went to c6, it would not be able to fall back (because of the coordination of the Knight on c5, the e5 pawn, and the Rook on b3).
-I played Qxa6, the key move discussed earlier, coordinating with the Knight on c5 and the Rook on b3 to create several checkmate threats.
-Black had no way to protect the multiple weak light squares without losing material and, due to time pressure, blundered Qb5#.
This was a very cool example of one way to take advantage of weaknesses left by a fianchetto setup: by trading off the defensive Bishop and using a Knight and Queen to control the squares that were weakened. With the help of a sneaky pin by a Rook, of course.
Hope you enjoyed!
