Daily Puzzle Analysis for Friday 4.10.26

It’s Time for a Friday puzzle! 

Legend: (Color Version)

• Observations in Yellow

• Strategies in Purple

• Responses (Unforced, Anticipated or Actual) in Orange

• Fails (Potential or Actual) in Red

• Successes (Potential or Actual) in Green

On setting up the board, we observe:

* We are equal on Rooks.

* There are no Bishops.

* We are equal on kNights.

* We both have Queens.

* We are down a Pawn.

* Our f pawn is pinned to our King.

* We have an immediate checking opportunity, with Nxh5+, but it’s a kNight sac.
* We have an immediate checking opportunity, with Ne6+, forking Black’s King and 7 Rook.

* We have an immediate checking opportunity, with Qd7+, but it’s a Queen sac.

* We have an immediate checking opportunity, with Qe7+, but it’s a Queen sac.

* We have an immediate checking opportunity, with Qxf6+, but it’s a Queen sac.

* We have an immediate checking opportunity, with Qxc7+, but it’s a Queen sac.

* We have an immediate checking opportunity, with Qg8+, but it’s a Queen sac.

* We have an immediate checking opportunity, with Qf8+, but it’s a Queen sac.

* We have an immediate checking opportunity, with Qh8+, but it’s a Queen sac.

* We have an interrupted Queen Rook battery on the d file, blocked by our own pawn.

* Black has a pawn downfield on the a file.

* With 3 escape squares, there appears to be a King Trap, but it’s unclear.

* It is our turn to move.

* The puzzle’s title is “Don’t Horse Around”

* It is Friday.

The above observations inform potential strategies:

Of the myriad initial checking options available to us, only one does not involve sacrifice, so let’s start our examination there.

Opening with Ne6+ forks Black’s King and kNight, and since a kNight check cannot be blocked, and our kNight cannot be captured, this forces a King move. Black’s options are either Kh7, Kf7, or Kh6.
-----If Kh7, we can Nf8+, forcing either Kh8, Kg8, Kg7, or Kh6.
----------If Kh8, we can Nxg6++, forcing Kh7 or Kg7.
---------------If Kh7, we can Qh8+, forcing Kxg6 or Rh7.
--------------------If Kxg6, we now have a lone Queen and no way to deliver checkmate as Black’s Rook can block us at every turn. This is a no go. 

Ok, we can skip the other attack lines if we have a failure on a branch. But what if we don’t chase Black’s King, and instead go for material gain?

Opening with Ne6+, the fork, forces a King move with either Kh7, Kf7, or Kh6.
-----If Kh7, we can Nxc7, winning Black’s 7 Rook, and a material advantage. Black could recapture with Rxc7, however we can then respond with Qxc7+, and we’ve won 2 Rooks for a kNight, a decisive material advantage, and tempo.
-----These results don’t change if Black’s King moves to Kf7.
-----If Kh6, we can still Nxc7, winning Black’s 7 Rook, and a material advantage. We can also next Qh8#. Sounds like a plan!

Ok, it’s a plan – but how could it fail?

Well, Black does not have to recapture our kNight, in fact it would be at minimum sub-optimal for them to do so. 

Black could instead press an attack, but would it be successful? 

They could open with R2xf2+. We have options then of Kh3, Kh1, or Rfxf2.
-----If we Kh3, they can Qxg3# - so that’s a no go for us.
-----If we Kh1, they can Nxg3+, forcing Kg1.
----------Black can now Rf to the left and it’s # - so that doesn’t work for us either.
-----If we Rfxf2, they can Qxf2+, forcing either Kh3 or Kh1.
----------If we Kh3, they will Qxg3# - so that’s a no go for us.
----------If we Kh1, they will Nxg3# - so that’s a no go for us as well.

So yes, our material gain plan can absolutely fail, if we go for it, we will be up a Rook, but checkmated. I feel like this is a puzzle by @JohanVA – that honeypot was very tempting

Ok, but is there a BETTER PLAN?

There has to be. Let’s examine other openings and see what we can see…

Oh! Speaking of which, I now see another opening I missed on board observation phase – Nd5, which forks Black’s Queen and 7 Rook. That also does not involve a sacrifice, lets see where it leads…

Opening with Nd5 is not a forcing move, but does threaten Black’s Queen. Black can ignore this threat however and play R2xf2+, and we’ve seen how that can go (above). It doesn’t end well for us. But let’s re-examine it with their Queen under threat of capture.
-----If we Kh3, they can Qxg3# - so that’s a no go.
-----If we Kh1, they can Nxg3+, forcing Kg1.
----------They can now Ne2+, forcing Kh1.
---------------Then they can finish us with Qf3# - so that’s a no go.
-----If we Rfxf2, they can Qxf2+, forcing either Kh1 or Kh1.
----------If we Kh3, they will Qxg3# - so that’s a no go for us.
----------If we Kh1, they will Nxg3# - so that’s a no go for us as well.

Ok, so opening with Nd5 is a no go too.

Alright, so we’ve established that forcing moves are going to be necessary throughout, and we’ve eliminated 2 potential openings, leaving a kNight sac and 7 different Queen sac openings to examine. 

Let’s start with the kNight sac…

Opening with Nxh5+ almost certainly prompts gxh5, losing our kNight.
-----We are now out of follow up checks that are not Queen sacrifices. This is a no go.

Ok, on to the Queen sacs…

Opening with Qxc7+ at least gets us a Rook for our sacrifice, and almost certainly prompts Rxc7 in response.
-----We can follow with Ne6+, forking Black’s King against their Rook, and winning Black’s 2nd Rook. This wins us 10 points of material (2 Rooks) for 9 (a Queen), but as we start down a pawn, this gets us to technical material equivalence. So while we’re up a piece, we’re not really better off, and Black still has good position. I’m calling this a no go for now, to be revisited if needed later.

Opening with Qxf6+ almost certainly prompts Nxf6, losing our Queen. We can then only check with our kNight, and Black will either capture (if we chose Nh5+) or allow Rook capture (if we Ne6+) and then mate us as described above, that’s a no go. 

In fact, that’s pretty much the case no matter where we Queen sac. We’re not maneuvering Black’s King into a trap that can be closed with a kNight alone. I feel the goal here must be different. Perhaps we can win Black’s Queen?

That’s it! I almost missed it – back to the Rook capture Queen sac for an alternate follow up play!

Opening with Qxc7+ almost certainly prompts Rxc7. This breaks the pin on our f pawn, allowing us to fxe3, winning a Rook and a Queen for a Queen, brilliant!

Ok, AGAIN, it’s a plan – but how could it fail?

Well Black does not have to recapture our Queen, they could instead flee. But if so, we’re up a Rook for nothing. However we’ve established that if we relinquish tempo we’ll be mated. So can we press with tempo for the win?

Opening with Qxc7+, assuming flight…
-----If Kh6, we now have no follow up checks that are not a Queen sacrifice. But we can however now Qxc2, winning Black’s 2nd Rook for free. That’s pretty golden.
-----If Kh8, we Qxc2.
-----If Kg8, we Qxc2.
-----If Kf8, we Qxc2. 

We’ve absolutely got this. It’s either a Rook and a Queen for a Queen, or 2 Rooks for free. Here we go!

Confident in my plan, I set the board aside and engage with the puzzle online.

Qxc7+ is correct, and Black chooses the recapture with Rxc7, as predicted.

fxe3 is correct, and the PUZZLE IS SOLVED!

A fantastic Friday puzzle from @WizardOfChess2011!

Have a great day everyone.