Daily Puzzle Analysis for Tuesday 4.14.26

It’s Time for a Tuesday 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 down a Rook.

* There are no Bishops.

* We are down a kNight.

* We both have Queens.

* We are equal on Pawns.

* We have a Queen Rook battery on the a file.

* White has a Queen Rook battery on the h file.

* We have an immediate checking opportunity, with Qxa1+.

* We have an immediate checking opportunity, with Qe1+.

* We face a discovered attack on our Queen on our opponent’s next play with Nxh6+.

* If the above play is allowed to be executed, we will soon face mate.

* With 3 escape squares, combined with White’s unfortunate position, there is definitely a King Trap.

* It is our turn to move.

* The puzzle’s title is “Marshmellow Experiment”

* It is Tuesday.

The above observations inform potential strategies:

It is clear that we must move our Queen or lose her on White’s next play. As it stands they will check us with either Nxg6+ or Ne7+, revealing a discovered attack on our Queen, and forcing us to respond.

As a kNight check cannot be blocked, we will be forced to gxh6 (in the case of Ng6+), Kh7, Kf8 or Kh8. In any of these scenarios White will Rhxa5, winning our Queen. And if we Rxa5 in response, White will Rxa5 winning our Rook, and leaving us with no material against a Rook and Queen. White also has an unguarded Rook attacking our Queen on the a file, and skewering it against our Rook. All of this informs us that it is imperative that we not only strike first, but that we use our Queen to do so.

In this light, examining our immediate checking opportunities in turn:

Opening with Qxa1+ wins us one of White’s Rooks, eliminates the threat on the a file, removes our Queen from danger of discovered attack, and forces Kd2 allowing us to retain tempo. That’s 3 birds with one stone (or 5 birds, depending on how one quantifies things), not a bad play under normal circumstances.
-----From here we can Rd8+, forcing either Ke2 or Ke3.
----------If Ke2, we have no follow up check, allowing White to steal tempo.
---------------If Nxh6+, we must either gxh6, Kh7, Kf8, or Kh8.
--------------------If we gxh6, White can then Rxh6, and tempo returns to us, but we’ve nothing to do with it. Our best play here in my view, with no checking options available, would be either Kg7 or Qg7, attacking White’s Rook. Kg7 prepares for Rh8, skewering White’s Rook against their Queen, with our Rook protected along the long dark diagonal by our Queen, whereas Qg7 doesn’t really accomplish an attack as well as a defense, as our Queen is already defending h8 from where she stands.
-------------------------If we Kg7, White can now Rh7+, and our plans for skewering are over, and our Queen is unable to come to our King’s aid. This line is an absolute no go, but worth exploring in order to understand why. There are other ways it can fail as well, depending on our above response options, but one way is enough to know that it does, and that it fails when we lose tempo.

Opening instead with Qe1+ forces Kb2.
-----We can now Qxa1#, as White’s King has nowhere to flee, and no pieces with which to capture our attacking Queen. Excellent.

If we drive him to the d file, he will escape via e2. If we drive him to the b file, he’s ours. 

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

Today we open with a forcing move, allowing for only one response option, and then we deliver checkmate. This plan cannot fail.

Ok, but is there a BETTER PLAN?

Well there is no better plan than checkmate, and this plan ensures it.

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

Qe1+ is correct, and White is forced to Kb2.

Qxa1# is correct, and the PUZZLE IS SOLVED!

A terrific Tuesday puzzle from a mystery puzzler.

Have a great day everyone.