2024/05/17 DPA: 'My Kingdom For A Horse!'
White to move.
I guess there's no Queen sac today.
Black has menacing Rooks but no immediate checks [White's Rook covers the back rank and the Bishop covers h3]. This is likely significant, as it gives White time to make a setup move to weave a mating net.
White's Knight is en prise.
The pawn and Bishop protect each other.
1. Rb7+ Kxd6 2. Rd7+ is not checkmate due to 2. ... Ke5.
1. Ne8+: notice that the Rook cuts off the b file and the Knight + Bishop cut off the c file. 1. ... Kd8 and the Knight is once again endangered.
But 2. Rb8+ checks the King and X-Ray defends the Knight.
2. ... Ke7. Hmm: if the Rook moves off of the 8th rank, the Knight is unprotected. But the Knight can't deliver check.
1. Ne8+ Kd8 2. d6, threatening 3. Rb8# and cutting off the critical dark squares [because White's Bishop is light-squared] c7 and e7. 2. ... Kxd8 3. Rb8#
Black can defend better with 2. ... Rc1+ 3. Rxc1 Kxe8 but 4. Rxc5 renews the threat of checkmate. 4. ... Kd8 5. Rc8# since the Bishop protects c8. So Black will play 4. ... Kf8, which aims to escape to g7, a dark square, however, 5. Rc8+ Kg7 6. Rg8+ Kf6 7. Rxg3.
Although 7 moves long, each move is logical because of the checkmate threat so this might be the solution. The line with 2. ... Kxd8 is too short for a Friday, IMO.
I was wrong: the first solution was chosen. That means there must have been more than one winning line if the second solution was followed.
It turns out there were many.
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1. Ne8+: notice that the Rook cuts off the b file and the Knight + Bishop + P cut off the c file, which forces the King to d8. But White doesn't control the key dark square e7 until 2. d6.
Ordinarily, one would not think of sacrificing a piece with only 3 pieces and a pawn for attack but the B+P setup on the 6th is the equivalent of the White King on e6 and the Black King on e8: a Rook check on the 8th is checkmate. This is probably a pattern worth remembering.
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The "the puzzle is flawed because Black did not play the best move" crowd will be out in force today because there were many things Black could have done to avoid immediate checkmate, starting with 2. ... Rc1+.
The position was taken from a real game and the notes don't state "variation" so I'm assuming the solution was what actually happened in the game [Black saw what was coming and chose to end it immediately].
However, that's irrelevant: the puzzle best showcases the power of 2. d6 with 2. ... Kxe8. This is not, after all, a position analysis where optimal moves are played for both sides. It's up to the puzzle creator to decide how to display his wares.
If you still have a hard time accepting this, don't call it a puzzle; call it a lesson instead.
https://www.chess.com/blog/EnPassantFork/no-the-puzzle-is-not-wrong