2024/08/22 DPA: "Fatal Attraction"

White to move.

White would like to play 1. Ra8+ Kxa8  2. Qxc8# but for the Black Bishop on g4 guarding the Rook.

Try the other direction:  1. Ra8+ Kxa8  2. Qa3+; no, that's guarded by the other Bishop.

2. Qa1+ Kb8  3. Qa7#

But Black won't retreat; he will advance, with 2. ... Kb6.

White's Knight is pinned and the e Rook has no scope so all of the heavy lifting must be done by the Queen, a Rook, and Knight.

Oh, and White's Queen is en prise.

White does not have time for a setup move, as Black threatens 1. ... Bxe2+  2. Rxe2 Qf1+  3. Re1 Qxb5 [assuming White's Queen is not still under attack].

Wait:  my analysis was wrong when I visualized 2. ... Kb6 - it's impossible because the King is on a8, not a7.  So my initial idea works.

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The key was seeing how constrained the Black King was due to the Knight [yellow] and his own pawn and Rook.  The solution involved the Rook sac [blue] to attract the King to the a file where the Queen could take over [red].

One way to solve the problem is to visualize this position instead:

The thinking is "If White can get his Queen to the a file with check, he will win."

The above position is two moves into the future from the puzzle.  That's well within the grasp of many players and if not, then start with one move and go from there.

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Note that Black could have extended the misery with 2. ... Ba3 but there's no point, other than adhering to an engine's suggestion.  If I were Black and I saw that my opponent sacced his Rook and then played the Queen check, I would assume at that point that he knows what to do so I may as well just get it over with rather than throwing in a useless interposition.

Phrased another way, would I prefer getting crushed by a 10 ton boulder [with the Bishop move] or an 11 ton boulder [without the Bishop move]?  Does it matter?