2025/01/04 DPA: "Go With The Flow"

White to move:

.

White faces checkmate in one on g2; that helps our focus.

Black has light square weaknesses and no light-squared Bishop for defense.

What checks are available?

• 1. Qf8+
• 1. Qd8+
• 1. Rd8+
• 1. Qxg7+; this doesn't look promising

1. Rd8+ looks better than either Queen check because it allows the Rook to join the attack.

The problem is that 1. ... Ng8 not only blocks check, it attacks the Queen.  And White can't spare a tempo to reposition the Queen.

2. Rxg8+ Kxg8  3. Qd8+ Kh7  4. Ng5+ Kh6  5. Qh8+ Rh7  6. Qxh7#

Since it's a Saturday puzzle, it can't be that simple. 

What if Black opts for 3. ... Kf7 instead?  4. Ng5#

What am I missing?

Is there any other way to deal with 1. Rd8+?  The Rook cannot block because it's pinned.  And if 1. ... Kh7  2. Ng5#.

I can't see any flaw in my analysis.

I was correct.

.

The key was knowing every move had to be a check.  The Rook check was the most logical because it engaged the Rook vs the Queen, which was already in a good position.  Since the pinned Black Rook can't block, the Knight must and the subsequent Rook sac is the only way to continue the attack.

The Queen check, Knight check, Queen check, and final capture flow fairly smoothly as they are the only reasonable options.

Critical to notice prior to initiating the sequence is that the Knight on g5 will be protected by the f pawn.

Solving this one move-by-move is relatively easy; visualizing the 6-move sequence as a whole, while typically a lot more difficult, was not so tough this time due to the logical flow.