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2025/08/16 DPA: "Echoes of 'The Shower Of Gold' Game"

2025/08/16 DPA: "Echoes of 'The Shower Of Gold' Game"

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EnPassantFork
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Black to move:

.

White's back rank is undefended.

Black is down a piece and 3 pawns.

It would be checkmate if Black's DSB wasn't blocking his e Rook.

1. ... Bb2 threatens 2. ... Re1# but White can simply play 2. g3 so 2. ... Bxa3 still leaves Black down a point of material [the Knight can escape to b3].

1. ... Bxh2+ also uncovers the e Rook but 2. Kxh2 allows the King to escape.

Aah, but what about 1. ... Bg3 to prevent 2. g3 and also not let the King escape to h2?

What can White do?

  • A) 2. hxg3 Re1+  3. Kh2 Rh8#
  • B) 2. fxg3 Re1# [f2 is covered by the f Rook]
  • C) 2. Ne2 Rxe2. 3. Kf1 Rfxf2+. 4. Kg1 Re1#

Very cool.  This looks to be correct.

Yup:

.

The first key was realizing that 1. ... Bb2, winning a Rook, was insufficient due to the starting material deficit.

The second key was realizing that 1. ... Bxh2 failed because it allowed the King to escape the back rank.

The third key was seeing that 2. g3 foiled Black's plans.

1. ... Bg3 simultaneously opens up the e file for Black's Rook AND prevents 2. g3.

2. ... Re1+ drives the King into the chimney.

3. ... Rh8# finishes the job.

Line C was the coolest but there were multiple winning lines for Black and so wasn't chosen.

What made the Bishop sac more difficult to see is what I call ESSAS:  Empty Square Sac Avoidance Syndrome - the observed [not just by me] tendency to perceive a sac on an empty square as more difficult to find than if the square was occupied and we received material in return [for example, if a White Bishop was on g3 and we had a Queen and played ... Qxg3].

I came up with this concept by myself but later found confirmation that others also think this is true:   During commentary of Tata Steel [2025], John Sargent and IM Tania Sachdev were commenting on the Round 5 game between Van Foreest and Abdusattorov when Van Foreest played Nd5 on an empty square, offering the Knight for sacrifice.
 
Sargent said, somewhat hesitantly, as he tried to form his thought:  "It's easy to...how do I put it?    I think it's fair to say, Tania, correct me if I'm wrong, it's easier to see a sacrifice when you're capturing a piece than just putting a piece on a square where it can be captured....They're easier to see than the ones where you're literally leaving a piece hanging."

.

This is reminiscent of Levitzky v Marshall, Breslau, 1912, where Marshall played ... Qg3 and allowed his opponent 3 ways to capture the Queen, 2 of which led to checkmate and the 3rd to material loss.

This is just one possibility.  In the actual game, Levitzky resigned.  Spectators were so overwhelmed with the brilliance of the move, they showered the board with gold pieces, according to the story.
And you thought screaming "The ROOOOOOOK" was dramatic.

It's not quite analogous because one of the purposes here was to prevent 2. g3 but not in the Marshall game.  However, I thought of this game as I realized that 1. ... Bg3 looked like the solution.

Very sneaky puzzle by our MPC [Master Puzzle Creator] @JohanVA!