More Puzzlers!

Many tactical workbooks and online training sets are full of examples from the games of great masters. But even patzers like me can get into positions where we spot tactical gems. So why not take advantage of these positions to lump ourselves in with the immortals of the game? Making puzzles of our own games is fun and can sometimes be instructive.

The puzzles in this blog entry have elements that should set off tactical buzzers. For example, weak back rank, unguarded pieces, and exposed kings. Here are some puzzles taken from my own games.

 In this example my opponent jumped on the chance to win a pawn on d4. He must not have seen the upcoming tactics for white.

 Admittedly that example came from particulary poor play from my opponent, but finding the quickest way to checkmate was a nice challenge.

 In this last example I had been down a pawn for many moves but had been able to harass the enemy king. Finally everything fell into place for a winning tactic.