The following is a polished version of a post from back in time. I'll be walking you through my initial thought process when solving: my 'for sure's and my 'maybe's; my rights and my wrongs. I have made modest revisions for enhanced clarity and entertainment.

You're welcome to solve the puzzle along with me, playing a move as you read each step of my commentary. Enjoy this puzzle analysis from the old ages of Sunday, February 12, 2025, as this series continues our journey through the archives!

Per usual, I started by locating the enemy King, taking inventory of my pieces, of my opponent's pieces, and calculating the advantage...

White also has some pieces near the center, but my pieces stripped them of some mobility: my pawns stand as prickly thorns hedging in R@b4, White's D-bishop is pinned to the Queen, and White's Queen can't move without losing the bishop. However, their pieces inhibit me from executing an effective attack.

We're winning positionally (in my opinion, anyway), we have the tempo, & we're up by a pawn. I can't see the eval bar, but I would equate that to a roughly 3-point advantage.   ୧⁠(⁠＾⁠ ⁠〰⁠ ⁠＾⁠)⁠୨

Next, I needed to determine what kind of puzzle this is. Based on my proximity to White's King & its lack of protection, I assumed it was a checkmate puzzle. I took a look at White's Queen, just in case, but decided to attack the King.   (⁠✧⁠Д⁠✧⁠)⁠→

There are only 2 ways to check: Qh3+ & Q×h2+, and both of those just lose my Queen! I couldn't find a safe check with a good follow-up. I moved on to attacking White's Queen:

‘Was this supposed to be a queen trade? Was there a fork on the crown? Was I supposed to take advantage of the pin on the bishop? There isn't a Checkmate threat, is there? I didn't notice one.’

I was utterly lost and overwhelmed with the quantity of subpar possibilities.   (⁠´⁠д⁠`⁠)

Try as I did, I simply could not find a good attack on the queen... not even on the rook, for that matter! I examined everything - EVERYTHING - again and still saw nothing. Time to guess! I tried moving my knights, I tried moving pawns to bounce the rook, & I tried moving my undeveloped Rook to a more active square. But, alas! Nothing worked - it was time to take a hint...

Sorry to disappoint, but I am not above giving up from time to time.

Well, would you look at that! I was supposed to... remove my pin on the bishop?   (⁠‘⁠◉⁠⌓⁠◉⁠’⁠)  Move the R@e8: the best move I could see was R×e8. What would that do? White would respond by recapturing with the Queen. So, I could be luring the queen away from the King - maybe there was checkmate! ...No. Perhaps I could capture the Queen after moving my remaining rook to e8 - that would open a file; maybe that would trap her! ...Nope - I still didn't see a way to profit.

If capturing isn't the way, then I might be keeping my pin by moving my rook vertically on the e-file. My next thought:

A brief analysis confirmed that moving my R@e8 to d8, f8, & g8 all accept a losing trade (after B×h8... R×h8) with no positional or tactical compensation. Alright, I knew taking the bishop had to be the right move.

‘After that, who knows? ... Yes! The Queen took - now what?’

After another round of intense & befuddling scrutiny, I needed another hint...

‘Ahhh, so, I have to move my Queen instead of my threatened Rook? Well, I must be moving my queen to protect my Rook!’ 

❌️❌️❌️

At that point, I realized I had absolutely no clue what I was doing!   (⁠｡⁠ŏ⁠﹏⁠ŏ⁠)   It was time to resign: I asked for the move - Q×h2.

‘Take the knight? Wha... ohhh! Sacrificing my Queen lures the King away so I can check with my knight on d2 and fork Her Majesty - this IS a queen trade after all!’   (⁠ﾉ⁠*⁠0⁠*⁠)⁠ﾉ

My brain was certain this sequence was correct; nevertheless, I had lost confidence in my performance with this puzzle...

*cue the suspense!   (⁠´⁠-⁠﹏⁠-⁠`⁠；⁠)

✅️ Viola! ✅️

And, now, for the finale! It was time to count the flow of points and see how the advantage shifted with each capture, starting with my lead in the original position. Our delicate advantage is seemingly lost when we traded our R@e8 for White's bishop - an objectively losing trade. And, trading our queen for White's knight seems utterly disastrous!

It's only when we can tie loose ends via that cunning knight fork that both prior moves are given new meaning and brilliance. We had started with 1 point of material advantage and ended up with 2 pts at the end - plus an evaluation of -3.7 to boot!   ✧⁠◝⁠(⁠⁰⁠▿⁠⁰⁠)⁠◜⁠✧

Unfortunately, I can't say I would play this line in a game: I wouldn't have seen the correct line or end position. Additionally, I liked the initial position for White's lack of mobility:

• • Their Bishop was pinned
  • Their Knight was isolated along a wall
  • One Rook was undeveloped
  • Another Rook was corralled by our knight
  • Their King's protection was lacking

What's more, our

• • Queen was in quite a menacing position with eyes on the White King
  • Knights were influential near the center
  • Rooks were ready for action!

I certainly prefer this new position to the anterior. We increased our advantage by a point, and, more importantly, we have extra mobility: our pieces are 3 to only 2 white pieces. If I were able to visualize this position in a real game, then, of course, I would go for the exchange.

Of course, it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward... But it was very, very clear looking backwards.

     - Steve Jobs

My choice (if I had encountered this position in a real game) to stick with the original position despite the superiority of the end position is a result of my present inability to 1) find the correct sequence, & 2) fully visualize the end position. Because I can't see it, the human tendency of deferring to stability - maintaining the comfort of the status quo, paired with fear of the unknown - takes control.

Overriding that default can be a key to unlocking winning positions or simply holding on to your winning position! In this case, it was crucial, as any other move sequence (even my favorite candidate moves) would have handed the advantage to White.

In conclusion, take calculated chances and live a little! I may not have mastered this Sunday puzzle (to flatter myself); nonetheless, it revealed a crucial flaw for me to work on both in chess and my personality. Of course, stability can be a good thing. But, I can grow in taking controlled risks as opposed to staying in the box. Even losing can be fun when you're exploring and learning! Back to Top

Keep Chessing & Stay Brilliant!