Let it Go!
In today's tactical training, I became fixated with an idea which I could not let go.
Firstly, see if you can solve this problem from Blokh's Combination Motifs
Diagram 520 Difficulty 8
I had become fixated on trapping the White Queen, seeing that Nc3 would entrap Qa2, provided the pawn was not on b2.
This lead to looking at ideas of ... Bxb2, Rxb2 Nc3. However, White can reply with Qxb2 instead of Rxb2.
Over and over I looked at this idea, not being able to let go or look at alternatives of this idea
LET IT GO!
Time and time again, Chess is showing me I must trust and let go. Explore other ideas
This is an impressive combination. It is crowned by a Knight fork at d2 between the King at f1 and the Queen at b1. I would find this difficult to visualise from the starting position
Why does this tactic work?
The clue lies in the White Queen's mobility ... it is indeed close to being trapped. However, it is not the Knight at c3 that "checkmates" the Queen
Rather Black employs a "Windmill" attack on the Queen with a discovered attack from the Bishop at f6 once the Rook on b2
With the Rook on d1 deflected from the defence of d2, Black attracts White's pieces with Qb1 being the only escape square, and the King is lured to f1
Strategically why does this tactic work?
Observe how passive White's pieces are on the first and second rank. They clearly lack coordination
The Black knights are on superb outposts. The Ne4 eyes c3, d2 and f2 in the heart of White's position, whilst the Nb3 cuts White at a1, c1 and d2
Black's heavy pieces dominate the b-file, whilst the dark squared bishop cuts across the long diagonal intersecting at b2
Black's light squared Bishop and Queen x-ray through to g2, tying the Bf1 to the defence
White's Queen sits out of the game at a2, the Rc2 is purely passive
What did I learn from this?
Trust one's judgement that the theme is correct. However, one must be able to let go ... not become fixated on just one line
A windmill attack can not only be applied to a King, but a trapped Queen
Two Knights controlling central squares can lead to devasting forks
