Very Very Difficult positions
Let's say you have a friend or a young player explaining to you he is a tactical genius.
Very strong at calculating lines or she has seen all tactics and puzzles in chess, so the jaded kind.
Solving positions is an art but we can find folks very very good at it. Examples ?
My opponent here solved 39 puzzles in 3 minutes, far more than my 26.
and I am not too shabby at solving puzzles:
For the month of August, I was towards the end placing around #24, followed by an International Master (IM) as you can see above. One time I managed to get 35 puzzles in 3 minutes, but my opponent did 38 so I lost.
But even if you have around you puzzle experts or Titled Players or Chess Coaches, here are a few positions to test their skills or their confidence !
Positions designed for a long think ...
Position 1: White to play
Hint or Comment : How difficult can pawn endgames really be?
Position 2: Black to play
Hint: this seems like a study.
Position 3: White to play
Hint: The black king seems to be in precarious situation, maybe a windmill like situation ?
Position 4 : White to play
Hint: it seems to be that the bishop pair theme and the Ra8,Kb8 set-up have been composed.
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SPOILERS and SOLUTIONS To the 4 POSITIONS ABOVE
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I selected these positions as they are really challenging, at least for me. but once the solution gets explained to you, or if you let your favorite chess engine work out the position, it does make sense.
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Position 1 : 1f5! which threatens 2e5-e6! but what happens if Black responds 1..fxe5. Well easy 2h4!! boxing the Black king. and the white king collects all the pawns on the left, The black king cannot get out
Position 2: you are trying to DRAW the game. Note I did not write Black to win or checkmate but the best moves are 1..Rxh4 followed by 2..Bd4!!. and White cannot make progress, the queen has no squares,
Position 3: 1Rg7+ Kh8 2 Ba1!! Black should try 2..Qa8 then 3.f4!! 3..e3 4.f5! and the f pawn advances, White is winning. You can try the chess engine to work out other lines for Black to defend. The battery/windmill works because the bishop is on a1. on b2, Black would try ..Qd2. The first move was easy but what about move 2 and move 3 ??
Position 4: this is a study so you need to think outside the box. what is White's idea ? maintain the pin of course. 1Bd7!! and if Black tries to push the pawns ( what else can he do ??), then 2.Kf7, 3Ke8 ,4 Kd8 and 5 Bc7# is an unstoppable winning plan.
you can pat yourself on the back if you solved any of these positions, and feel free to test those on those up for the chess challenges !
