tactics of the day 10/31

Hello chess friends!

I started teaching a new chess course- "tactics, fireworks, fun and entertainment", and with it a new series of forum posts in that spirit.

These positions were carefully selected, illustrating the most instructive, most powerful and sharpest moves ever played in chess history.

So, enjoy solving the following position, taken from a real game between two famous GM's- Yudasin and Kramnik, 1994:

23.Qxh2+ Kxh2 24.Rh5 Qf4 25.Nf5+ Qh4 26.Rxh4#

Qf4 is one of the only moves that lose for white. almost any other saves the day and keeps a queen up. Mike, you can't just look at one heavily flawed variation and make a conclusion based on that. if you saw Qf4 loses, look at other moves for white after Rh5. what about g4 for example?

Yeah, g4 is a problem for black.

Is there a mate involved? I can see how to win white's queen after Nf3, but I keep thinking that there is a stronger play here

only a bribed opponent would play Qg3 after Rg5

try to find a different move, cover all the options before jumping to conclusions.

oops... <- My opponent?