34. Ke3 is bad.
Much better is 34. Ba5 and White promotes his pawn or win bishop.
Twentieth Chess Lesson Problem
Sort:
Thank you.
Fellow NESA Memorial Chess Puzzle Solvers,
By now anyone who read the Eddie Murphy quote at the end of my puzzle description should have known that there was a trick involved in this puzzle. The point here is that this was a rare case when the objectively best move was NOT the right move to play.
The first thing to recognize is that Black has played a really awful opening in just a few moves. Objectively 9. Bb5+, as a few puzzle solvers pointed out, is a perfectly good refutation of the opening, as after 9. … Bd7 a sample line is 10. Bxd7+ Kxd7 (… Qxd7 is no better) 11. Ne5+ Kc8 12. Nxf7. In all lines White either mates or wins abundant material. Anyone playing this would win just fine.
However, instead I got the quickest win I’ve had on chess.com with the blow 9. Ne5!!The reason this is the right move is its SHOCKvalue. Black could have taken my Queen and come out with a relatively small material minus after 10. Bb5+ Qd7. But the value of the move, played against an evidently diffident opponent, was that Black would have had to call my bluff to realize that taking my Queen was OK if not great long-term. He didn’t. Instead he collapsed with 9. … Bd7??, and after 10. Nxd7 Kxd7 (10. … Qxd7?? 11. Bb5 +/-) 11. Qa4+ Black just resigned. After 11. … Bxa6 12. Qc6+ Kb8 13. Bf4+ is the K.O.
This puzzle illustrates the same point that the recent “surprise” victory of Trump over Clinton showed with drastic effect: that a more objectively dubious move with forceful “punch” can get more efficacious results than a run-of-the-mill “ground game” over an unprepared opponent. The power of emotional blast, although risky and hard to predict in its outcome, is one never to discount in chess.
Congratulations, therefore, to Hetricon, who gets the SOLE KUDOSfor very easily and quickly seeing the beauty of 9. Ne5!! Full credit goes to King_Zakadion, Karnakatz, BSAeagle, and its_only_me for all correctly pointing out the objective superiority of 9. Bb5+.
We now proceed to the Twentieth Chess Lesson. In this one, Black has blundered with 33. … Bf6?? Your object is to evaluate the response 34. Ke3, which was played in the game. Is it the most effective move, or is it an inaccuracy? If the latter, what should have been played instead?
Good luck and Happy Thanksgiving!
Xenophon98