gg
When I first played the Spirit with Ry, I thought as PB or PR, the Spirit was almost a 2nd Queen and the strongest opportunity for the Spirit. But now I have learned that the unobsessed Spirit alone can be very strong and dangerous.
Bulldog Chess with Witch and Spirit (thegreatauk - McGoohan)
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20... Na3 should win on the spot. Am I wrong?
Oct 26, 2019
0
#84
JustARandomPatzer wrote:
20... Na3 should win on the spot. Am I wrong?
I don't think it would have worked because it would have given White a way out with the King.
20Kc1…Na3
White can prevent 21...Qc2#, e.g. with PPe3 or Bf3
21.Bf3…Qa2+ and White finds an escape route with
22.Kd2…Nb2+
23.Ke1…Qc3+ and the King comes to safety:
24.Kf1…Nd2+ doesn't work because Black would lose the Knight: 25.Qxd2
(And in the variant with 21.PPe3 White would have another escape field on g2)
After 21. PPe3, black has 21... Sd2, no?
By the way, is the Spirit like the Witch in that enemy pieces cannot move through it?
Oct 27, 2019
0
#87
JustARandomPatzer wrote:
After 21. PPe3, black has 21... Sd2, no?
No.
The spirit moves like a knight
Oct 27, 2019
0
#88
JustARandomPatzer wrote:
By the way, is the Spirit like the Witch in that enemy pieces cannot move through it?
Yes,
A spirit that is not possessing any piece is transparent to allied pieces.
McGoohan wrote:
Oh wait. 😑 I forgot...
JustARandomPatzer wrote:
After 21. PPe3, black has 21... Sd2, no?
No.
The spirit moves like a knight
Just posting this line before deleting my diagram from my computer. Position after 19.Rd1:
Here black can play 19...Qc3+ 20.Kb1 Qxb3+
White has 2 options. Ka1 or Kc1. Let's look at 21.Ka1 first.
There's several ways to win, If the a7 pawn was transparent, then white would be checkmated. So black can play the simple 21...Wc6
White can't defend against Wa6#. 22.Rd2 Wa6+ 23.Ra2 Rxa2#
Now let's look at the option 21.Kc1
Winning here is a bit trickier, but there probably are several ways here too. My way to win would be 21...Qc3+ 22.Kb1 Rjb8
Similar to the Ka1 line, white will be checkmated if blacks witch would get to a6. Black is threatening to play either Wc6 or Wc8 followed by Wa6 and there really is no way to stop it. 23.d5 Wc8 24.Bxj7 Wa6+ 25.Qb2 Rxb2#
The piece on d3 is a spirit. McGoohan made use of both its transparent ability and its ability to not be able to get captured by enemy pieces (that are not possessed).