At first glance, my candidate moves (in approximate order) would be: Rxf6, Ra1, f8=N.
Basics: From my latest tournament.
Sort:
1. Rxf6 looks like it just wins the knight since 1. ... gxf6 2. f8=N+ Kh8 3. Rh7# is mate. If black tries 1. ... Rxc4 2. Rxc4 disrupting the mating threat the pawn will eventually promote to a queen. The checks amount to nothing after 1. ... Rxg2+ 2. Kf1.
Rxf6 is the crushing win, as you all figured correctly.
And while every wannabe at my level can quote Dan Heisman like he's the Bible, I never even considered that move, even though it was the only capture on the board.
It's just pattern recognition Kyle, 18 months ago I mightn't have considered Rxf6, but regular work on tactics trainer means it's the first move I thought of within 10 seconds of looking at the position. It seems obvious when you're familiar with it, but it's hard to see these things if you don't instinctively spot them. Same as when you learned how the pieces move, you wouldn't spot a knight fork, but now you would.
Agreed! I've done a ton of work in the tactics trainer in the last six months, and that's directly attributable to me getting a ton better at chess.
But there were two other paths to that move that should have led me to at least consider it as a candidate move:
1) It's the only capture on the board for me. "Checks, captures, threats" as the mantra goes.
2) Basic mating patterns. If I'm so worried about Rxg2 leading to a forced mate, I need to think about moving the rook.
Need to improve my thought process *and* my tactics :)
In this position, I think you can figure out Rxf6 even if you don't see the underpromotion for mate. Black threatens Rxg2+, moving the f1 rook and making room for the king to run might be all you need. You're threatening to promote and have a big material advantage and removing his only defender probably makes a win possible.
1. Rxf6 Rxg2+ 2. Kf1 gxf6 3. g8=Q+ is also winning
Here's a position from my tournament on Saturday. It is the first round, and I (1086 USCF heading into the tournament) was white against a 1500 USCF player. We reached the following position before my 28th move:
This move, and what happened after it, encapsulated *exactly* why I'm still a Class E player (1167 after this tournament), and why no matter how much we think we know better, those of us down here really *do* need to continue to study the basics until they are second nature.
It's easier when you know already know that there is a lot of significance in this position, but there's an easy crushing win for white here, a cute little forced draw (with the option to play on into an advantageous endgame), and obviously a lot of ways to lose. I found the forced draw, chose to play on into the endgame, promptly hung a piece and lost the game. I never even considered the move that forced a win.
A longer version of these thoughts and why this position demonstrates how important the basics are is posted in my chess journal: http://smartguydumbchess.blogspot.com/2011/02/telling-example.html, but this post should cover the basic idea.
Now, everyone tell me how obvious the win was :)