Become a Combinator - Chess Forums

Till_98

Mar 24, 2016

0

#1

Hello chess friends!

This little series will help you to become a master of combinations, a terminator on the chess board.

Lets get started:

#1:

#2:

#3:

#4:

#5:

#6:

#7:

#8:

#9:

#10:

#11:

#12:

#13:

#14:

#15:

#16:

#17:

#18:

#19:

#20:

#21:

#22:

white to move, mate in 6 moves

#23:

That´s it for today, next part is coming soon! See you on the board. Bye bye.

the matrix got us

Arisktotle

Mar 24, 2016

0

#2

In #11 the move 2.Qa4 is as good as 2.Qb5. Here two different definitions of best move conflict with each other:

(a) Qb5 is better as it conquers substantial material quicker

(b) Qa4 is better as it gives black the opportunity to make the mistake 2... b5 which after 3.Qxb5 gives him a worse position than in (a)

Probably the go-engine "AlphaGo" which has now taken the lead in AI-engines would play Qa4 as it is only interested in "winning" and speed is no factor. Reducing the risk of not winning would make the counter 2... b5 very welcome to AlphaGo.

On a practical level, the tactical clients should be capable of supporting more than one solution when solutions are "almost" even. But this is a weakness that seems to be shared by most tactical webclients and comes from the arrogance of software developers who believe they understand how chess works.

Note: I'll let you know when I found the solution to #23

Till_98

Mar 24, 2016

0

#3

Arisktotle wrote:

In #11 the move 2.Qa4 is as good as 2.Qb5. Here two different definitions of best move conflict with each other:

(a) Qb5 is better as it conquers substantial material quicker

(b) Qa4 is better as it gives black the opportunity to make the mistake 2... b5 which gives him after 3.Qxb5 a worse position than in (a)

Probably the go-engine "AlphaGo" which has now taken the lead in AI-engines would play Qa4 as it is only interested in "winning" and speed is no factor. Reducing the risk of not winning would make the counter 2... b5 very welcome to AlphaGo.

On a practical level, the tactical clients should be capable of supporting more than one solution when solutions are "almost" even. But this is a weakness that seems to be shared by most tactical webclients and comes from the arrogance of software developers who believe they understand how chess works.

Note: I'll let you know when I found the solution to #23

That is indeed interesting, I never thought about that problem with engines.

Anyway how did you like the exercises? :)

Arisktotle

Mar 24, 2016

0

#4

Nice selection! I am an experienced tactical solver and used them for speed training. But I must admit I did go wrong a few times. As an endgame lover, #22 appealed to me most even though I solved it quickly. But aestetics is much more important to me than difficulty and it scored 9 on that scale!

CosmologyStudent

Mar 24, 2016

0

#5

Solved it all except #12, just messed up move order in #10 windmill, they are all famous game, arent they? #12 was totally new for me, some guessing work, and found really nice idea. Great Collection!

alekspachalov99

Mar 24, 2016

0

#6

Thank you

pie314271

Mar 24, 2016

0

#7

#23 is wrong; a3, b3, c3, d3, e3, f3, g3, h3, a4, b4, c4, e4, f4, g4, h4, Na3, Nc3, Nf3, and Nh3 are also acceptable.

actually all #23 does is show the opinion of the original poster

alekspachalov99

Mar 24, 2016

0

#8

Got them all correct , even #23 from 1 at go !!

alekspachalov99

Mar 24, 2016

0

#9

[COMMENT DELETED]

pie314271

Mar 24, 2016

0

#10

[COMMENT DELETED]

Lobster62

Mar 24, 2016

0

#11

Nice . Liked the tease in #22!

Till_98

Mar 25, 2016

0

#12

Haha 1.d4 for the win ^^

WindowsEnthusiast

Mar 25, 2016

0

#13

Till_98 wrote:

Haha 1.d4 for the win ^^

High five, I'm also a 1.d4 player. But I digress.

These puzzles, while tricky at times, are not as hard as some I've seen on Tactics Trainer at the 2500 level.

Till_98

Mar 25, 2016

0

#14

yes sure, they were not that hard to solve, but the patterns are really important. Also the next parts might be harder :P

HolyKing

Mar 25, 2016

0

#15

Very nice. Thank you.

pie314271

Mar 25, 2016

0

#16

I still request the removal of #23 due to there being 19 alternate solutions.

Till_98

Mar 25, 2016

0

#17

1.d4 is the best though, which is a well known fact.

Mandy711

Mar 25, 2016

0

#18

d4 is better but e4 is more fun to play!

Till_98

Mar 25, 2016

0

#19

sure I guess :D

X_PLAYER_J_X

Mar 25, 2016

0

#20

Man I need to work on my tactics.

I couldn't find them all.

I ended up having to use the help button on several ones.

However, I must say they were brillant puzzles.

At puzzle 4 I was like I don't see it lol.

Ended up using the help button and saw how it was solved.

Than I was like oh man nothing can top puzzle 4.

Than I saw puzzle 5 and I was like Oh man nothing can top puzzle 5.

Than puzzle 6 came.

It was as if each one was better than the last one.

I thought it was great.

The only puzzle which disappointed me was puzzle 23.

(1.e4 best by test)

Come on don't ruin something so great with that puzzle lol.