Explain this chess.com puzzle

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Avatar of pauldrapier

This is a 1450-rated puzzle.

https://www.chess.com/puzzles/problem/1198878

1. Why does white play Qxa5 instead of Qxe5?

2. Why does white sac his queen with g3 instead of playing Qxf4?

Explain this chess.com.

Avatar of Alramech
pauldrapier wrote:

This is a 1450-rated puzzle.

https://www.chess.com/puzzles/problem/1198878

1. Why does white play Qxa5 instead of Qxe5?

2. Why does white sac his queen with g3 instead of playing Qxf4?

Explain this chess.com.

In short, puzzles don't necessarily have the opponent play the best moves.  However, there is always exactly one best move for yourself to play. 

Avatar of Arisktotle

Precisely! And the moves are commonly generated by an engine which does not care about the difference between "losing" and "losing badly". It is instructed to occasionally play a move so bad that you couldn't possibly imagine any opponent playing that move - hoping to catch you off guard!