2024/07/10 DPA: "Leaping Towards The Action"

2024/07/10 DPA: "Leaping Towards The Action"

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Black to move.

White's e Rook is undefended.  Black's e Knight is also attacked twice but defended only once.

But 1. ... Nxg3. 2. Rxg3

White's Queen is also in a cramped position.

But if 1. ... Nxg3  2. Rxg3 Re5  3. Qd4

1. ... Nxg3 is necessary to remove the Bishop which contests e5.

Black could use the c Rook instead with 1. ... Rc5 but White still has 2. Qd4.

Aah, I see something:  1. ... Nf6. 2. Qd4 Rxe3. 3. Qxe3 Ng4+, Royal Fork.

Relatively better for White would be 2. Qxe6 fxe6 and at least White gets a Rook for the Queen.

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The key was recognizing that Black could not trap the Queen or win the Rook but the Knight move attacked the Queen [yellow] and revealed an attack on the undefended Rook [red], which led to the subsequent Royal Fork [blue].

Also, this involves a BNM [Backward Knight Move], which is typically more difficult to see vs a forward move.

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Some will object to White's "blunder" in not playing 2. Qxe6 or Rxe6:  yes, while those moves are better, the point of the lesson is Black discovering the winning idea, not which losing line the opponent chooses subsequently.

Puzzles do not have to involve optimal moves for both sides every time [this other type of scenario is called a position analysis]; sub-optimals are allowed for the opponent in puzzles.

https://www.chess.com/blog/EnPassantFork/no-the-puzzle-is-not-wrong

https://www.chess.com/blog/Rocky64/understanding-soundness-and-motivations-in-chess-puzzles-problems-and-studies