Solitaire Chess / Instruction ABCs of Chess
These problems are all related to key positions in this month’s game. In each case, Black is to move. The answers can be found in Solutions on page 71.
January Exercise: It’s time to create your own journal. Paper is OK, but electronic is better. Whenever you encounter something germane, classify and append it to a useful section. Include your own commentary, with lots of diagrams to aid visualization. Also, make sure to ask helpful questions about the material. Let’s not minimize categorization, however. Being able to seize upon the key feature of a situation is a sign of greater strength and positional understanding. Indeed, the more often you catalog, the more relevant your chess play is likely to become.
Problem I Fork
Problem II Fork
Problem III Trapping
Problem IV Mating net
Problem V Mating net
Problem VI Mating net
weakened g6-square. Not only does White improve his bishop’s placement, he clears the d1-h5 diagonal for his queen. If you’re concerned about losing a pawn, then accept only 2 points part credit for 14. exf6 Nxf6.
14. … fxe5 Or Black could try 14. ... Nxe5. One
line is 15. Nxe5 fxe5 16. Qh5+ g6 17. Qxg6+ hxg6 18. Bxg6 mate. Accept 2 bonus points for seeing it.**
15. Ng5! Par Score 5 White threatens 16. Nf7, forking queen
and rook (1 bonus point). Accept 1 bonus point more if you analyzed 15. ... Bxg5 16. Qh5+, an echo of Black’s sixth move. If you took your analysis even further with 16. ... Ke7 (16. ... g6 17. Bxg6+) 17. Bc5+ Ke6 18. Qf7 mate, you may tag on 2 bonus points more.
15. … Nf6 The immediate idea is to block the king-
bishop file to stop Ng5-f7. So is this the triumphant return of the knight to f6? Not exactly. When the knight was here on move one it was good. Now it’s move 15, and the evaluation of such a placement is not the same.**
16. Rxf6! is weakened. Par Score 6 White eliminates the knight so that h5
16.
…
Bxf6
Or Black could have played 16. ... gxf6, allowing 17. Qh5+ Kf8 18. Qf7 mate: The four move checkmate in 18 moves (1 bonus point).**
17. 17.
Qh5+ …
Par Score 5 g6
Black tries to shout out the white queen.
If instead he moves the king, it’s mate on the move (1 bonus point).**
18. Bxg6+ … Par Score 5 No shutouts today. Add 1 bonus point
if you saw the bishop sacrifice in advance. 18.
hxg6 If 18. ... Kf8, then 19. Qh6+ Bg7 20.
Bc5+ Ne7 (if 20. ... Kg8, then 21. Bf7 mate) 21. Rf1+, with mate coming up (2 bonus points).**
19. 19. 20.
Qxg6+ …
Bc5 mate
Par Score 5 Ke7
Par Score 5
(see diagram top of next column) Take full credit if you found, instead of
20. Bc5 mate, 20. Qf7+ and mate next move. We always prefer mate in one, but we don’t want to come down too hard on mate in two. It’s got its own charm.
TOTAL YOUR SCORE TO DETERMINE
YOUR APPROXIMATE RATING BELOW: Total Score
95+
81-94 66-80 51-65 36-50 21-35 06-20 0-05
Approx. Rating 2400+
2200-2399 2000-2199 1800-1999 1600-1799 1400-1599 1200-1399 under 1200
The USCF will hold an election this year for three at-large positions on the USCF executive board. For details, please refer to the call for nominations in the November 2013 issue of Chess Life.
www.uschess.org
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