Find the Mate!!
March 16th, 2010 | Author:  |
I believe that one of the best ways a chess player can improve is to concentrate on solving some puzzles.
If you aim to solve one a day this will improve your tactical skills and keep you sharp. Calculation is probably the most important thing in chess, so it is worth practicing. For this reason I am going to put up some problems for you to solve. |
Let’s start off with an easy one.
In the position above White has 3 pieces attacking the Black king, how can White force checkmate?
Answers at the bottom of this post.
Now before I go on, I just want to tell you a little story about how I made a major improvement in my chess skills when I was a junior.
I have always been a big fan of long, hot, baths. No I am not a female but baths have always chilled me out. So what I used to do when I was a kid was take a chess book to the bathroom with me. My favourite book was a puzzle book called, ‘Brilliancies and Blunders’.
I used to try and solve a puzzle on the toilet then another couple in the bath. This became a routine of mine and I would spend a good half an hour in the bathroom improving my chess skills.
There was something about the bath that got me thinking. Now I am sure this routine must have gained me a good couple of hundred elo points.
So if you want to improve, put half an hour away and take a puzzle book to the bath with you!
The following puzzles are taken from my book, ‘Improve your Attacking Chess’. If you would like to purchase a copy (so that you can have a read in the bathroom!) then please e-mail me at sales@gingergm.com.
I currently have 10 for sale at £13.99. I would be happy to include a personal message in each book.
Ok enough of the sales pitch onto some puzzles!
I will give you 5 in total, each one will be rated out of 5 for difficulty and the answers will be given at the bottom.
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Puzzle 2, 1/5 difficulty.
Black clearly has a dodgy position here: his queen is looking lost on a8 while the rest of Black’s army is also doing very little. How can White force checkmate? |
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Puzzle 3, 2/5 difficulty.
It is clear that Black’s king is very exposed, while White has many pieces attacking. How did White finish Black off? |
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Puzzle 4, 3/5 difficulty.
Black’s knights are controlling the board, aiming at both the kingside and queenside; White is also behind in development. How did Black finish him off? This is a very beautiful and famous puzzle… |
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Puzzle 5, 4/5 difficulty.
Black’s pieces are sidelined over on the queenside, which leaves the Black king with a serious lack of protection. How did White take advantage of this and start a mating attack? |
I hope that you found those puzzles ok, any comments will be appreciated as usual. If you want some more puzzles then let me know.
Ok until next time!!
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| Solutions:
1) Korchnoi-Petersons, USSR Ch, 1964. 32 Qxe7+! Kxe7 33 Rg7+ Ke8 Nf6++ 2) Nimzowitsch-Hakansson, Kristianstad, 1922. 27 Qxd7+! Nxd7 28 Ne6++ 3) Lechtynsky-Kubicek, Prague, 1968. 22 Qxg7+! Nxg7 23 Nh6++ 4) Marache-Morphy, New York, 1857. 19…Ng3! 20 Qxg6 Nde2++ 5) Alekhine-Sterk, Budapest, 1921. 23 Bf6!! the threat is 24 Rg4 23…Rfc8 a) 23…h5 24 Rg4 Qxe2 25 Rxg7+ Kh8 26 Ng5! Black can’t stop mate on h8. b) 23…gxf6 24 Rg4+ Kh8 25 Qxa6 24 Qe5! coming around to g5 24…Rc5 Other tries: a) 24…gxf6 25 Rg4+ Kf8 26 Qd6+ Ke8 27 Rg8++ b) 24…Rxc4 25 Qg5 Rg4 26 Qxg4 g6 27 Qxa4 c) 24…Qxc4 25 Qg5 Kf8 26 Qxg7+ Ke8 27 Qg8+ Kd7 28 Ne5+ Kc7 29 Qxf7+ Kb8 30 Nxc4+- 25 Qg3 White is winning. The game finished: 25…g6 26 Rxa4 Qd3 27 Rf1 Qf5 28 Qf4 Qc2 29 Qh6 1-0. |
Comments
Nice puzzles, thank you!