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Bughouse Quiz 4 |
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Bughouse Quiz 4 |
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This is installment #4 in my bughouse quizzes. If you haven't seen the first installment yet, I suggest you try that one first. (Here's a link to get there.) This quiz is a little tougher than the first one, and it includes three double board problems.
For the first six positions on this page, the rules are the same as in the first quiz: You are White, and your goal is to find the forced wins, subject to the following conditions:
Following these six positions are the three double board problems, along with the rules to follow when solving those problems.
The answers are included after the diagrams --
to check an answer to a specific problem, click on the number
for that problem. The single board problems appear next...
            
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For the double board problems that follow, pretend that you have a partner you are in communication with. (You're the smart one, of course.) It is your team's move on both boards. Using both boards, work out a plan to force a win.
In addition to showing the board positions and pieces in hand, you'll
note the double board diagrams have clocks showing the time remaining
for each player. These clocks may be a factor in the solution, so be
sure to consider them.
 
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#1
To add a little human interest to this installment of my bughouse quizzes, I have included a few intriguing positions that can be found in the database on TAsunder's Web page. What makes these positions intriguing is that they all involve top players who missed the mate and went on to lose the game. So, if you find the mate for just one of these positions, just think, you did better than the masters when they faced the same positions! (In fact, two of the missed mates aren't difficult, so you may very well outperform the masters twice, imagine!)
Oh, by the way, I hope none of you master players take offense when I include some positions that present you as less than your godly selves. However, if you are offended, show some good judgment by not sending me a nasty e-mail to tell me your feelings are hurt. I will only exact my revenge in the worst possible way, i.e. I will add your e-mail to this page (he said as he emitted a sinister laugh). On the other hand, if you think there are much more interesting examples of missed mates in TAsunder's database, by all means point them out to me. I can always use good material for future quizzes.
Incidentally, as of May, 1999 there were over 3,000 master level games in TAsunder's database, so the fact that I could find some games where the masters misplayed the position should surprise nobody. (In fact, while researching this article, many other games with missed mates were found that are not included here, either because the master won the game anyway or because time pressure was clearly a factor.) In defense of the masters, let me just say that they understand the importance of time in bughouse quite well -- in every game they make a great effort to play quickly so that they do not fall behind on their clocks. Since they play so quickly, missed mates in their games are actually fairly common. Play through a fair number of games in the master database, and you will see I'm right.
This first bit of master-bashing (oops, I meant to say "instructive missed opportunity in a game involving some premier bughouse players") is from game #15207 in TAsunder's database. In that game, Gnejs, playing Black, has just played ...Q(e7)xf6??, allowing jtp a quick mate by 1. Q@e8+! Rxe8 2. Qxe8mate. However, jtp missed the mate, playing 1. Bxc6?? instead, to which Gnejs quickly corrected his error with 1...B@c4!, eliminating jtp's queen (because of 2. any@d3 Bxd3 3. Qxd3 B@c4!) and eventually winning the game.
I know, it took you only a few seconds to find 1. Q@e8+, a move a World
champion walked into and a 2400 player overlooked. Don't you feel great
right now?
Back to questions
#2
This is from game #10084 in TAsunder's database. In that game, pminear played 1. N@f5+?, but it would have been far better to use the knight on the board for this check: 1. Nf5+! Kf6 2. Q@g7+ Ke6 3. N@c5mate. Also, it didn't take long for loyal readers Jeff Hoot and Fabrice Liardet to point out there is an even faster mate: 1. N@h5+! Kany 2. Q@g7mate
Actually, pminear still had a good position
despite this missed opportunity, but then he proceeded to run it into
the ground with 1... Kf6 2. Ng4+ Ke6 3. d5+ Kd7 4. Nf6+ Kc8 5. Q@a8+??
R@b8, self-trapping his queen. As it turned out, a queen was exactly what
his opponents (Tecumseh and letsgetiton)
needed for mate on the other board, and the clock was a few
seconds in their favor, so they waited out pminear to steal the point.
Back to questions
#3
A non-checking queen sac wins this one on the spot:
1. Qxh6! is the key move, threatening Qh7mate or
Qxg7mate. If 1...gxh6 2. P@h7mate.
Back to questions
#4
The idea for this problem came about when the editor of Variant Chess found a defense to my Levitsky-Marshall "bugification". (See position #6 in quiz 3.) The defense was a knight drop, so the problem was amended to remove the knight from Black's material in hand. However, I think the move is interesting and deserves some mention, so here is a position utilizing it.
In the position, White has a very nice attack going - the pawns on a6 and c6 exert terrific pressure on the white squares near the Black king. Under normal circumstances, 1. P@b7 would force mate easily. However, in this case there is the abnormal circumstance of the White king being threatened with mate on the move. Mating Black by a series of checks would be the next logical idea to consider, but it doesn't work: 1. Q@a8+ (dramatic, but White is giving away the piece he needs for mate) Kxa8 2. P@b7+ Kb8! (not 2...Bxb7?? 3. axb7+ Kb8 4. N@a6mate) and White runs out of checks; then if 3. Qxg3 Ne2+ 4. Kh1 Nxg3+ and Black mates. So, as unappetizing as this sounds, to win this game White is going to have to play some (ugh!) defense.
The only move to stall Black's attack is 1. N@h4!! (For an analysis of all the moves that don't work, check answer #6 in quiz 3, that bugified Levitsky-Marshall study.) The key lines in White's defense comes after 1...N@f3+ 2. Qxf3! Nxf3+ 3. Nxf3 and 1...Rxh4 2. Qxh4! Qxh4 3. P@f6!. (The 1...Rxh4 line is very delicate, though. I had to remove a pawn from Black's offboard material to eliminate a cook found by Tecumseh: 3...N@f3+ 4.gxf3 Nxf3+ 5. Kg2 P@g4! and mates; for example 6. B@g3 Qh3+ 7.Kh1 B@g2mate. Also, the Black pawn on d5 prevents a second cook found by Jochem Snuverink, aka Ishamael: 1...Rxh4 2. Qxh4! Ndf3+!? 3. Kh1 Qxg2+! 4. Kxg2 Nxh4+ 5. Kh3! B@g2+! 6. Kxh4, and, without the Black pawn on d5, the bishop dropped on g2 allows Black to defend his king by 6...Bxa6!! - very ingenious!) In either case, Black's mating attack is parried long enough for White to proceed with his own mating attack, i.e. @b7 with the threat Q@a8. Another try for Black is 1...N@e2+ 2. Kh1 Rxf2, but then either 3. hxg3 or 3. Rg1 defends.
Finally, Black can try switching to defense himself, but he is quickly
overrun by a pawn storm. For example, 1...Nc5 2. P@b7 Bxb7 3. axb7 Nxb7
4. cxb7 Kxb7 5. B@a6+ followed by 6. Q@b7mate.
Back to questions
#5
The White queen triangulates Black into submission: After
1. Q@f5+!, Black can't play 1...Kc6 because of
2. Qb5mate or 1...Ke7/e8 because of 2. Qf7mate.
He can delay the mate by sacrificing a piece on e6, but
1...any@e6 2. Qxe6+ Kc6 3. Qd5+ Ke7 4. Qf5+!
returns to the position after the queen drop. White continues this
triangulation maneuver until Black either (a) runs out of pieces to
sac, or (b) decides it would be more prudent to sit,
rather than continue to feed his partner's opponent.
Back to questions
#6
This position features more fancy stepping by the White queen. If White had a bishop to drop, the position would be a simple mate in 2. Since White does not have a bishop to drop, the queen maneuvers to get the blockaded bishop on f1 into the attack.
The main line is 1. Q@d7+ Kb7 2. Qc6+ Kc8 3. Qxe6+ Kb7
4. Qxd5+ Kc8 5. Qf5+ Kb7 6. Qxe4+ Kc8 7. Qg4+ Kb7 8. Qxf3+ Kc8
9. Qxh3+ Kb7 10. Bxg2+ c6 11. Bgxc6+ Kc7 12. Qe7mate. As in
the previous problem, Black can delay the mate by sacrificing pieces,
but the queen just takes these pieces and works her way back up the
ladder; for example, if Black plays 8...any@c6, White responds
9. Qxc6+ Kc8 10. Qe6+ Kb7 11. Qe4+ Kc8 12. Qf5+ Kb7 13. Qf3+, returning
to the main line. If my math is correct, White forces mate in at worst
42 moves!
Back to questions
#7
Like the first two puzzles, this position is another real life example of a misplayed game. Although masters were not involved in this one, I have included it because I think it is instructive (and also because it is pretty darn funny).
Who gets the mate in this one? Take your pick. White can win with the flashy queen sac 1. Qxf7+! Kxf7 2. N@g5+ Ke8 (not 2...Kf6 3. Nd5+ Ke5 4. f4mate) 3. P@f7+ Kd7 4. P@e6mate, provided his partner gets him another pawn by playing 1...Bxd5!. Or, Black can win with the esthetic combination 1...B@h3+! 2. Nxh3 Bxh3+ 3. Kg8 P@h2+ 4. Kh8 P@g2mate, provided his partner gets him another pawn by playing 1. Qxd6!
Well, our heroes in this one managed to find the most creative way to lose, and I'll bet you have already guessed what happened. That's right, both sides went for the kill. White played 1. Qxf7+ Kxf7 2. N@g5+ Ke8 3. P@f7+ Kd7 and then waited for the pawn he needed for mate. Meanwhile, Black played 1...B@h3+ 2. Nxh3 Bxh3+ 3. Kg8 P@h2+ 4. Kh8 and then waited for the pawn he needed for mate. Neither player was in a position to give his partner a pawn, so their game collapsed. (A good try to save it would be 4. N@c5+ on the White board, but the opponents stay on top by using their time advantage -- White's opponent sits until Black moves and his partner covers up.)
Certainly, this was a very unlucky way to lose -- it wouldn't
be fair to say either player made a mistake, but clearly both of them did!
The incident illustrates nicely the wise words of Anders Ebenfelt,
which I quote from my
Bughouse Letters page:
There is only need for mate on one board to win
the match. It is meaningless to "win" on both.
Back to questions
#8
Oh, you want another master bashing example, you say? Okay, just one more...
This interesting position is from game #17225 in the TAsunder database. If your first impression here is that the situation looks pretty hairy and cheapo-infested, well, allow me to compliment you on your good instincts. JKiller and Firefly could have won this one, but the road to victory is laden with land mines.
There are a few winning plans in this position, but they are all pretty complex. That's good -- I was looking for a complex double board position to kick off my latest idea for this Web site, a monthly contest puzzle. Follow the link for the answer to this study, or, if I haven't received ten correct answers to the puzzle yet, solve it yourself and get your name added to the list of star solvers.
As for how the game turned out, well, even two 2500+ players couldn't avoid the land mines. Firefly thought for ten seconds before playing the ineffective move 1...P@d6. JKiller got into a sitz-krieg with his diagonal opponent before bailing out with 1. P@f6+, although his attack after 1...Kd8 2. g8Q+ Be8 still looked potent. However, then disaster struck on the other board in the form of 2. R@b8+ B@e8?? 3. Nh7mate.
Oh, well, if these master bashing studies have proven anything, it's
that even the best players are capable of major oversights. That's
something worth remembering the next time your partner misplays a position
and you feel the urge to tell him what an idiot he is.
Back to questions
#9
Okay, this last one is kind of a trick question. First, let's figure out how the Black player is going to get out of the mess he is in. He sees that he is mated after 1...Kxh8 2. hxg7+ Kg8 3. Rh8+ Kf7 4. g8Q+ Ke7 5. Qe8mate. He also sees that he can't sit, because he is slightly behind on his clock, with :10 less than the Black opponent. However, he notices there is still hope if the king makes a frantic dash for the queenside, so he plays 1...Kf7! and, noting the nasty threat 2. Q@e8mate, sends his partner the urgent message "no queens!" (or "q---").
Now, the White player has a position with definite mating chances. Unfortunately, a queen exchange would mate his partner, so he can't play 1. Q@e8+ Qxe8 2. Qxe8+, when his opponent will sit rather than play into 2...Rxe8? 3. Rxe8mate. However, he can play 1. Qe7+! Nxe7 2. Q@h8+ any@g8 3. hxg7mate. Why does this solution work when 1. Q@e8+ doesn't? Simple - the queen on e2 wasn't born a queen, it is a promoted pawn. Here is the reasoning:
And that concludes installment #4 in my bughouse quizzes.
For future bughouse quizzes, I would be more than happy to include
positions sent to me by other players. So, the next
you pull off a particularly clever and instructive bughouse mate and
you'd like to show the world your concept, send me the position and
solution in some decipherable form. If I like the idea, I'll include
it in a future quiz and give you proper credit!
Here's my E-mail.
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