Puzzle Contest

Well, I should've known something was wrong when a whole week went by with nobody sending me a correct solution to my latest puzzle. I suppose the biggest tip-off should've been the lack of responses from the master level players who probably found an answer to the August puzzle in under an hour.

After a week transpired and the top star still lay unclaimed, I asked ace solver Fabrice Liardet if I'd actually managed to stump him and the rest of the World with this puzzle. He said he thought the right move was 1. Qd3 but didn't see an answer to 1...f6!

Hmm, good point. Further proof that advancing age and 24 years of computer programming have fried my brain cells to the point where I can't analyze anymore. (Hard to believe I once had a master rating in correspondence chess, back before computers ruined chess by mail.) Yes, I realize you young studs who haven't hit 25 yet probably regard these statements as kind of pathetic, but just wait. Wait twenty years or so, then think back to all those 3 minute games you played on the Internet, back in the days when people used horrendously slow things called modems to make their connections. You may not have been the greatest player back then, but you'll wonder how the hell you were able to play so quickly.

(Qualo, you are my hero. Forget these kids with 2500+ ratings. Anybody over the age of 50 who can play 0 1 crazyhouse or double board bughouse simply amazes me.)

Getting back to the puzzle: I think there are ways to save it, for example by adding a couple of White pawns at g2 and g3. Then White should have a won ending after 1. Q@d3 f6 2. Nxh7 Bxh7 3. Rxh7+ Nxh7 4. Qxd7 followed by Qxb7 and Qxb3. The win would certainly require some technique, however, and with both clocks short on time I am sure even Kasparov would misplay it.

As for the intended solution, the idea was 1. Q@d3 Be6 (1...f5 2. Qxd7!) 2. Q@g6!! fxg6 3. Kb1!, followed by a long king maneuver to first force the Black pawn to b5, then pick off this pawn, and finally win the bishop. A sample line would be 3...Bd5 4. Kc1 Be6 5. Kd2 Bc4 6. Kc3 Kd5 7. Kd3 Be6 8. Kd4! b6 9. Kc3 Bd5 10. Kd3 Be6 11. Kd4! b5 12. Kc3 Bd5 13. Kb4 Bc4 14. Ka5 Be6 15. Kxb5 Bd5 16. Kb4 Be6 17. Kc3 Bd5 18. Kd3 Be6 19. Kd4! Bd5 20. Kxd5+ followed by 21. Nxf7mate. Well, even though everything is pretty much forced, I kind of like my effort here, considering my burned out brain cells and all. Too bad I missed one little detail.

Puzzle #2
uploaded September 5, 1999

Your partner has mate next move on his board. Unfortunately, though, he reached the mating position with only a few seconds left on his clock, and his opponent still has about three minutes. So, your partner's opponent is sitting, and it will be up to you and your opponent to battle this one out.

The good news is, you have a queen in hand and Black has nothing to drop. There are two pieces of bad news, however: (a) your opponent has more time than you, so you can't run his clock out, and (b) Black has made a point of surrounding his king with defenders (or is that actually good news? Hmm...). How do you win this?

Cantankerous old coot that I am, next month I'll give it another shot -- look for my next puzzle October 3, 1999. If I post another faulty puzzle, I'll take that as a sign I need to leave the problem composition racket for good. Stay tuned kids, this should be exciting...


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