I bought a Biscuit Tin! Not any common seen in your granny’s parlour
every day type of biscuit tin, but a genuine 100% Chess Biscuit Tin.
Here is a better picture of the lid.
And when we zoom in to look at the position, with the board round the correct way!
We see this is the position with Black (Red) Checkmating White.
And did I manage to find a RHP game with the same mating pattern?
I came very close. Look at this from Sue - radovan jazic52 RHP 2019
Black has just played 26.Bf5-d3 Checkmate.
The few of you whose memory works for more than seven days will remember
last time out I showed some Red Hot Pawn ‘Rook and Knight Epaulette Mates.’
In the same blog I asked you guess the year this cover appeared.
It is from CHESS November 1977.
If only I had examined the magazine more thoroughly because inside as part of
Hugh Courtney’s Christmas Quiz was this retro puzzle (composer unknown).
White has just played 5.Rxe5 mate. You have to reconstruct the previous five moves.
Pity, that would have fitted into the last blog perfectly. Solution below.
That last puzzle was hard to solve. I’ll make things a bit easy for you.
Staying with puzzles and CHESS magazine. In every issue they have a dozen
or more puzzles set in order of difficulty. I have picked four of the first puzzles
(the easiest) from CHESS magazines. The solution is ‘hidden’ under each puzzle.
Pruijssers - Kroeze, Netherlands 2008 (Black to play)
1... Qxf2+ 2. Rxf2 Rd1+ Mate next move.
Crux - Villa Gazquez, Catalonia 2012 (White to play)
1. Rd1 Qxc3 2. Rxd7+ and then bxc3
Manger - Lalic, England 2013 (Black to play)
1... Qxh3+ 2. gxh3 Rh2 Mate.
Shytaj - Levin, Bratto 2008 (White to play)
1. Re8+ Kg7 2. Qxd5 Rxd5 3. Rxa8
Now look at this move in the following diagram.
White played 41. Ne6 It was the two millionth played on here by ZorroTheFox.
I sent the Red Hot Pawn video team round to his house the capture the historic moment.
Pity he could not have mated Black on move 41 with a Knight...like he did 10 years ago.
ZorroTheFox - adalia bipunctata RHP 2010
FEN
8/2R5/6pk/1p1Nr2p/4p3/1PP3PP/P3KP2/2b5 w - - 0 39
[FEN "8/2R5/6pk/1p1Nr2p/4p3/1PP3PP/P3KP2/2b5 w - - 0 39"] 39. Ne7 e3 40. f4 {A darling of a move to be able to play. hits a Rook and covers the g4 flight square.} 40... Re6 {40....Rxe7 was the best way to stop the mate but the ending is hopeless for Black.} 41. Ng8 {Checkmate.}
This weeks game is where I sac my Queen for a Rook and Knight because
it looked interesting and I thought I’d get a lot more play than what I got.
Actually I got no play and the game should have been drawn or even a loss for me but my
opponent tried too hard win and eventually fell into one of many traps I had been setting.
coyote214 - greenpawn34 RHP 2020
(notes based on what I recall thinking at the time.)
1. b4 {It is that opening move with the monkey name. Won't try to refute it, just develop.} 1... e6 {Opening Plan. Nf6, Be7, 0-0, b6, Bb7....and see what happens.} 2. Bb2 Nf6 3. b5 {I'll ignore that for now. Castle first and then start arguing.} 3... Be7 4. e3 O-O 5. Bc4 {Looks inviting, the centre with tempo. I'll take it.} 5... d5 6. Bb3 {I'm good here, time to get things rolling.} 6... c6 7. a4 c5 {Why not? It looks OK (remember like you lot, I have other games on the go as well.)} 8. c4 Nbd7 {That b5 pawn is stopping usual development but Black is OK.} 9. Nf3 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Nb6 {I pick up a wee tempo there but I now have a Knight on b6. Knights on b6 often become sick.} 11. Bb3 c4 12. Ba2 Qd3 {That will annoy him. Pity I do not have a good follow up.} 13. Ne5 Qe4 14. O-O {All my Qd3 has done is make him play a couple of good moves.} 14... Bd6 15. f3 {OK now he is looking good. Cannot have that.} 15... Bxe5 16. fxe4 Bxb2 17. Nc3 Bxa1 18. Qxa1 e5 {That was good (not) ...White is now winning. 18.a5 and take c-pawn.} 19. Nd5 {This too is OK for White.} 19... Be6 {Now 20 Nc7 or 20.Nxf6+ I doubt I could draw that.} 20. Nxb6 {Suddenly my sick knight has gone and I'm back in the game.} 20... axb6 21. Bb1 Nd7 {Holding the e-pawn and heading for c5 with the Knight.} 22. d3 cxd3 23. Bxd3 Nc5 24. Bc2 f6 {Now I'm feeling better. the e5 pawn is solid and the e4 pawn is obstructing the White Bishop.} 25. Rd1 Rfd8 26. h4 h6 {A wee trap. 27.h5 Bg4 28.Rxd8+ Rxd8 then Bxh5. I am at my happiest setting traps.} 27. Rxd8+ Rxd8 28. Qc3 {He is trying get that Queen active, the c2 Bishop is not helping.} 28... Ra8 29. Qa1 {A Queen defending a pawn. Need a trap here....} 29... Kh7 {Now I threaten something like 30...Bb3 31. Bxb3 Nxb3 (with the King on g8 Qa2 wins.)} 30. Qd1 {I cannot stop Qd6 and he is in with his Queen, 29...Kf8 would have given me Ke7 here.} 30... Bc4 {What else? I am at the waiting to die stage.} 31. g4 Be6 32. Kf2 {That is OK - mental note, have Knight check with Nxe4.} 32... Kg8 {Got to centralise the King to plug a hole or two.} 33. Kg3 {Guarding the g4 pawn so the Queen can move.} 33... Kf7 {Too late, he can play Qd6 and the b6 and b7 pawns go.} 34. g5 {He is doing it this way. OK it appears just as good,} 34... hxg5 35. Qh5+ Ke7 {Centralised King, it should have here ages ago, I got away with it.} 36. hxg5 Rg8 {Starting a defensive chain, Knight holds the Bishop, Bishop holds the Rook...} 37. Kf3 fxg5 38. Qxg5+ Kd6 {...and the Rook holds the g7 pawn.} 39. Ke2 Bc4+ {Setting up a trap.} 40. Kd2 Bb3 {Pretty deep eh....41.Bxb3 Nxe4+} 41. Qg6+ {He saw it...Damn!} 41... Be6 42. Kc3 Rc8 43. Kb4 Rc7 {Here with e6 Bishop pinned. 44.Bb1 and 45.Ba2 looks OK.} 44. a5 {White is going for it. if White wanted a draw here. Bb1-c2-b1-c2 I cannot so anything about it.} 44... bxa5+ 45. Kxa5 b6+ {A trap! White cannot take this pawn.} 46. Kxb6 {He took it.} 46... Nd7+ 47. Ka5 Rxc2 {Now Black is looking good.} 48. Qxg7 {I'm going to trap the White King in a mating net.} 48... Rc3 {Not only tying the Queen down to holding the e3 pawn. But letting the Rook go to b3.} 49. Qg1 Ra3+ 50. Kb4 Rb3+ 51. Ka4 Kc5 {Now the White King is in a mating net. White has to give up the Queen with Qc1+ and Qa3+} 52. Qd1 Nb6+ {0-1 53.Ka5 Ra3+ and mate next move. (and I have a Knight on b6!)}
Solution to the mate in five from Hugh Courtney’s 1977 Christmas Quiz.
