Well folks, it's been a while since there has been a chess puzzle, so I figure
I'd throw this out as a "position for discussion." Shamelessly stolen from
Soltis' "The inner game of chess."
So it's a position from Alekhine vs Euwe, world championship match 1937.
Here is the position in FEN notation:
6k1/3bbpp1/p3pn2/1p1q2N1/1P5Q/2N3P1/P3PP1P/2B3K1 w KQkq - 0 1
So Euwe's next move is:
25 ... Qe5
Discuss the quality of Euwe's move.
How would you have responded as white?
And the hint is: if any of you give Alekhine's response, you flunk the quiz!
Now you top players out there; let those of us who are rating challenged
respond first!
Now if anyone wants to toss about better and more instructive positions....
I understand what the first part of the notation means (the 6k1 etc:
starting at a8 and moving horizontally there are 6 spaces, then a
king, then a space, move down to a7 and then across horizontally in a
similar fashion, and so on...if this is wrong then tell me) but what
does the 'w KQkq - 0 1' bit at the end mean? I'm guessing it shows
who made the last move (as well as other things) but am not sure.
Could some kind-hearted soul tell me?
Thanks,
Mark
The Squirrel Lover
Steady. Were you to do so you might get some crazed delusional fool
chasing after you wanting to take your photograph ;o)
I really should put them into an online album for you all sometime.
Clearly I'd need to invest in some cutting edge technology in order to
cope with the huge amount of traffic the site would receive.
Mark
The Squirrel Lover
PS. Anymore puzzles/positions would be welcome from anyone.
Especially ones involving blunders by GMs. Yes. Especially those.
Normally I think it means:
'w' white to move - alternative is a 'b',for black to move.
"KQ" castling both Kingside and queenside still available for W "kq" same, for
black.
and the numbers are something related to the moves
I think the last number is which move one is on, while the almost last number
MAY be moves since last capture/pawn move. It was 0 1 because I just set up
the position on the board, didn't play through the game...:>
Well it's been three days and no one's bothered to have a go, and
anyway, I'm just as 'rating challenged' as most.
From what I can see 25 ... Qe5 is a mistake since 26.Qh8+ forces
Black to play Kxh8 (no other legal move). White plays 27.Nxf7+
forking Black's queen and king and thus winning Black's queen and a
pawn for the loss of a queen. This leaves White two pawns ahead and
in a better (or so it seems) position.
Therefore, the quality of Euwe's move can be summed up in one
word....pants (as was Alekhine's next move).
I shall be very surprised if this is right since it would mean that Euwe
made a mistake in playing 25 ... Qe5 and then Alekhine followed it
right up with a mistake of his own by missing 26.Qh8+ (since
maggoteer said anyone who gives Alekhine's response flunks the
quiz). Two mistakes, one right after the other in a World
Championship match?!
Mark
The Squirrel Lover
you are correct sir! Have a cookie!
By the account I've read your analysis is right.
This is what Soltis says in the chapter titled "Ideas":
"Here in a world championship game, we witness a remarkable double oversight
by the two best players of the day.
... but there are no such magazine headings on the board when you are playing
the game. So, without being aware that there was something important to find,
Alexander Alekhine and Max Euwe both missed a primary tactial idea. Ideas are
clues to the position and in this case, neither player had one."
Makes me feel better about my own blunders, ya' know! Why I can blunder just
like a world champion, often even better!
As a beginner I learnt an awful lot (and still do) by looking at games
played by people who were better than me, and of course from playing
people who were better than me.
One of the reasons for this was a chance to see "ideas" or "tactical
tricks" or "combinations" which I otherwise didn't know existed.
For example:-
1. In the early stages central pawns on d4 and e4 are often protected
by knights on f3 and c3 respectively. Those knights are in turned
often pinned by bishops on g4 and b4. The piece defending the
knight is often NOT another knight, so when your bishop takes the
knight, a pawn or a bishop or a queen recaptures. Now though there is
nothing defending the central pawn and it is thus free for capturing.
2. It can be a mistake capturing an undefended white pawn on a2 say.
If there is a white rook on the first rank and white pawns on b2 and c2
then Bxa2 say could prove to be a mistake for black, even though the
pawn is undefended. White can play b3 and thus *trap* the bishop.
3. A knight is situated on f3. There are pawns on h3 and g2. The g2
pawn defends the knight and the h3 pawn. There is something
attacking the knight (say a queen), and there is something attacking
h3 (a bishop). Everything looks under control since g2 defends both
h3 and the knight. HOWEVER, black can play Bxh3, white plays gxh3
and then wham Qxf3 and thus winning a pawn and a knight (for the
cost of a bishop) as well as decimating white's kingside.
These are just 3 (very basic) "tricks" that can increase the playing
standard of any beginner.
My point is that sometimes one simply doesn't think of these things,
especially when one is a beginner. By looking at other games
these "tricks" are laid before us. There are loads of different ones,
many very straightforward (yet the beginner falls for them often), and
many altogether more subtle.
The position Maggoteer posted can teach the beginner one such trick.
In it white *forced* black into a position whereby white was able to
fork black's king and queen (and win a crucial pawn). The idea of the
fork is one such trick in itself that every chess player should be aware
of, the queen sacrifice (albeit temporary and perhaps not a 'sacrifice'
in the strictest sense of the word) which *forced* black into such a
perilous position is a slightly more counter-intuitive idea, but no less
comprehensible.
As a final point (and apologies for the preachy nature of this post)
there's no magic formula or ingredient which makes one a better
chess player. By spending 10 minutes every now and again on little
thing's like the position Maggoteer posted one will more than likely
become a better player.
Thanks for posting the position in the first place Maggoteer!
Mark
The Squirrel Lover