Cool puzzle

White to play and win



Discuss

Originally posted by clandarkfire
White to play and win

[fen]3B4/8/2B5/1K6/8/8/3p4/3k4 w - - 0 1[/fen]

Discuss

That's very interesting, thanks for posting it. It's pretty obvious that White needs to meneuver his white-squared bishop to d3. I think I know how to do this, but will play around with the position a little longer to make sure I'm right.

Yes, using square d3 for a bishop. I think the key is to make d1 and the adjacent squares unavailable for black. I'd start with 1.Ka6 to give the bishops diagonals on both sides. The black squared bishop mainly holds pins on the pawn to give the white squared bishop and king time to go forward or re-maneuver. The king stays behind the two bishops but closes in. It will (should) end with black not being able to cover the pawn.

Yes, 1. Ka6! makes room for the bishops. For example:

1. Ka6 was the move I was looking at (honest guv). Nice idea - king gets out the way to give the bishops complete freedom and only moves back in for the kill when the bishops are optimally placed.

Originally posted by Fat Lady
1. Ka6 was the move I was looking at (honest guv). Nice idea - king gets out the way to give the bishops complete freedom and only moves back in for the kill when the bishops are optimally placed.

Here's an example of how Black can draw if White tries to move his king in too quickly:

Originally posted by Mephisto2
Yes, but your point of Bd3 is valid too. In the example shown above, black gives square d1 up too easily. Of course that safes a lot of moves.

Recced. great puzzle!

Same here! Very instructive!

Speaking of cool check out http://www.turbulence.org/spotlight/thinking/chess.html