Instructor Tactics

Let's start with the Morphy problem.
It's as beautiful as it is simple.



White To Move

Hints Below

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Mate in 2

Thread 134092
The title of this thread is a hint.

Solution Explained Below

DON'T LOOK BELOW IF YOU DON'T WANT THE ANSWER !!!!!!!

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Black's king is cornered and nearly mated.
White would have mate on the board with Rxa7, if the bishop weren't on b8.
White simply needs to lose a move to make this work.

If white just makes a move like Ra1, black has a6.
This must be prevented.

Is there a way to prevent both of these moves?

1.Ra6! fills this need. (A bishop move allows Rxa7 mate, and a6 is prevented.)

Black must play 1. ... bxa6.

This is met by 2.b7#! which uses the unfortunate position of black's king to white's advantage.

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Now, lets practice tactics with a nice tactical opening.



White To Move
This has many branches.
You strong tacticians try to work out every variation.
For those that want an easier approach, let's break this down.

SOLUTION TO THIS DIAGRAM IS BELOW

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The correct answer to the above is 1.Qh5+.

Now, let's look at each defense, individually.



1.) Position after 1.Qh5+ g6

White To Move And Win



2.) Position after 1.Qh5+ Kg8

White To Move And Win



3.) Position after 1.Qh5+ Ke7

White To Move And Win

*Bonus ... Only read this after studying 3 above.
If you found the correct solution, and black plays d5, what is your response?



4.) Position after 1.Qh5+ Kf6

White To Move And Win

SOLUTIONS TO 1-4 BELOW

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1.) 1.Qh5+ g6 2.Qd5+ wins the knight on e4.
2.) 1.Qh5+ Kg8 2.Qd5+ with mate in one.
3.) 1.Qh5+ Ke7 2.Qe2 wins the knight
* Bonus ... If 2. ... d5, 3.Bg5+ wins the queen.
4.) 1.Qh5+ Kf6 2.Qh4+ wins the knight, but ...
2.Nc3!? (Nxc3 3.Bg5+) is stronger!

More tactics in a few .........

Wasn't it Fine who cited that Morphy study as proof of the desire for fratricide. Morphy was like 12 when he composed that no? Something disturbing about that mate- like cutting the appendages off a bug before killing it.
eek.

Let's look at a few double mates.

Take the following position and give both sides the move.
There is a mate for each color in the position.



1.) and 2.) Find TWO mates.

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3.) and 4.) Find TWO mates.

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5.) and 6.) Find TWO mates.

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Next is a simple ending.



White To Move And Queen (No Kings necessary)

The same solution can be applied here:



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SOLUTIONS

1. White mates with 1.Qh8+ Bxh8 2.Rxh8#
2. Black mates with 1. ... Qxc3+ 2.Bxc3 Bxc3+ 3.Rb2 Bxb2+ 4.Kb1 Bc3+ 5.Kc1 Rb1#
3. White mates with 1.Bd3+ (or 1.Be4+/1.Bf5+/1.Bg6+) Kg8 2.Rh8+ Kxh8 3.Qh1+ Bh4 4.Qxh4+ Kg8 5.Qh7#
4. Black mates with 1. ... Qd6+ 2.Ka4 Qb4#
5. White mates with 1.Rh8+ Bxh8 2.Bh7#
6. Black mates with 1.Qxb2#

The simple ending:

White forces a passed pawn with 1.b5 axb5 2.c5 bxc5 3.a5 or 1.b5 cxb5 2.a5 bxa5 3.c5.

This is a nice ending trick to know, but beware of where the kings are.

I lost an ending once because I tried this with my pawns on the third rank.
Black queened first.

That's enough practice for now.

🙂

Originally posted by nimzo5
Wasn't if Fine who cited that Morphy study as proof of the desire for fratricide. Morphy was like 12 when he composed that no? Something disturbing about that mate- like cutting the appendages off a bug before killing it.
eek.

I'm not sure. I saw this in a book years ago, and it never left my memory. In fact, I may have started the rook on the wrong square, but it doesn't matter.
It is a truly amazing position to only be a two mover!

I think I'm on to something here! Double Mates !!! Think of the possibilities!
1001 Brilliant Ways To Double Checkmate !!!
I'll knock that Reinfeld guy's sells right out of the water.
I can even improve on Diemer!
Towards Double Mate From The First Move

...

Who wants one mate when they can have two?

Great job Paul. I prefer "find the best move" problems more though. Anything from pawn grab to checkmate. When you know it's a mate your whole thinking process is different than it would be OTB. Maybe now that you have 36 games in progress you can post some diagrams from your own games...

This position, or some variation thereof, haunts me:

Black to move



It was the second time my Uncle took me to his club. I was not familiar with the trick you described... I thought I had my first legitimate win (I was white). Was devastated.

Also, I noticed a lot of the problems you posted had a "distraction" theme. Reminded me of a nice little combination I played a couple weeks ago:

Black to move