A chess puzzle! (yes, there is a first for ever...

the following position arose after:-

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 Be7 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Nd7




White to play, without boards or engines try to work out the best continuation for white.

unfortunatly, I was black.

Originally posted by Shinidoki
the following position arose after:-

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 Be7 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Nd7


[fen]r1bqk1nr/pppnbppp/3p4/8/2BNP3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 0 6[/fen]

White to play, without boards or engines try to work out the best continuation for white.

unfortunatly, I was black.

Im not good at these but maybe Queen to h5 or just a castle.

Originally posted by Shinidoki
the following position arose after:-

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 Be7 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Nd7


[fen]r1bqk1nr/pppnbppp/3p4/8/2BNP3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 0 6[/fen]

White to play, without boards or engines try to work out the best continuation for white.

unfortunatly, I was black.

6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Qd5+ wins the Q or mates.

Wait I think Bishop to e6 then f takes e6 and then knight takes e6 wins the queen.
Is that it?

Originally posted by Shinidoki
the following position arose after:-

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 Be7 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Nd7


[fen]r1bqk1nr/pppnbppp/3p4/8/2BNP3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 0 6[/fen]

White to play, without boards or engines try to work out the best continuation for white.

unfortunatly, I was black.

I'll give it a shot...

6. Bxf7!? Kxf7 (Kf8 allows Ne6 forking the K and Q). 7. Qh5+ g6 8. Qd5+ Ke8

From here it gets a little murky

9. Ne6 c6 10. ??? Qd4 Qa5+ 11. Bd2 Q anywhere? 12. Nxc7 forking King and Rook.

Certainly it gets pretty nasty for black but I don't think this is quite best....

Originally posted by chessmasterBG
Wait I think Bishop to e6 then f takes e6 and then knight takes e6 wins the queen.
Is that it?

Nah, Black doesn't have to take.. Nc5 is probably what I would play.

Originally posted by Sickboy
I'll give it a shot...

6. Bxf7!? Kxf7 (Kf8 allows Ne6 forking the K and Q). 7. Qh5+ g6 8. Qd5+ Ke8

From here it gets a little murky

9. Ne6 c6 10. ??? Qd4 Qa5+ 11. Bd2 Q anywhere? 12. Nxc7 forking King and Rook.

Certainly it gets pretty nasty for black but I don't think this is quite best....

In your line after 9. Ne6 then 9. .. Nb6 looks even better. It also attacks queen, but at the same time the bishop controls e6 again preventing the move repetition by Ng7+/Ne6+. If White doesn't have this forced draw anymore, Black is already better (a piece up for a pawn).

But now, since White has to win, I'm not sure if 8. Qd5+ or already 7. Qh5+ was a mistake. I'm thinking maybe 7. Ne6 is good. But I only see that Black can't take the knight because of 8. Qd5+ Kf6 9. Qf5 mate. But the other variations are kind of complex. This knight move looks more promising though, since Black cannot counterattack White's queen. I will look at it again when I'm less tired 😴

A beautiful double sacrifice!

Originally posted by BigDoggProblem
6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Qd5+ wins the Q or mates.

good try. but wrong.

after Qd5+ Ke8....

and then if your plan to win the Queen was Ne6, black responds with Nb6! ...

and sick boy, your line is refuted in the same way...blacks best defence is not c6.

seeing as nobody has got it yet I'll give you all a hint:

think very hard about whites secound move of the combination.

once you find it, everything else will fall in place.

7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Ne6 Kxe6 9.Qd5 and forces mate ...?

edit: but 8. ... Qf8 might refute this.

Originally posted by pootstick
7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Ne6 Kxe6 9.Qd5 and forces mate ...?

edit: but 8. ... Qf8 might refute this.

Here is my shot: Bxf7+ KxB
N-f6 KxN
Q-d5+ K-f6
B-g5+ K-g6
Q-f5 #

Originally posted by sonhouse
Here is my shot: Bxf7+ KxB
N-f6 KxN
Q-d5+ K-f6
B-g5+ K-g6
Q-f5 #

do you mean ... Ne6, KxN . i think that seems the same as mine.. but does Qf8 instead of KxN escape?

Originally posted by pootstick
7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Ne6 Kxe6 9.Qd5 and forces mate ...?

edit: but 8. ... Qf8 might refute this.

7. Bxf7+ Kxf7 8. Ne6 Qf8 9. Nxc7 looks crushing for White.
e.g. 9. ... Qf8 10. Qh5+ g6 11. Qd5+ Kf6 12. Bg5+ and White picks up the queen with a knight fork.

Originally posted by Shinidoki
seeing as nobody has got it yet I'll give you all a hint:

think very hard about whites secound move of the combination.

once you find it, everything else will fall in place.

The second move (after 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7) must be 7.Ne6!, immediately attacking the queen. Kxe6 fails after Qd5+ and Qf5#. Black only has Qe8 to save the queen. Then follows 8.Nxc7, attacking the queen again. After Qf8 (Qd8? then Qd5+ followed by Ne6+ - note the check making Nb6 impossible - wins) 9.Qh5+ g6 10.Qd5+ Kf6 (Kg7 then immediately Ne6+ forks) 11.Bg5+ Kg7 12.Ne6+ wins the queen

edit. I see the solution was given above