Originally posted by ilywrinThis one I can do. Forced moves make things easier.
i've always suspected criminal intentions in me. Anyway, a Mate in 4 (white to move).
[fen]8/8/5Bp1/8/R7/7k/8/7K [/fen]
1. Bh4 g5 2. Kg1
a) 2. ... gxh4 3. Kf2 Kh2 4. Rxh4#
b) 2. ... g4 3. Bg5 g3 (3. ... Kg3 4. Ra3# ) 4. Rh4#
From Sokolsky - Ravinsky
White to move and win
I'm not asking for a full variation list. Finding the first move and showing why other alternatives don't work is fine.
Obviously 1.a8Q or 1.Rb8 fail after 1...Rc2+ 2.Ka3 Ra2+ 3. Kb4 Rxa8 = or 3...Ra4+ 4.Kc5 Rc4+ with perpetual check.
So 1.b4 Rc8 /1...Rd(e5)? 2.a8Q Rd(e)2 + 3.Kc3 Rc2+ 4. Kd4 Rd2 +5. Ke5 Re2+ 6.Qe4 + -/
2.b5 Ra8 /2... Bd7 3. Rb7 Be8 4. b6 Ra8 5. Rxf7 ~ 6. b7 + -/ 3. Rb8 Rxb8 4. axb8N! Bxb5 5. Ka3 and the knight makes its way to e7 mating.
Unless I have missed something 🙂. A nice puzzle in any case.
Very well... The famous end of the Mitrofanov's study:
White to play and win.
Originally posted by ilywrinI've always had the solution as 1. a8=B being the only winning move. But I'll have to look into your lines and see if there is a mistake there or if I've misremembered the puzzle.
Obviously 1.a8Q or 1.Rb8 fail after 1...Rc2+ 2.Ka3 Ra2+ 3. Kb4 Rxa8 = or 3...Ra4+ 4.Kc5 Rc4+ with perpetual check.
So 1.b4 Rc8 /1...Rd(e5)? 2.a8Q Rd(e)2 + 3.Kc3 Rc2+ 4. Kd4 Rd2 +5. Ke5 Re2+ 6.Qe4 + -/
2.b5 Ra8 /2... Bd7 3. Rb7 Be8 4. b6 Ra8 5. Rxf7 ~ 6. b7 + -/ 3. Rb8 Rxb8 4. axb8N! Bxb5 5. Ka3 and the knight makes its way to e7 mating.
Unless I have miss ...[text shortened]... nd of the Mitrofanov's study:
[fen]kb4Q1/P7/1PP5/K6q/8/8/8/4n3 [/fen]
White to play and win.
The Mitrofanov study is famous for the seemingly illogical 1. Qg5 leading to mate.
Originally posted by ilywrinYou can find the analysis (I agree it is very long) at the bottom of this page. http://www.xs4all.nl/~timkr/chess2/minor.htm
yes, the solution is indeed 1.a8B! I failed to see that after 1.b4 Rc8 2.b5 Black can play 2...Bxb5 and now 3.Rxb5 Rc2+ leads to perpetula check 🙁. Ah, well, and to think I discarded 1.a8B as too long to analyze... Anyway:
a very nice and not too long study:
[fen]1N6/8/K7/3k4/3p3B/p7/2PP4/8 [/fen]
White to play and win