In this game, you had to find the best continuation in a short master game.
Congratulations!
Thank you to everyone who sent in their answers. You received at least 1 point for sending in a solution. If you chose a good move you received two points. If you guessed the best continuation, you received 3 points. This week, the following players received 2 or more points for their solutions:
Aathiran Oyalood (3)
Natalie Weaver (3)
Januda Masinghe (3)
This Week’s Solution
You had to find how white could sacrifice a queen and achieve a quick checkmate after the following moves:
- e4, e5
- Bc4, Nf6
- d4, Nxe4
- dxe5, Nxf2!?
The solution that we were looking for:
5. 0-0 – kingside castling does the two things. It places the white king out of the centre and manoeuvres the rook beautifully to the half open ‘f’ file. If black chooses to seize the white queen which was left en prise (available for capture) with 5…Nxd1 then they are in for a rude awakening. The follow up is unstoppable and deadly.
6. Bxf1+ forces the king off the back rank, 6… Ke7. There are no alternative moves for black. Our white rook guards the bishop from its new prime castled position on f1. 7. Bg5++ is the final devastating development from white. None of the black pieces are able to block the check and, with the support of the guarding white rook and aggressively placed pawn at e5, the white bishop pair annihilate the open king.
What To Do Next
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