Level
4-Rook
Chess Diagram
[Event "Puzzle #115"][Date "2010.04.30"][Result "1-0"][SetUp "1"][FEN "8/p6p/5Nk1/8/B6P/8/KPP3Pp/8 w - - 0 1"]
Wikipedia introduces him this way:
"Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (August 17, 1911 – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian International Grandmaster and three-time World Chess Champion. Working as an electrical engineer at the same time, he was one of the very few famous chess players who achieved distinction in another career while playing top-class competitive chess. He also developed a chess-playing algorithm that tried to "think" like a top human player, but this approach has been superseded by a brute-force search strategy that exploits the rapid increase in the calculation speed of modern computers... His famous pupils include World Champions Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik. Playing a top class chess for decades, being an eminent chess author, one of the pioneers of the computer chess, and a great chess teacher in his late years, Botvinnik is widely regarded as one of the greatest contributors to the game of all time."
Botvinnik said once "Chess mastery essentially consists of analyzing chess positions accurately". This is what we are doing week after week: take another step forward in our journey to chess mastery. In order to make the next step you need to:
a) Analyze the position and propose a plan for both sides (10 points)
b) White to move and win (10 points)
Total available points for this puzzle is 20. The answers will be published next week together with puzzle #116.
Puzzle #114 solution:
This time the author of the puzzle was Fritz (not the computer...) back in 1951. Only 3 solvers realized those quotes were actually tips for solving the position and only 2 of them got maximum points for a correct answer. Here is the one put together by Edwin:
a) White won because the Black's King is trapped on the side and if White had a light square Bishop, it would be totally different.
Yes, the quotes are useful:
Playing on the rim (which means edge) is dim because then your pieces would control less space which may make you lose, exactly what happened in this game
Every pawn is a potential Queen because they might promote and what happened in this game to make White win
The King is a good fighting piece in the endgame and if White didn't use the king, it would be toast
After a bad opening there is still hope in the middlegame because you still have a chance to attack; if you have a bad middle game, there is still chance to attack, but in the endgame you've been trying to hide, so you cannot attack and also win!
Looking ahead one move is better because then you can see what will happen next
b) See solution:
[Event "Puzzle #114"][Date "2010.04.23"][Result "1-0"][SetUp "1"][FEN "K7/8/Pp6/kp6/1n6/1P6/8/B7 w - - 0 1"]1.a7 Nc6 (1...Ka6 2.Kb8 Nc6+ 3.Kc7 Nxa7 4.b4 {White now captures the Knight and is up a Bishop in a won position}) 2.Kb7 Nxa7 {Black is hoping White's King to take so then it will be a draw, but that is a different thing. White should not capture because the Knight is trapped in the corner and cannot move unless be captured} 3.Bc3+ (3.Kxa7? Kb4 {Draw}) 3...b4 4.Bd4 Kb5 5.Kxa7 Kc6 {The King is now free from its prison} 6.Ka6{White wins}
Correct solutions:
Edwin, Andy Y - 20 points
Owen, Karl - 15 points
Jeffrey, James - 13 points
Nathaniel - 11 points
Alex - 4 points
Standings:
Owen - 289 points
Andy Y - 278 points
Karl - 271 points
Edwin - 236 points
Andy Q - 214 points
Jeffrey - 183 points
Humphrey - 180 points
Alex - 175 points
James - 164 points
Nathaniel - 116 points
Amir - 103 points
Rick - 18 points
Marko - 10 points
"Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (August 17, 1911 – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian International Grandmaster and three-time World Chess Champion. Working as an electrical engineer at the same time, he was one of the very few famous chess players who achieved distinction in another career while playing top-class competitive chess. He also developed a chess-playing algorithm that tried to "think" like a top human player, but this approach has been superseded by a brute-force search strategy that exploits the rapid increase in the calculation speed of modern computers... His famous pupils include World Champions Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik. Playing a top class chess for decades, being an eminent chess author, one of the pioneers of the computer chess, and a great chess teacher in his late years, Botvinnik is widely regarded as one of the greatest contributors to the game of all time."
Botvinnik said once "Chess mastery essentially consists of analyzing chess positions accurately". This is what we are doing week after week: take another step forward in our journey to chess mastery. In order to make the next step you need to:
a) Analyze the position and propose a plan for both sides (10 points)
b) White to move and win (10 points)
Total available points for this puzzle is 20. The answers will be published next week together with puzzle #116.
Puzzle #114 solution:
This time the author of the puzzle was Fritz (not the computer...) back in 1951. Only 3 solvers realized those quotes were actually tips for solving the position and only 2 of them got maximum points for a correct answer. Here is the one put together by Edwin:
a) White won because the Black's King is trapped on the side and if White had a light square Bishop, it would be totally different.
Yes, the quotes are useful:
Playing on the rim (which means edge) is dim because then your pieces would control less space which may make you lose, exactly what happened in this game
Every pawn is a potential Queen because they might promote and what happened in this game to make White win
The King is a good fighting piece in the endgame and if White didn't use the king, it would be toast
After a bad opening there is still hope in the middlegame because you still have a chance to attack; if you have a bad middle game, there is still chance to attack, but in the endgame you've been trying to hide, so you cannot attack and also win!
Looking ahead one move is better because then you can see what will happen next
b) See solution:
[Event "Puzzle #114"][Date "2010.04.23"][Result "1-0"][SetUp "1"][FEN "K7/8/Pp6/kp6/1n6/1P6/8/B7 w - - 0 1"]1.a7 Nc6 (1...Ka6 2.Kb8 Nc6+ 3.Kc7 Nxa7 4.b4 {White now captures the Knight and is up a Bishop in a won position}) 2.Kb7 Nxa7 {Black is hoping White's King to take so then it will be a draw, but that is a different thing. White should not capture because the Knight is trapped in the corner and cannot move unless be captured} 3.Bc3+ (3.Kxa7? Kb4 {Draw}) 3...b4 4.Bd4 Kb5 5.Kxa7 Kc6 {The King is now free from its prison} 6.Ka6{White wins}
Correct solutions:
Edwin, Andy Y - 20 points
Owen, Karl - 15 points
Jeffrey, James - 13 points
Nathaniel - 11 points
Alex - 4 points
Standings:
Owen - 289 points
Andy Y - 278 points
Karl - 271 points
Edwin - 236 points
Andy Q - 214 points
Jeffrey - 183 points
Humphrey - 180 points
Alex - 175 points
James - 164 points
Nathaniel - 116 points
Amir - 103 points
Rick - 18 points
Marko - 10 points
Pawn chase