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Problem of the Week
2008.09.21

White to move and win

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Solution

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There are two paths to victory in this position, and they are closely related, taking advantage of the dis-coordination among Black's pieces:

1.Qxe7+ Kxe7

1.Qh5+ Kg8

The black king has been lured into a position where it is possible for White to fork the king and rook:

2.Ng6+

Just as in the line given to the left, the following knight move forks two black pieces - this time the rook and the queen.

2.Ng6

The h7-bishop is pinned against it's own rook, but he has to move it anyway just to mitigate the damage - otherwise White wins a full rook.

2...Bxg6 3.Rxh8

Also as in the line to the left, the bishop is still pinned against it's own rook, and still must move anyway to minimize the damage.

2...Bxg6 3.Qxh8+ Kf7

White has won an exchange (a rook for a knight or bishop, in this case a bishop) and should be able to win the ending easily.

This line is the best line from the starting position for Black, as in this variation the queens are still on the board, giving Black at least some hope of counterplay, even though he is still behind an exchange.

The general rule of thumb is: when you are ahead in material, trade pieces, when you are behind in material, trade pawns. Remember this is a generality, and there are plenty of situations where this rule might not hold true.