Chess puzzle

No. 610

27 June 2020 9:00 am

White to play. Grischuk–Aronian, Clutch Chess 2020. Only one rook move draws here. Which one? Answers should be emailed to…

No. 609

20 June 2020 9:00 am

White to play. Tolush–Aronson, Moscow 1957. Strangely, this quick win was once wrongly attributed to Alekhine. How did White exploit…

No. 608

13 June 2020 9:00 am

Black to play, Ding Liren–Daniil Dubov, Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge, May 2020. Dubov’s rook is under attack, but his next…

No. 607

6 June 2020 9:00 am

White to play, Stockfish–AllieStein, TCEC Season 16. Stockfish found a beautiful knockout blow in this game against a different neural…

No. 606

30 May 2020 9:00 am

Tamas Fodor — Michael Adams, Hull 2018. White to play. One from the puzzles section of Smerdon’s book, which I…

No. 605

23 May 2020 9:00 am

White mates in two moves against any defence (composed by Walter Pulitzer). Steinitz admitted he could not crack this within…

No. 604

16 May 2020 9:00 am

Aronian–Vidit, Online Nations Cup, May 2020. Vidit has just captured axb3 en passant. Aronian’s next move revealed a powerful concept.…

No. 603

9 May 2020 9:00 am

Black to play. Ding–Nakamura, Magnus -Carlsen Invitational, April 2020. The position appears sterile, but Nakamura spotted a clever winning move.…

No. 602

2 May 2020 9:00 am

Nepomniachtchi (lachesisQ)–Andriasian (Zaven_ChessMood), Abu Dhabi Super Blitz, April 2020. White is in danger here. Which move did he play to…

No. 601

25 April 2020 9:00 am

Black to play. Sjugirov–Carlsen, Chess24 Banter Blitz Semi Final. In this wild position, Carlsen’s next move put the result beyond…

No. 600

18 April 2020 9:00 am

Black to play. Andrew Stone–Martin Jogstad, 4NCL Online, April 2020. The queen is trapped on f4, so 1…Rxg5 looks worth…

No. 599

11 April 2020 9:00 am

A position adapted from Vojtech Plat–Ravi Haria, Hull GM tournament, 2019. The d6-pawn is crucial here, but White needs a…

No. 598

4 April 2020 9:00 am

A variation from the game above. Although White is a pawn down, he can rustle up decisive counterplay with one…

No. 597

28 March 2020 9:00 am

A puzzle used in the solving championship, composed by Vittorio de Barbieri in 1918. White must give mate in two…

No. 596

21 March 2020 9:00 am

White to play. Shirov–Yuffa, Nutcracker Battle of the Generations, Moscow 2020. The rook on f7 is pinned, and 1 Rxf8+…

No. 595

14 March 2020 9:00 am

Black to play. Tomashevsky–Lomasov, Nutcracker Battle of the Generations, Moscow 2020. A position with a surprising twist. Tomashevsky has just…

No. 594

7 March 2020 9:00 am

Black to play. Puranik–Sjugirov, another spectacular game played at the Aeroflot Open. Puranik was perhaps counting on 1…Rc1 2 Qa3…

no. 593

29 February 2020 9:00 am

White to play, a variation from McShane–-Kamsky. In the game above, I was hoping to see 31…Qa5, as I had…

No. 592

21 February 2020 10:00 pm

Black to play, Kateryna Lagno–Ju Wenjun, February 2020. Material is approximately balanced, but White’s king is in serious danger. What…

no. 591

15 February 2020 9:00 am

White to play, Dubov–Artemiev, Wijk aan Zee 2020. White is pressing here, but Black seems to have everything covered. Which…

no. 590

7 February 2020 10:00 pm

Black to move, Paravyan vs McShane, Isle of Man 2019. Here I intended 49…Bxd1. What had Paravyan planned after that…

no. 589

1 February 2020 9:00 am

Black to move. Javakhishvili–Adams, Gibraltar 2020. Adams has a few plausible moves here, including Rf1, Rf3+ and Rxf7, but only…

no. 588

24 January 2020 10:00 pm

Rowson-Yermolinsky, World Open 2002. This position arose after a tactical skirmish. White has only one good way to meet the…

no. 587

18 January 2020 9:00 am

Sanguineti–Najdorf, Mar del Plata 1956. White to move. White played 1 Kd8?, to threaten 2 Qe7#. Black resigned, overlooking 1…Rxg4…

No. 586

11 January 2020 9:00 am

Carlsen–Nakamura, December 2019. In the decisive playoff game, Carlsen played 1 Nxf7+ and won quickly. But there was a mate…