Chess puzzle
No. 585
Black to play. Ilfeld & Vachier-Lagrave–Picot & McShane. Pro-Biz Cup, London 2019. My move. White threatens checkmate with Qc4-g8, so…
no. 584
White to play. Aronian–Carlsen, December 2019. Carlsen won the third-place playoff, but Aronian found a nice finish in this game.…
no. 583
Black to play. This is a variation from McShane–Van Foreest, Bundesliga, November 2019. I avoided this position, and the game…
no. 582
Black to play. Zelcic–Melkumyan, Tournament of Peace, November 2019. Melkumyan enjoys a big endgame advantage, and he found a cute…
no. 581
Bagi–Zvjaginsev, Montenegro 2019. Black to play. 61… Ke6 looks obvious, but Zvjaginsev preferred 61… Rg6! and White resigned instead of…
no. 580
Dubov-Svane, White to play. Later in the event, Dubov played another masterpiece, sacrificing a rook to reach this extraordinary position.…
no. 579
Black to play. Erwin l’Ami–Luke McShane, Batumi, 2019. The pawn on e6 looks powerful, but White’s king is more vulnerable…
no. 578
White to play. Dahl-Kolbus; Isle of Man, 2019. In this game between two Manx players, White had promoted a pawn…
no. 577
Black to play. From Stepanov–Romanovsky, Lenin-grad 1926. Stepanov resigned two moves earlier, seeing that he would soon lose his queen.…
No. 576
White to play, Black to win. Shirov-Caruana from the Isle of Man. Caruana threatens 53… d1=Q 54.Qxd1 Qxb2 mate. Shirov…
no. 575
White to play. The final game of the match between Radjabov and Ding. White’s safer king confers a huge advantage,…
no. 574
Black to play. Here is my own tragedy, from Yuffa-McShane, Khanty-Mansiysk 2019. Needing a win, I tried 81 … Kg7-f7…
no. 573
White to play. This position is from Van Foreest-Bortnyk, St Louis 2019. How did White break through on the kingside…
No. 572
White to play. This is from Nguyen-Alekseenko, Khanty-Mansiysk 2019. White’s queen and rook are both attacked. How does he maintain…
No. 571
White to play. This position is from Benko-Jeney, Budapest 1950. Benko has just sacrificed rook for knight. What is his…
no. 570
Black to play. This is from Carlsen-Ding, St Louis 2019. The black pieces are converging on the white king but…
no. 569
Black to play. This is from Nepomniachtchi-Anand, St Louis 2019. How did Anand exploit his opponent’s lapse? Answers to me…
no. 568
White to play. This is from Aronian-Mamedyarov, St Louis 2019. We are only just out of the opening but White…
no. 567
White to play. This position is from Alekhine-Nimzowitsch, San Remo 1930. Can you spot the quiet move that puts black…
no. 566
White to play. This position is a variation from Adams-Pigott, Torquay 2019. How can White crash through to gain a…
no. 565
White to play. This position is from Capablanca-Lasker, Havana 1921. Capablanca was another great champion famed for his ability to…
no. 564
White to play. This is from Giri-Mamedyarov, Croatia 2019. White is a piece down and needs a dramatic continuation. What…
no. 563
White to play. This position is from Tal-Rantanen, Tallinn 1979. This game features a typically brilliant Tal finish. Can you…
no. 562
White to play. This is from Wassin-Grigorchuk, Izola 2019. Although the game is only just out of the opening, White…
no. 561
White to play. This is from Reti-Bogolyubov, New York 1924. How did Reti conclude his attack with a fine blow? Answers…
