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White to Play

Pete Tamburro on Oct 30, 2024

Another Golden Oldie. One of the toughest things to do in chess is come up with a plan in a complicated position. Alekhine reached this position years ago and noticed something about a certain pattern based on the placement of the pieces. He noticed that the queen bishop was indirectly attacking the black King. He also noticed that if the a1-a8 diagonal were clear of the black knight and d5 pawn, he could play Nc6+. We’ll see what A.A. did. What would you do?

1.c5 bxc5 2.dxc5 Bxc5+ 3.Rxc5 Rxc5 4.g5 Nd7 5.Nc6+ and wins the queen. Sometimes you just have to see what is possible and make it happen.

Send questions and comments to PTamburro@aol.com.

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