Written by Robert Jamieson on 11th Jun, 2010
Being a good chess player is all about choosing the right alternatives.
Firstly you must choose what the alternatives (candidate moves) are
in any given position, then you must evaluate them and choose which one
is best.
Today’s puzzle is taken from an article titled “the Most Entertaining
Game Ever?” which will appear in the next issue of the new chess
magazine “On The Move“.
Your puzzle today is to select 3 candidate moves for Black then decide which one to play.
What should Black Play?
ANSWER:
The 3 moves you should look at are:
1…Bxc2, 1…Nxc2+ and 1…g5 but which is best?
1…Bxc2 2.f4! still leaves Black in some difficulties.
2…Nxc2+ 3.Nxc2 Bxc2 4.Rc1 Be4 is inadequate as 5.Rxc7! Bxg2 6.Ng5 Bxh1? (Bd5 +-) 7.Re7+ mates.
1… g5 (recognising that Black’s big problem is getting his KR into
play) 2.Nxg5 Rg6 3.c3 Nc2+ 4.Nxc2 Bxc2 5.Kd2 Bf5 6.Nxh7 Rh6 isn’t too
bad for Black.
So on balance I would say that 1…g5 was Black’s best try. Perhaps for many people it was not even a candidate?
