Never too late to take up the game.
For a fckng brilliant yet reserved dilettante like myself for ex. what would be a good way to get some kind of a crash course in grand master chess, without all that time and effort thing?
There are 11 billion variations of the first 7 moves - I would start memorizing them
Ok, then what
Then read everything written by Tal and Bobby
and then study the famous Josh rook lift when he was eleven
ok, and then?
I wouldnāt wish to embarrass him, being pretty much a n00b,and all.
I would not worry about it - he is all growed up
The absolute most painless way is to send off for Fisherās book Bobby Fisher Teaches Chess, from about 1974. Very little prose to read, killer results. Set it next to yer throne and read a page or two a day.
I actually bought that book waybackwhen, almost sure itās been tossed along the way. but I may look for that again, my old friend hippy Mark had recommended that to me at the time.
Makes me dizzy but Iām pretty sure knights will be worth half a point more than bishops instead of the other way around. Despite the board being twice as wide. Wonder what Six would say.
Okay sports fans, Imma treat you to an excellent puzzle today. White to move, and note that Black threatens mate on the move with Qxh2. White is outgunned on the g and h files, so even if he defends against the threatened move his g pawn will come under fire next and his king is under a ton of pressure.
Best defense they say is a good offense ā and its here, but hard AF to find. Every move by White has to be a forcing move, literally a check.
Key to the puzzle is the control of the a7 square, thus the dark diagonal from a7 to g1 is a focal point.
The solution requires a Line Clearing Combination. Great loads of material sacrifice are required to make it work.
Noob alert, I suck at this game.
Given you clues, I woulda moved rook to a1, king has to step to b8.
I want the white knight at d4 to do something, but the bishop at d7 is a burr in Kās saddle.
Maybe the pawn at h2 could move to h3 (threaten K) or h4 (blocks Q with white bishop protecting) first?
Youāre right about the d4 knight, itās essential. But there is no safe move for it. Thus the key idea, since it blocks the f2 bishopās control of a7, is to entice the black king to a7 so that when the knight moves it discovers a check from the bishop. Iāll give you the whole line.
Iāll use + for ācheckā and ++ for ādouble checkā and # for āonly moveā and ## for ācheckmateā
- Ra1+ Kb8#
- Ra8+ Kxa8#
- Ra1+ Kb8#
- Ra8+ Kxa8#
- Qa1+ Kb8#
- Qa7+ Kxa7# (forced, as the other tries Kc8 or Kc7 will be mated by force thanks to the b pawn advance)
Now the black king is on a7, setting the stage for: - Nc6++ Ka8#
- Nb6##
In Move 7 the knight is offered two different ways but cannot be taken because the king is in check from the bishop. Thatās one form of a Line Clearing Combo. The two rooks were sacrificed just to get the queen free to sac herself on a7 and set that up. It brought tears to my eyes.
Questions.
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ā Why not Kc8? The b pawn canāt advance past 6 so c8 seems safe to me. You referred to a future mate that I am too shortsighted to see, I suspect.
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Nc6++ Bxc6 takes it out, no?
Itās so simple one almost needs a board in front of them to see it. Itās the same two moves for white, and the move order depends on where black tries to run to.
- . . . . Kc8
- Qa8+ Kc7#
- b6##
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b6## doesnāt work because the N is still in the way. so
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Nc6 or c8, K is stuck so something else happens here, which may include Rxa8, so then what