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| (1) A Knight
on the Rim is Grim! |
| A knight on the edge of the board isn't as useful
as a knight that attacks the center. Here's a game from the Primary
section after: |
| 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4 3.Bc4 Nh6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Qf3
Be7 |
| Black's bishop has moved 3 times, while the rest
of Black's army is still in bed sleeping. White's queen and the bishop
on c4 are both attacking f7, threatening mate. Black's knight
on h6 appears to defend f7, but is actually poorly placed. The knight
would be better placed on f6. White won this game with a mate in
two. Black could have survived, but would have had to give up a piece. |
| What is White's winning move? |
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| (2) Knightmare! |
| This time, it was White who found Black's Knight to be grim.
This is the position after: |
| 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bc5 4.Nf3 Ng4 5.O-O Qf6 6.Re1 Qh6 (6...Bxf2+
now wins a pawn, followed by 7...Bxe1 winning the exchange) 7.Kf1
Bxf2 8.Re2 Qb6 9.Nxe5?? |
| Not best! This knight was busy. White was looking at
10.Bxf7+ winning a pawn, or 10.Nxf7 winning a pawn and attacking the rook
on h8. Black's knight now has a choice of wins. In the
actual game, Black made the choice that wins the most. |
| What are the Black knight's two winning moves? Which move is better?
Why? |
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| (3) The Forgotten Pawn! |
| This is the position after: |
| 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Qh4 3.Qf3 f6 4.g3 Qg5 5.h4 Qh6 6.Bb3 g5 7.hxg5 fxg5
(7...Qxg5
is better) 8.Rxh6 Nxh6 9.a4 a5 10.Nh3 g4! 11.Qe2 gxh3 12.Qh5+ Nf7 13.Qxf7+
Kd8 |
| Can you find the mate after 14.Qf6+? Black has two replies. It's
mate either way. White missed the mate! The game continued: |
| 14.d3 c5 15.Bg5+ Kc7 16.Bd5 h6 17.Bh4 h2 18.Qf3! Bg7 19.Ra3 Rf8
20.Qg2 Bf6 21.Bxf6 Rxf6 22.Nc3 Raa6 23.Nb5+ Kd8 24.Qh3 Rg6 25.Bf7 Rgf6
26.Bh5 d6 27.Qh4 d5 28.Qxf6+ Rxf6 29.Kf1 h1=Q+ (the pawn White forgot
to take wins!) 30.Ke2 Qxh5+ 31.Kf1 Qh7 32.exd5 Qxf2#. |
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The Scholastic corner
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| (4) The Scholastic Corner |
| Variations on this position occurred often at the Elementary Team Championship. |
| 1.e4 e5 2.Qf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Ne2 |
| Black could castle, and get the king to safety. Or wake up the
rest of the army and develop another piece. Black forgot the rule
"Move
each piece only once until you've moved them all" and made the one
move that loses immediately. |
| What is White's winning move after 4...Ng8??? |
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