WELCOME TO SATURDAY SOLVING!
Look for new puzzles here every two weeks. Each will include the answer to the previous position and a new one to ponder.
There can be a great deal of truth in old, seemingly overused clichés. For instance, one of my favorite axioms – “keep it simple!” In life, and on the chessboard, there are times when it is prescient to press the easy button. In last week’s exercise you were tasked with spotting GM Motylev’s nice, but – in hindsight, at least – quite simple idea of relieving the pressure that followed this principle. If you haven’t seen the position or would like to give it one last try, see last week’s Saturday Solving. And now, on to the solution!
Somehow it seems very simple when demonstrated, but at least to me 27.Ra8 is definitely not the first move that comes to mind! Next up is a position coming from a battle between elite GMs Hao Wang and Quang Liem Le. Despite the fact that white has an extra knight, at first appearance the game seems too simplified for any further progress to be made. With only one pawn left on the board white needs to be careful, but even so there is a narrow, study-esque path to victory.
Impressively, despite the game being a blindfold rapid contest, Wang managed to work out the sequence of moves that won the game. It is your task to find what he “saw,” though you are certainly welcome to do so with your eyes wide open.
Happy solving, and thanks for reading! As always, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.
0 Comments