CHESS Magazine: Find the Winning Moves

by CHESS Magazine
8/7/2017 – Test your tactical ability with these positions grouped in rough order of difficulty. The games come from various recent events, not least the opening Grand Chess Tour events in Paris and Leuven. Don’t forget that whilst sometimes the key move will force mate or the win of material, other times it will just win a pawn. Take your time analysing the positions, on our news page, assisted by a built-in chess engine.
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Find the Winning Moves

In the following diagrams you are able to move the pieces, retract moves and try alternate lines. At the bottom of the page you find the solutions, presented on our game viewer, where you can analyse with engine support (mainly to understand why alternatives do not work). Note that there are twice as many puzzles in CHESS Magazine — 24 as opposed to our selection of 12.

Warm-up puzzles

 
Mamedyarov-Topalov, Paris (blitz) 2017
White to play
 
Nepomniachtschi-Vachier Lagrave, Leuven (blitz) 2017
Black to play
 
Palliser-Moulton, York (blitz) 2017
White to play
 
Caruana-Girschuk, Paris (blitz) 2017
Black to play

IM Nisha Mohota shows guidelines to steer you through the opening, shows basic endgames, helps you to understand fundamental pawn structures, and explains principles and patterns of attack and defense

Intermediate Puzzles for the Club Player


Caruana-Carlsen, Paris (blitz) 2017

 
White to play


Rzayev-Beradze, Nakhchivan, 2017

 
Black to play


Gholami-Noroozi, Tehran Zonal, 2017

 
Black to play and draw


Henrichs-Sergeev, Bregenz, 2017

 
White to play

Harder Puzzles for the Club Player


Vitiugov-Nguyen Thai Dai Van, Karlsruhe, 2017

 
White to play


Ponomariov-Macieja, Europ. Championship Minsk, 2017

 
White to play


Mamedyarov-Nakamura, Paris (blitz) 2017

 
Black to play and draw


Ross-Spinu, IBCA Olympiad, Ohrid, 2017

 
White to play

Test yourself

Harder puzzles in our full-featured game viewer

The last four positions are fairly difficult to solve, so we give you an opportunity to work things out with engine support. In our game viewer you can move pieces around, and start an engine by clicking the fan button. You can maximize the viewer, auto-play, flip the board, etc. Hovering the mouse over any button will show you its function. The little tab to the bottom right of the board tells you which side to move.

New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
White to play
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Vitiugov,N-Nguyen Thai Dai Van-2017Karlsruhe
Ponomariov,R-Macieja,B-2017European Championship, Minsk
Mamedyarov,S-Nakamura,H-2017Paris (blitz)
Ross,C-Spinu,E-2017IBCA Olympiad, Ohrid

Solutions

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Open...
Share...
Layout...
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MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
1.Rxg4! Qxg4 2.Qxc6+ . The rook on a8 falls. 1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Mamedyarov,S-Topalov,V-1–02017Paris (blitz)
Nepomniachtchi,I-Vachier Lagrave,M-2017Leuven (blitz)
Palliser,R-Moulton,P-1–02017York (blitz)
Caruana,F-Grischuk,A-2017Paris (blitz)
Caruana,F-Carlsen,M-1–02017Paris (blitz)
Rzayev,B-Beradze,I-2017Nakhchivan
Gholami,A-Noroozi,O-½–½2017Tehran Zonal
Henrichs,T-Sergeev,V-1–02017Bregenz
Vitiugov,N-Nguyen Thai Dai Van-1–02017Karlsruhe
Ponomariov,R-Macieja,B-1–02017European Championship, Minsk
Mamedyarov,S-Nakamura,H-2017Paris (blitz)
Ross,C-Spinu,E-1–02017IBCA Olympiad, Ohrid

The above article was reproduced from Chess Magazine August/2017, with kind permission.

CHESS Magazine was established in 1935 by B.H. Wood who ran it for over fifty years. It is published each month by the London Chess Centre and is edited by IM Richard Palliser and Matt Read. The Executive Editor is Malcolm Pein, who organises the London Chess Classic.

CHESS is mailed to subscribers in over 50 countries. You can subscribe from Europe and Asia at a specially discounted rate for first timers or from North America.

ChessBase software from Chess & Bridge

Reti: A Repertoire for White
Victor Bologan; PC-DVD, running time: 5 hours
RRP £25.99 SUBSCRIBERS £23.39

1 Nf3 followed by 2 c4 is, of course, by no means a new development, but it has been quite topical of late and might just surprise many opponents at club level. Bologan is certainly keen on emphasising the typical plans and motifs for White, as he takes the viewer through some 30 mini video lectures. The Symmetrical English lines after 1 Nf3 c5 2 c4 Nf6 3 Nc3 can certainly become quite theoretical, but here and with 1 Nf3 d5 2 c4 c6 3 g3 there should be sufficient coverage for most viewers. Bologan admits that he has not covered quite every black defence, which is honest and shouldn’t be too big a deterent to getting the viewer up and running with 1 Nf3, but quite possibly not all will want to meet the King’s Indian, 1...Nf6 2 c4 g6, with 3 b4!?.

Order online from
The London Chess Centre or Chess4Less (USA)

Rocket Repertoire: The Four Knights
Simon Williams; PC-DVD, running time: 5 hours
RRP £25.99 SUBSCRIBERS £23.39

The popular English Grandmaster isn’t a man one associates with dull positions, so that he considers 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Nc3 N f6 to be quite a viable position as White makes one sit up and take notice. Williams covers both 4 Bb5 and 4 d4 exd4 5 Nxd4, two sensible options where he does his best to avoid excessive theory and to inject an attacking bent where possible. Unsurprisingly, though, some of the recommendations are still quite positional, something which one couldn’t describe the concluding Belgrade Gambit (4 d4 exd4 5 Nd5!?) coverage as.

Order online from
The London Chess Centre or Chess4Less (USA)

The Blumenfeld Gambit:
A Sharp Weapon in the Benoni
Andrew Martin; PC-DVD, running time:
4 hours, 44 minutes
RRP £25.99 SUBSCRIBERS £23.39

This is quite a detailed DVD on that sharp counter to 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3, namely 3...c5 4 d5 b5!?. Martin presents some classic Blumenfeld games, as well as a fair bit of cutting-edge theory and, of course, in his usual style does a very good job of explaining all the key ideas for both sides. If you like to fight for the initiative as Black from the word go and revel in unbalanced, sometimes fairly irrational positions, the Blumenfeld might just be a good fit.

Order online from
The London Chess Centre or Chess4Less (USA)

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CHESS Magazine was established in 1935 by B.H. Wood who ran it for over fifty years. It is published each month by the London Chess Centre and is edited by IM Richard Palliser and Matt Read.

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