CHESS Magazine puzzles (solutions)

by ChessBase
2/8/2021 – It's a little late for New Year's celebrations, but never too late to have some fun. In the January issue of the UK CHESS magazine readers were challenged to solve eight unusual problems, which we shared with you last week – with live diagrams on which you could work things out. Today we have added full annotated solutions.
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The puzzles below have been taken from Chess Magazine January/2021, with kind permission of the editor. The problems were selected and annotated by Graham Phythian, who is a 
member, librarian and publicity officer of the Chorlton Chess Club, Manchester. Graham has been compiling the club Christmas Quiz for the last 20 years.

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 here, or from North America here.

The fully annotated solutions to the puzzles were published in the February 2021 issue and will be added to the replayer at the bottom of this page, in the coming week.

 
Puzzle 1
White played 15.Nd6. What was the best defence for Black?

a) White played 15.Nd6, to which Black, wary of the worrying check on h7, replied 15...Nf8. What happened next? And b) Was there a better defence for Black?

Famously, cinema-goers were treated to this position, three years after it was played. An amorous Muscovite was indirectly involved.

 
Puzzle 2
White to play and mate in four
 
Puzzle 3
White to play and win
 
Puzzle 4
White to play

White is a pawn down, with a clearly inferior pawn structure to boot, so he wasn’t too surprised when he went on to lose. But what possibilities did he miss?

 
Puzzle 5
White to play and mate in three
 
Puzzle 6
Black to play and win
 
Puzzle 7
White to play and mate in eight

White has a nifty finesse which avoids the drawing traps and mates in eight.

 
Puzzle 8
White to mates with the knight, without allowing any pawn moves

A Short Story. Louise was playing a game of chess with Uncle Henry, and as usual was winning easily. She was just about to deliver mate with the rook, when Uncle Henry interrupted: "Hey, let's make it more interesting. Let me stipulate the conditions of your checkmate!"

"What do you mean?" asked Louise.

"What if I specify which piece you deliver mate with?" said Uncle Henry, furtively eyeing the knight trapped in the corner. "You mate me with the knight in ten moves," replied the wily old woodpusher. "And you can't take any of my pawns, or allow them to move."

Louise looked at the position for a minute or two, then replied: "OK, you're on." How did she manage it?

Here are the annotated solutions on our replay board. You can start an engine (fan icon) to analyse alternate lines – and perhaps find out why certain moves do not work.

 
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A chestnut to get you warmed up, as it were. (Famously, cinema-goers were treated to this, three years after it was played. An amorous Muscovite was indirectly involved.) --- a) White played 15 Nd6, to which Black, wary of the worrying check on h7, replied 15...Nf8. What happened next? --- b) Was there a better defence for Black? Solution: This was, of course, the famous game Spassky-Bronstein, Leningrad 1960, the winning sequence of which was used in the 1963 film 'From Russia With Love'. --- a) After 15.Nd6 the game concluded: Nf8 b) Black could have fought on to at least draw with 15...Bxd6! , affording a bolt-hole for the king on e7. The most likely continuation is: 16.Qh7+ Kf8 17.cxd6 exf1Q+ 18.Rxf1 cxd6 19.Qh8+ Ke7 20.Re1+ Ne5! 21.Qxg7 Rg8 22.Qxh6 Qb6! 23.Kh1 Be6 24.dxe5 . The black king is safe, and now both sides have chances. Analysis from Bernard Cafferty's notes in his 'Spassky's 100 Best Games' (The Chess Player, 1972) - see Game 37 in this excellent book for more variations. 16.Nxf7! exf1Q+ 17.Rxf1 Bf5 if 17...Kxf7 18.Ne5+ Kg8 19.Qh7+! Nxh7 20.Bb3+ Kh8 21.Ng6# ; a most picturesque mate 18.Qxf5 Qd7 19.Qf4 Bf6 20.N3e5 Qe7 21.Bb3 Bxe5 22.Nxe5+ Kh7 23.Qe4+ . Rxf8 is coming, followed by some royal GBH in the corner. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Solution 1--1–0
Solution 2--
Solution 3--
Solution 4--
Solution 5--
Solution 6--0–1
Solution 7--
Solution 8--

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