In our previous article we told you about how Anand gave the students — and the GMs and IMs present — a mate in three problem he had received from his World Champion predecessor Vladimir Kramnik. First a few impressions of the ChampCoach, for which Anand conducted a two-day workshop for young players from all over India that was held in Pune.
The intro video of Vishy Anand's ChampCoach in Pune
Anand with GMs Abhijit Kunte and Vidit Gujrathi and some participants of the ChampCoach. You can see 92 more group photos like the above on the ChampCoach Facebook page...
... or simply smile at this fantastic overall group shot [click to enlarge]
ChampCoach is a concept where the five-time World Champion and the chess legend of India imparts his knowledge and experience to the young talents of the country. The first edition happened in Pune and was sponsored by Persistent Systems. Players from 22 cities attended the camp. Anand was assisted by Vidit Gujarathi and it was a unique learning opportunity for the budding talents of the country from a world-class player like Anand.
The brochure of the camp
At a press conference Anand spoke on various subjects, like Kramnik's retirement or on school versus chess (what is more important?). These interviews are well worth watching.
First of all we want to thank our readers for the many messages, and for posting interesting comments in the feedback section below the original article without revealing the solution. This was the problem that the readers of our news page were asked to solve:
As you probably know it is possible to move pieces on the diagram above
If you missed the previous article you may want to spend a little time trying to find the solution here. The most important thing to note is that the bishop on h8 is hanging. The rook on a8 attacks it, and we have to find a way to ensure that it is not captured. At the same time it seems as if the rook, bishops on b1 and h8 and the knight on b5 are enough to weave a mating net. Why is there a queen on h1? Think about that — you are competing with three GMs: Vidit Gujrathi, Abhimanyu Puranik and Abhijit Kunte, who are standing around the board in the video below.
And now for the solution. Watch the following video of Anand inaugurating the PYC Hindu Gymkhana training center, and mingling with the students and guests.
At some stage (one minute into the video) Anand pulls out his mobile phone from a back pocket and searches for Kramnik's chess puzzle. At 1:34 he starts to dictate the position to the kids. At 2:50 he tells them this problem is "by courtesy of the newly retired Mr Kramnik." Do not miss the picture on the wall behind Anand: that's Kramnik watching it all of this transpire. You can sit back and watch these pre-teen chess talents work on the position — with Anand guiding them through the different proposed lines.
At 6:00 minutes one of the students regrets the fact that Kramnik is not there to solve the position, upon which GM Abhijit Kunte offers the service of someone who recently defeated the 14th World Champion: Vidit Gujarathi (who incidentally was also not able to solve the mate-in-three).
An interesting bit arises at 7:47 min, when the students suggest 1.♕d5. Anand requires almost half a minute to find the refutation: 1...e1♛, and after 2.♗a2 (threatening 3.♖b1#) Black has, as Anand points out, 2...b3, preventing mate on the next move.
At 9:50 Anand shows the students an important try: 1.♘a3 ♜xa3 2.♖xb3#, but this is refuted by 1...bxa3 2.♕b7 ♝b3!
At 10:30 min he finally reveals the solution, which is very difficult to find. This for two reasons: on the one hand the natural variations and their refutations will help you to look for a move which sidesteps the defences mentioned above. On the other you will see that the solution is quite anti-intuitive and cannot really be found at first sight. However, experienced solvers will disagree with this. They are in fact always looking for anti-intuitive moves from the beginning!
If you watch the video carefully, at 9:20 minutes you will hear a faint voice saying "I have an idea" — and then goes on to give the entire solution. That was IM Prathamesh Mokal, who is a full-time trainer in Pune. After he solved this, some of the people asked him, "Why aren't you playing chess anymore!" Well, if Prathamesh does decide to come back to competitive chess, some of the credit will surely go to Anand, Kramnik and Valentin Marin y Llovet!
And now for the solution: you have to find a drastic queen sacrifice, which is the only way to mate in three. 1.♕c6!! We discover that after 1...bxc6 the move 2.♘a3 suddenly works, because the b-file is free: 2...bxa3 3.♖b8#. Anand also discusses other defences, like 1...e1Q, after which White plays 2.Qc1! and mate on move three.
It is all fascinating to watch, and to make sure you have not missed any of the lines of this remarkable problem we describe them in detail. In the end you can go through them on our game viewer:
We hope you have enjoyed this excursion in the world of artistic chess problems. Want more — like further remarkable problems by Marin? Tell us what you think.
Source: ChessBase India
