Master Moves #1

by ChessBase
12/27/2010 – All the deepest plans or endgame technique are useless if you fall victim to a shot that leaves you in a lost position or you miss the window of opportunity to finish the game, a chance that may only appear once. The positions here are all from recent master and grandmaster practice, representing shots both played and missed. Try your hand at these Master Moves.
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Master Moves #1

All the positions below are from recent master and grandmaster practice, representing shots both played and missed. The last two are the harder than the rest with the last being the hardest (for a human). There is a link to the answers at the bottom.

Position 1
White sacrificed an entire rook to get this far.
How does he deliver the final blow?

Position 2
White, a finalist at the Women's World Championship,
found an elegant way to end resistance.

Position 3
It is risky going out by one's self. White to play and win.

Position 4
White to play and win

Position 5
Black played Qe6 to keep the house all protected, or did he?
White to play and win.

Position 6
Elizabeth Paehtz found an elegant move here as white.
The tricky part is seeing the idea.

Position 7
White missed a chance to finish the game quicker seeing that
Bxh6 gxh6 Qxh6+ leads to nothing. What did he miss?

Position 8
White was a top candidate for the world title, and missed the
killing blow here. Can you do better? It isn't easy.

Click here to see solutions

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