10/4/2022 – Last week we presented you with a second set of unusual and interesting positions. They are clever and somewhat difficult to solve. But all of them are fun. Today you get the solutions, presented in a way that is particluarly easy to follow. You do not have to be a champion player or problem expert to follow.
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Winning starts with what you know The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
The Trompowsky is especially suited for faster time controls as you don‘t have to memorise endless lines of theory, and you push your opponent out of their comfort zone after your second move.
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At the bottom of this page you will find all three positions in a replay window where you can follow the moves and analyse with an engine. In the following diagrams you can move the pieces on the board. In the first study the diagram in fact will defend for Black.
The first position we presented looked fairly simple.
William Chess Dude, Discord
White to play and win
Astonishingly, there is only one key move in the above position that will secure a win. Of the four plausible moves only one works: 1.Rh1! Want to know why? Well, it is explained very nicely in this video:
This video was made by Frank Scarpa and appeared on his Youtube channel Chess for Charity. Frank's declared goal is to spread the amazing game of chess while helping those in need. Half of all income earned on YouTube goes directly to charity.
The second position is even simpler.
White to play and win
At first glance this looks like an easy win for White. But you soon see problems. Whatever you play Black is going to respond with 1...g2 – and force you to exchange the queen he promotes to on g1 for your rook. There is just one move that will actually lead to a win: 1.Rf3! and after 1...g2 one has to find the anti-intuitive sacrifice 2.Bf1! Here's Frank explanation:
Our final puzzle is all about forks.
White to play and win
Black is threatening the dire ...Re1#. White has a powerful family check: 1.Nf5+, attacking the king, queen and rook. However, you soon discover it doesn't work. The only way to win is with 1.Nh5+! Let Frank tell you why:
Please give us your thoughts on the studies and on this form of presentation in the feedback section below. And here are the three positions for you to replay and analyse:
4.Rxh8+!
Did you see this?Kxh85.Kb3Kg86.Kc4Kf77.Kd5Ke78.Ke5Kf79.Kd6Kf810.Ke6Kg711.Ke7Kh812.Kf8Kh713.Kf7Kh814.Kxg6Kg815.Kh6Kf716.Kh7Ke617.g6Kf618.g7Ke519.g8Q1–0
Frederic FriedelEditor-in-Chief emeritus of the ChessBase News page. Studied Philosophy and Linguistics at the University of Hamburg and Oxford, graduating with a thesis on speech act theory and moral language. He started a university career but switched to science journalism, producing documentaries for German TV. In 1986 he co-founded ChessBase.
In this insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to.
The Trompowsky is especially suited for faster time controls as you don‘t have to memorise endless lines of theory, and you push your opponent out of their comfort zone after your second move.
Trompowsky Powerbook 2025 is based on 53,000 computer games from the engine room of playchess.com as well as 49,000 games from Mega and correspondence chess.
Trompowsky Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 8727 games from Mega 2025 and the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 316 are annotated.
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In this dynamic and practical video course, IM Andrew Martin arms you with powerful antidotes to White’s most annoying sidelines.
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