Chess Puzzle #Itwd1 — Advanced, Black to move, opening

Rating 1719 · Advanced · advantage, attack on f2/f7, exposed king, fork, opening, very long.

Position

White: king e1; queen d1; rooks a1/h1; bishops b2/f1; knights d2/g4; pawns a2/b3/c2/d3/e4/g2/h2. Black: king e8; queen h4; rooks a8/h8; bishops c5/c8; knight d4; pawns a7/b7/c7/f7/g7/h6. White is ahead by 4 points of material. Black to move.

Solution (6 moves)

  1. Opponent setup: Nf2 — knight g4→f2. Now Black to move.
  2. Best move: Nxc2+ — knight d4→c2, captures pawn, gives check. Opponent replies Qxc2 (queen d1→c2, captures knight).
  3. Best move: Qxf2+ — queen h4→f2, captures knight, gives check. Opponent replies Kd1 (king e1→d1).
  4. Best move: Bg4+ — bishop c8→g4, gives check. Opponent replies Nf3 (knight d2→f3).
  5. Best move: Bxf3+ — bishop g4→f3, captures knight, gives check. Opponent replies gxf3 (pawn g2→f3, captures bishop).
  6. Best move: Qxf3+ — queen f2→f3, captures pawn, gives check. Opponent replies Qe2 (queen c2→e2).
  7. Best move: Qxh1 — queen f3→h1, captures rook.

Tactical themes

advantage, attack on f2/f7, exposed king, fork, opening, very long. The key move Nxc2+ captures with check, forcing a response.

Position data

FEN: r1b1k2r/ppp2pp1/7p/2b5/3nP1Nq/1P1P4/PBPN2PP/R2QKB1R w KQkq - 1 11

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Puzzle data from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0). Analysis powered by Stockfish 18 in your browser.