PRATEEK LEVEL BRAIN BUSTER CHESS PUZZLE!

BONUS PUZZLE!

Prateek level Brain Buster Chess Puzzle!

BLACK TO PLAY AND WIN

(Your one and only hint, Prateek and Company!)

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White has just set a trap for the second player by playing the move 12. Nbd2. So let us take a look at why YOU do not want to win that pawn on e4. This is a good puzzle for everyone - Prateek already should know the answer to this one though! Ahem...

CAN'T TOUCH THAT PAWN!

This puzzle is taken from a game featured in a classic chess book - which shall be revealed later on when I credit the author of this fine volume. But for everyone we should now take a look at why we should think twice about grabbing a pawn on the e-file when our King is still in the middle of the board.

WHY IS "WINNING" THIS PAWN BAD FOR BLACK?

Let's take a look!

12. Nbd2 and now ...Nxe4 is ouchyville. And this is why...


White can recapture the Knight, as in the above position, so even though he or she "wins the e-pawn" the black player will find out that something is not right now... IF the player of the Black pieces recaptures with his or her Queen. Of course if the Knight is not recaptured then the second player will be losing on points and should, with proper technique by the first player, lose the game. So in for a penny...


...in for a pounding after the move... DRUM ROLL PLEASE!

14. Re1 pins the Queen to the King.

THE SECOND PLAYER'S QUEEN NOW GOES LOST!

WIN A PAWN - LOSE A GAME!

The power of the PIN is one of our tactics that we have looked at - recently! - during our chess club meetings.

THE QUEEN CANNOT MOVE BECAUSE WE CAN NEVER ALLOW AN ENEMY PIECE TO LOOK AT - THAT IS TO ATTACK - THE SQUARE UPON WHICH OUR KING STANDS.

So the nine point Queen will be lost for a five point Rook. If we consider these pieces to be worth money that would be like if YOU gave me 5 dollars for the 9 dollars that was in my pocket! I just lost 4 bucks - hey no fair! Keeping track of the points will help you to figure out what to do during a game. If you are up material - that is "points" - then exchange down into a won endgame but do so with caution! Please remember that we always play for checkmate and checkmate settles all questions at the chess board. Just because you are up points doesn't mean you cannot lose - so keep your King safe!

REMEMBER WE CAN NEVER EVER PUT OUR OWN KING IN CHECK! THAT IS...

...ILLEGAL!

So this is one reason why we always want to castle early in a game of chess - remember this rule of thumb from the chess club? But the real rule about castling* - for advanced players - is castle when you must and not because you can. Here Black has a huge lead in development and plenty of open lines. Which brings us back to our featured problem, or our ...

"PRATEEK LEVEL BRAIN BUSTER CHESS PUZZLE!"

Which you now may enjoy trying to solve! The gauntlet has been thrown down - which of our Geckos will take up my challenge?

12. Nbd2 ___? 13. ___? ___? 14. ___? ___? 15. ___? ___? 16. ___? ___? 17. ___? ___? (The GAME ACTUALLY STOPPED HERE!) 18. ___? ___++ or # (means CHECKMATE!) OR 18. Qe2 ___? 19. ___? ___#.

So ok, I have given more than one hint here - there were a couple sprinkled throughout this lesson!

Enjoy! - CHESS COACH SEAN TOBIN!

* Castling is one of our 3 SPECIAL MOVES. You can only castle if you :
1.) Have not yet moved our King.
2.) Have not yet moved the Rook with which you want to castle with.
3.) Are not in check.
4.) Your King will not pass through a square that is attacked or looked at by an enemy piece.
5.) Are now on the move - one turn per player please!
6.) We can only castle once per game as well - so no "un" castling and then recastling!
7.) We always pick up the King and move him two squares over to either the right or left hand sides of the board. From White's perspective this would be King's side vs Queen's side of the chess board.
8.) We then put the Rook down - gently! - next to the King but on the other side of him now.
9.) If you castle to the King's side of the board then you have one square between your King and that side of the board.
10.) If you castle to the Queen's side of the board then you have two squares between your King and that side of the chess board.
11.) If we are writing the move "Castles" down while taking score of our game we would write the Kingside castles as "0 - 0". A zero for each square the Rook passes over! For Queenside castles we would write "0-0-0" - again each 0 equals a square that the Rook must travel through.

If you have any questions about how to read and write chess notation I would be more than glad to answer those questions for you. I have also sent out the USCF's PDF guide one how to read and write chess notation. If you need me to send that back out to you then please do contact me and I will do that ASAP! Hey, have you solved that puzzle yet! Get back to work! : P Enjoy!!