Hunting for Mistakes * Stephen vs. Bob

"r4rk1/1p1q1ppp/p3b3/4p3/P2nB3/6R1/1PP1QPPP/2B1R1K1 w - - 0 0"

It is White to move

The game was played in a county team championship, in March, 2010.
After long thinking (20+ minutes), Stephen, a 2200-player, went 1.Bxh7+ and offered a draw, although the opponent was rated hundreds of points lower. (It is not worth it.)
Did Stephen choose the strongest move over-the-board? (If not, why?)

Try and guess the strongest move-sequence for White
(please write your solution as a comment to this entry)

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Hunting for Mistakes * SOLYMOSI, István vs. me

"8/4b1k1/p1p1b1p1/4pp2/2P1P3/1PN2KP1/P3N2r/3R4 b - - 0 31"

After White's last 31..Na4-c3?
it is Black to move

The game was played in an open tournament in Püspökladány, Hungary, on Jun-20, 2008.
I was the second player and found the strongest move-sequence, which won me decisive material.

Try and guess the move that wins the game for Black on the spot. (please write your solution as a comment to this entry)

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Hunting for Mistakes * FM RAT, Dan-Ovidiu vs. me

"1b3k2/pp3p2/2p1pq2/2Pr2r1/1P1P4/4Q1PR/PB2R1K1/8 b - - 0 31"

After White's last 31.Rh4-h3??
it is Black to move

The game was played in the national team championship, on Dec-21, 2008.
I was the second player and missed the move that would have made White resign on the spot, due to excessive lack of sleep.
(Just a remark: I wouldn't like to boast myself here, but even if White had not blundered, Black had a superior position by move 30, almost winning.)

Try and guess the move-sequence that would have won the game for Black on the spot. (please write your solution as a comment to this entry)

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Hunting for Mistakes * me vs. FM CHERECHES, Marius

"4r3/p3P1kp/1p4pN/2pR2P1/3p1r2/P3n3/7P/4R1K1 w - - 0 37"

After Black's last 36..Nc4-e3??
it is White to move

The game was played in an open tournament in Nyíregyháza, Hungary, on Jul-11, 2009.
I was the first player and found the winning move. (Neither player was under time pressure, so the blunder came in broad daylight.)

Try and guess the move that wins the game for White on the spot. (please write your solution as a comment to this entry)

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Hunting for Mistakes * VICICKÓ, Zoltán vs. me

"N1b3kr/pp2b1pp/3p1n2/4n3/3QPP2/2N5/PPP3qP/R1B1KR2 b Q f3 0 13"

After White's last 13.f2-f4
it is Black to move

The game was played in an open tournament in Szerencs, Hungary, on Aug-21, 2009.
I was the second player and failed to find the winning move. (which would still have been a part of a known opening trap by Black in the Philidor Defence)

Try and guess the move-sequence that wins the game for Black on the spot. (please write your solution as a comment to this entry)

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Hunting for Mistakes * me vs. KÁNYÁDI, Zoltán

"1n4r1/4kp1R/1pB1b1p1/pPp1N1P1/2P2P2/P1K5/8/8 w - - 0 38"

After Black's last 37..Kd6-e7?
it is White to move

The game was played in an open tournament in Nyíregyháza, Hungary, on Jul-1, 2009.
I was the first player and found the winning move. (not necessarily a sacrifice)

Try and guess the move that wins the game for White on the spot. (please write your solution as a comment to this entry)

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Hunting for Mistakes * me vs. GYÖNGYÖSI, Péter

"2b2rk1/r4pp1/p1B1pn1p/2pn4/QqN5/4P1B1/PP3PPP/2R1R1K1 w - - 0 22"

After Black's last 21..Qb6-b4??
it is White to move

The game was played in an open tournament in Debrecen, Hungary, on Nov-7, 2008.
I was the first player and managed to find the winning move. (This one, I think, is unique in my chess-history.)

Try and guess the move that wins the game for White on the spot. (please write your solution as a comment to this entry)

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Hunting for Mistakes * me vs. BEREK, Géza

"r1b2rk1/1pp3bp/3p1qp1/p1nPp3/1nP1P3/2N1BN1P/PP1QBP2/2KR3R b - - 0 14"

After White's last 14.0-0-0??
it is Black to move

The game was played in an open tournament in Püspökladány, Hungary, on Jun-20, 2008.
I was the first player and unconciously wanted to get over the game as soon as possible... (I could not sleep previous night, so there might be something to that.)

Try and guess the move that wins the game for Black on the spot. (please write your solution as a comment to this entry)

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Hunting for Mistakes * GÁL, Hanna vs. me

"2kr4/p4p2/8/2b4p/3Nb1rP/5PP1/PPPR4/2K1R3 b - - 0 27"

After White's last 27.f2-f3??
it is Black to move

The game was played in the county team championship, on Jan-17, 2010.
I was the second player and in my time trouble I missed to exploit White's blunder and made a weak move. (It was time pressure on my part, while the opponent had plenty of time...)

Try and guess the move-sequence that wins the game for Black. (please write your solution as a comment to this entry)

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Hunting for Mistakes * FM MENYHÁRT, Tibor vs. me

"6r1/5p2/4pk1p/p2pRP2/2PP1K2/5R2/P4r1P/8 b - - 0 38"

After White's last 38.Re3-f3
it is Black to move

The game was played in the national team championship, on Dec-7, 2009.
I was the second player and failed to find the best move.

Try and guess the move-sequence that wins material for Black. (please write your solution as a comment to this entry)

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Hunting for Mistakes * me vs. KISS, Albert

"5r2/1p6/1Pp1k1b1/p1PpPpp1/P2P2P1/5R2/5K2/1B6 w - - 0 44"

After Black's last 43..h6xg5
it is White to move

The game was played in an open tournament in Berekfürdő, Hungary, on Sep-11, 2009.
I was the first player and did not find the winning plan. (As it turned out later, this was neither the first nor the last opportunity for the victory, thanks to the weak opposition, but I was extremely exhausted that morning, that's why I failed to find the moves, and even lost the game eventually due to a horrible blunder in an equal queens endgame after hours of play...)

Try and guess the strategy that wins the game for White. (please write your solution as a comment to this entry)

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Hunting for Mistakes * me vs. PETRÓ, János

"r6k/6bp/p1qp1np1/2pN4/2Q1PP2/7P/1rPB2P1/R4RK1 w - - 0 25"

After Black's last 24..Rb8xb2??
it is White to move

The game was played in the national team championship, on Feb-28, 2010.
I was the first player and found a winning move.

Try and guess the move-sequences that win the game for White on the spot. (please write your solution as a comment to this entry)

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Hunting for Mistakes * BOBÁK, Sándor vs. me

"2r2rk1/pp2np1p/1q3bp1/3pNb2/3P4/2B4P/PPBR1PP1/1Q3RK1 b - - 0 19"

After White's last 19.Nf3-e5?
it is Black to move

The game was played in the county team championship, on Feb-21, 2010.
I was the second player and missed to win a piece in the position, but still won the game.

Try and guess the move-sequence that would have won the game for Black on the spot. (please write your solution as a comment to this entry)

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A fascinating zugzwang puzzle

It's White's move. Try to find the forced way of winning.

source: video "Roman's Lab #15", part 3

2N2q2/2p3p1/6p1/p7/k1p4Q/8/K7/8 w - - 0 1

To see the solution, click on the link below.

1.Qxc4+ Qb4 2.Nb6+ cxb6 3.Qd3! Black is now in a zugzwang position. 3...g5 [3...Qc5 4.Qb3#;
3...Qb5 4.Qa3#;
3...b5 4.Qc2+ Qb3+ 5.Qxb3#] 4.Qd7+ Qb5 [4...b5 5.Qd1+ Qb3+ 6.Qxb3#] 5.Qd4+ Qb4 6.Qd3 g4 7.Qd7+ Qb5 8.Qxg4+ Qb4 9.Qd7+ Qb5 10.Qd4+ Qb4 11.Qd3 g6 12.Qd7+ Qb5 13.Qd4+ Qb4 14.Qd3 g5 15.Qd7+ Qb5 16.Qd4+ Qb4 17.Qd3 g4 18.Qd7+ Qb5 19.Qxg4+ Qb4 20.Qd7+ Qb5 21.Qd4+ Qb4 22.Qd3 Black must make a move, but whatever they choose, the Queen falls, and checkmate comes. 1-0

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A nice puzzle by L. Silaev (1983)

White wins. White to move.
Author: L. Silaev (1983)

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X-mas puzzle

Black is to move and mates in two.
(It is possible!)

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How to take advantage of a dead bishop?

The position below arose after White's 32nd move, Kxd2. (White just took the rook.)

This is exactly the setup I had been playing for in the game yesterday, for I thought it was won because of the opponent's dead h7B.
What do you think -- is it actually won by White? I have had this played out several times by Fritz 9, both with blitz and shootout, and all of the times White won due to the spatial advantage, but I am not sure if the engines played the best possible lines.
What should White's (who has the living bishop) plan be in positions like this?

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0 that could easily have been 1

This position occurred in the club match today, where Black's pieces were led by a team-mate, Peter (first name).
Black is two pawns up and has an initiative against White's vulnerable king (honestly, if I had been White, I would have resigned here since it is a clear -+), yet after 1..g5 2.fxg6 Rxg6+ 3.Kh3 Rxg2 4.Qxg2 Qg6, where White avoided changing queens, he somehow succeeded in not only losing the initiative but also messing up the position by letting White's queen penetrate on g7 and soon trap the d6 rook (after a check the king moves to b6, then the queen to e7), at which point Black was forced to resign. :-(
According to engine Rybka, 2..hxg6 (text line) is a better choice. (minus five-something)
And if I had been Black I would have deviated from text line on move #3 by choosing f6-f5. (I did not much like the d6 rook playing the role of a pawn.)

This collapse was a typical example of how much the level of alertness can drop in positions where every move seems to be winning. (I will soon show a game of mine where the same happened to me.)

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