Unity Chess Club
Alexander Karpatchev 2570 Alexander Potapov 2475 St Petersburg ch-RUS 1998 Black to move
White’s hopes are bound up with perpetual check on the c8- and f5-squares. Consequently, Black needs to find a way to drive the white queen off this diagonal. In the game, Black missed a chance to end the game beautifully:
Having seen the winning idea, it is easy to find the right way of executing it: first, the white king is driven to a square where the black pawn will queen with check.
Unity Chess Club
Training position Konstantin Sakaev White to move
If we look at the opposition of queens on the e-file from a more imaginative standpoint than the usual one, and note that even though the bishop on e5 is pinned, it can move anywhere, we soon find a nice finish:
Unity Chess Club
Mikhail Botvinnik Paul Keres Moscow 1966 White to move
Any means by which White can get his queen to h4 or h5 are good. He finds a way:
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Paulo Pinho 2128 Joseph Gallagher 2499 Gibraltar 2013 Black to move
26...Nd3!! 27.Bxd3 Qf3 28.Qd2 Bxe3+
The final deflection. White resigned. After any capture, he is mated: 29.Qxe3 Qg2# or 29.Rxe3 Qf1+ 30.Bxf1 Rxf1#.
Unity Chess Club
Training position Konstantin Sakaev White to move
It seems that the knight has fallen on c8, because natural kinds of pressure on the bishop on c5 do not bring significant benefits. For example, 15.Rc1 can be met by 15...Nd7, with an uncertain struggle. However, if you connect your imagination, it is possible to find...
Unity Chess Club
Training position Konstantin Sakaev White to move
Black’s pieces are scattered and passive, and White’s initiative is very dangerous. Noticing that the black queenside would be indefensible without his queen, one can find...