, a classic collection of annotated games for beginners, to see whether it belongs on the list. It does indeed: it's a fun and instructive read.But my silicon friend discovered something amazing in the final position of the very first game. Can you discover it, too, using wetware alone?
von Scheve - Teichmann, Berlin 1907
Position after 17...Bxf2
White to play resigned
Chernev explains White's resignation: "Black's threat was 18...Qh3+ 19.Nh2 Qxh2#." ("#" is the abbreviation for "checkmate".) "As 18.Rxf2 runs into 18...Nxf2#, there was no escape."
NEVER TRUST ANYTHING YOU READ IN A CHESS BOOK! (This goes double for blogs written by patzers.) 99.9% of the time, the book will be right and you'll discover why your challenge was wrong. But every so often, you'll discover something cool.
6 comments:
How remarkable are we talking about? I see 18.Bf4!?, but 18...Qxf4 looks to be dead-won for Black. Also possible is 18.Bxf7+!? Kxf7 (or 18...Kf8, seemingly forcing White to try 19.Bf4) 19.Ng5+ Kg6 20.Qxg4 Qxg4 21.Rxf2, but that too looks hopeless for White.
You're on the right track....
As you know, you've showed me the solution. All I can say is that any human who can find it unassisted is a genius. And anyone who could find the way out in an actual game, not knowing that there is one, must be a GM - and probably not an "ordinary GM." Has anyone ever found a resource that phenomenal in actual play?
As you say, I was on the right track, so in a correspondence game (where I could move the pieces and had essentially unlimited time) I might find it. But with the clock ticking, no way.
A couple of commenters at chessgames.com have found the solution. I don't know whether they found it themselves, or had silicon assistance. See http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1141572
The first two moves of the solution are forced. It's the third move that I find amazing.
"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
Chess admittedly has the feature that you only have to play one move at a time. If White doesn't get too dejected looking at his king's position, he should be able to find 18.Bxf7+! and the draw by perpetual if Black takes the bishop. There's no other decent move for White, and it's a good try for a swindle, at a minimum. Then after 18...Kf8!, White should be able to see that 19.Bf4! holds on at least another move. The rub, as you say, is that 20.Bh5!! is so hard to find. I think most players strong enough to find the first two moves wouldn't find the third, and would resign rather than play 19.Bf4, figuring that it only delayed the inevitable.
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