Position 247 (variation from Adams-Torre) revisited

Black to play

National Master Frederick Rhine (no relation to Fred Reinfeld) found a simple shot that destroys Reinfeld's intended solution (and mine)!

So what did I miss?  Evaluate the position.  (Sssh, Fred!  He already knows the answer.)

And what's the correct evaluation of the original position?

P.S. Frederick notes that Carlos Torre made the same blunder in his analysis!

This must have occurred in a real game...

White to play and win

Doesn't this look too silly for Reinfeld to have invented it?

Since intellectual property theft would be a bad thing, I'll stop the quiz with the tenth example (and 10 divided by 1001 is less than 1%, isn't it?). Please let me know how you did: too hard? Too easy? (If you scored 10 out of 10, feel free to brag!)

Now that I'm getting my blogging fingers warmed up, look for Chicago chess content in future posts.

Number 247

White to play and win

I feel less guilty lifting this great stuff knowing that Reinfeld stole, too. Now that you've found the win (you have found the win, haven't you?), you should be able to figure out what famous game this position is based on.  (The position never occurred in the game.)

I like this one

White to play and win

So where's the Chicago-specific content, you ask?  Patience!

Makes a great Christmas gift!

What's the best move?

White to play and win

By now, you've probably realized that most of these quiz problems don't result in checkmate.  When there are a bunch of pieces left on the board, a two-pawn advantage is usually sufficient to win (other things being equal).  Bishops and knights are worth a bit more than three pawns.

Another easy one (I hope!)

Black to play and win

By now, I hope you've gathered that you should buy this book.  You can find copies on eBay, too.

Nothing glamorous

White to play and win 

We saw some fancy footwork in some of the earlier examples. 1001 Chess Sacrifices and Combinations also has its share of "boring" tactical exercises.

Do you think winning is boring?

Aesthetically pleasing

Black to play and win

Some quiz books are too easy, some are too hard. The Reinfeld collection is chock-full of the kind of tactics that win games.

This position is both practical and pretty.

If at first you don't succeed....

If the "natural" continuation doesn't work, try another move order!

Black to play and win

Who was Fred Reinfeld?

Fred Reinfeld was a New York State chess champion in the 1930's.  While he was a very strong master, he was far weaker than contemporaries like Reuben Fine and Samuel Reshevsky.  He wrote chess books for a living: some are frankly not very good.

When I was young, my friends and I would look down our nose at Reinfeld's books.  Don't be a chess snob like me: practice your fundamentals!

Black to play and win 

Here's another example from 1001 Chess Sacrifices and Combinations.  The first couple moves are not hard....

Hello!

White to play and win

My name is Bill Brock, and I'm an amateur chess player who lives in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood. I plan to use this blog to ramble on about chess in general, and chess in Chicago in particular. I hope to avoid an inordinate focus on my own games, so please send me material!

I'm kicking myself for not having read Fred Reinfeld's
1001 Winning Chess Sacrifices and Combinations forty years earlier. Please don't make my mistake: buy this book today!

Let's start things off with a little tactics quiz lifted from examples in this wonderful exercise book.