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Puzzle 0216

This problem was composed by Giegold in 1976. White to play and mate in six.

The Solution The solution is more or less self-explanatory. Black is stalemated apart from his d-pawn, so White has two free moves before he has to worry about releasing the stalemate. On the other hand, it is hard to envisage a mating position since Black's king is virtually surrounded by his own pieces. The key idea is to leave the rook on f6 undefended at the right moment, forcing ...Kxf6, and then mate with the bishop along the long diagonal. The problem is that in the diagram the bishop has no useful moves because the four enemy pawns on the queenside prevent the bishop moving to d6, c5 or b4. 1 Rh1! A mysterious rook move. 1...d4 2 Ra1!! The mystery deepens. Why has White sent his rook to the furthest corner of the board when he is trying to mate the black king? 2...d3 Black's pawn moves are exhausted and now White must lift the stalemate. 3 Ra3! This is the point of White's rook maneuver. White unblocks the queenside pawn structure and opens the diagonal for his bishop. 3...bxa3+ 4 Ka1 Of course not 4 Ka2? stalemate. 4...a2 Everything is in place for the decisive maneuver, which involves the sacrifice of White's other rook. 5 Ba3! 5...Kxf6 All Black's moves are absolutely forced. 6 Bb2 mate.

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