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Puzzle 0319

This problem was composed by Herbstmann in 1934. White to play and win.

The Solution White is way down on material, so only mate or winning Black's queen will tilt the balance in his favor. This study is just pure tactics from beginning to end, so it is a good test of your tactical ability to solve it from the diagram, without moving the pieces. White to play and win. The first move is quite easy, because it ensures that White can fork king and queen the following move. Indeed, it seems so strong that at first it is hard to see how Black can play on. 1 Nd6+! Kg3 Black cannot avoid either Nf7+ or Nf5+ next move, so he can kiss his queen goodbye, but it takes time for White to take on h6 and Black can use this to develop counter-play using his advanced pawn. 2 Nf5+ Kg2 Suddenly problems start to appear for White. The immediate capture on h6 is met by ...f2+ and ... f1=Q, when Black restores the material balance and draws. So White must give a preliminary check. 3 Qg4+ Kh1 Forced, because 3...Kh2 allows 4 Qg3+ Kh1 5 Nxh6 and White takes the queen in safety. After the move played White has no queen check, while taking on h6 allows ...f2+ followed by ...Bxg4. If you have not already seen the finish, now is the time to stop and work it out for yourself. 4 Nxh6! This unexpectedly succeeds, even though Black can regain the queen. 4...f2+ 5 Kf1 Bxg4 6 Nxg4 Black has but one legal move: 6...Bh2, which allows mate in one. 7 Nxf2 mate.

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