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HW and Quizzes
One thing I found interesting were the threads on Studying the Positions, Removing the Defender, and there was one other quiz that phyxianrook gave. What does it all mean? Well, doing HW, taking quizzes, and practicing how to access the positions is a way to improve your games. And one to note is that one of my problems, lately, has been not doing enough HW. With that, I'm starting a new thread for HW questions and quizzes. And, when it's done the HW, itself, will be transferred to the WTWLTR club.
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So, it starts off with this quiz, and the only person I ask here not to comment on is pawntificator because he saw this in a different club a few months ago and got the right answer. But, it's for all else. Here's the quiz. In this position, white has threats to meet, as black is now threatening ...Kg7 followed by ...Rh2, so there are problems. However, the HW is to answer how white can get out of trouble. Note: This is a difficult which I got wrong, back in the day, so it really requires you to analyze and think about what's going on here.
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cplusplus11 22-Jul-14, 10:54
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This is the right position.
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cplusplus11 22-Jul-14, 13:51
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Yes, that is absolutely correct as 1.Rf8 is the solution. It might seem easy, from this position and while not the main lesson, there is a moral that I learned. It's where I first learned that sometimes, tempo is more important then material. As you see 1.Rf8 gives away a R, but with the sac white gets the time he needs to stalemate his opponent.
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Here's another interesting position. It was based on a game between GM's Ponomaniov and Dortmund. This one, however, is going to be more difficult. And, I was up late one night to solve this puzzle, and it took a long while. But, white has a win here. Can you find the winning move?
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That's the first part. The second part is how and why does this move win?
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saintinsanity 25-Aug-14, 10:13
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My guess is Re7. It threatens a quick mate and in order to defend black must give up his defense of the a8 square, allowing another threat with Ba6 and black must recapture allowing mate on a8
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geniusacamel 25-Aug-14, 10:30
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1. Re7!! Be8 2. Rxe8 Qxe8 3. Qxe8 c5 4. Qd8 Kb7 5. Qxd5+ Kc8 6. Bf5+ Kb8 7. Qd8+ Ka7 8. Be4 Rb7 9. Qc8 Rb8 10. Qc7+ Ka6 11. Qxb8 cxd4 12. Qb7#
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Yes, you both got the answer. And, this wasn't easy, as I had it wrong in the beginning. However, @pawntificator: this doesn't just threaten mate. Instead, white has an inevitable sequence because of what geniusacamel outlined. One other thing to note is that if black took with 1...Qxe7, he'd also mate after 2.Qb5 So no matter how you look at it, mate cannot be avoided.
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saintinsanity 25-Aug-14, 11:37
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I was looking at 1. Re7 Qxe7 2. Ba6 Kxa6 3. Qa8++
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Yes. That's what would've happened if he had taken that B.
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I've got another assignment for you. It was based on a game between GM's Judit Polgar and Soros. In this particular game, JP was white and Soros was black. Now, white saced a piece for a pawn to achieve this kind of position. And, white can win this game. The winning move is 1.exf5!! The question is how and why does this move win? Note: That since it's a GM game, it is going to take time to figure it out, so you really want to calculate and think about what's going on, in this position.
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geniusacamel 07-Sep-14, 14:14
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1. exf5 Bxc3 2. bxc3 Bxf5 3. Qe5+ Qe7 4. Qxh8+ Qf8 5. Rhe1+ Be6 6. Qxh7 Qa3+ 7. Kd2 Kd7 8. Qh4 Kc7 9. Qf4+ Qd6+ 10. Qxd6+ Kxd6 11. Kc1+ Kc6 12. a3 Now, it is an easy win for White.
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Almost, and you're right, that line wins. But, it isn't quite because black didn't play 1...Bxc3 Instead, he played 1...gxf5
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geniusacamel 07-Sep-14, 14:22
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Then Black made a huge blunder. White wins more easily after 1. exf5 gxf5 2. Nxb5 Rb8 3. Nc7+ Qxc7 4. Qxc7 Bxb2+ 5. Kd2 Rd8 6. Qxa7 Bf6 7. Kc1 Rg8 8. Rhe1+ Be6 9. Rxd8+ Bxd8 10. Qb8 Ke7 11. Rd1 h5 12. Qb4+ Kf6 13. Qh4+ Kg6 14. Rxd8 Rxd8 15. Qxd8 Bxa2 16. Qd6+ Kh7 17. Qf6
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Yes. That's correct.
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But, white played the immediate 2.Rhe1+
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geniusacamel 07-Sep-14, 14:36
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Yes, 2. Rhe1+ is also good but Nxb5 is better.
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I agree. That move, that is 2.Nxb5 forces a win quickly, as you noted.
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baddeeds 12-Sep-14, 11:17
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Deleted by baddeeds on 16-Sep-14, 10:46.
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Here's a better one. This was based on a game between two GM's. Now, there are two parts to this. The first one is to figure out black's best move. And, the second one is to figure out why.
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geniusacamel 16-Sep-14, 20:33
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1...Qh3+ 2. Kxh3 Rh5+ 3. Kg2 Rxh2#
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Correct! Yes, that is the solution.
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Here's another. But, this one is, yet, even more difficult. Now, in general, I'll either do the HW assignments given by a mentor or Jack. Sometimes, I'll give it to myself, but based on GM games. I also do from time to time give myself HW on games I'm playing. But, this one was the most difficult one for a recent team game that I played. And, to do so, I had to think like a GM. I did so by using Analyze the Board. Now, it would appear that I was rushing do to how quick I moved. But, instead, I did the HW when it was my opponents turn to move so that by the time, he'd move, I'd know the best response. Now, in this game, I was white and he was black. At this point, 17.Qd5 was played, and my opponent answered with 17...Nf4 The first part is that it would appear that 17.Qd5 was a cheapo tactic. However, it's anything but that, so that first part is to figure out why it was the best move? In there, to also figure out what black's best responses are how I would respond to it. The second part is figuring out what white's best response is to 17...Nf4, and why? It should be easier then the first part, but it still requires a lot of analyzing and thinking which is about.
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geniusacamel 16-Dec-14, 19:55
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18. Qd2 Ne6 19. Bg3 b5 20. Bd5 Rb8 21. Nxe5 O-O 22. Nxd7 Bxd7 23. Bxd6 cxd6 24. Bxe6+ Bxe6 25. Rxe6
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Not quite, but you are very close, though. It's a similar move that I almost overlooked.
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geniusacamel 16-Dec-14, 20:06
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Lol, this is at least as good as 18. Qe4.
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It's actually better, but the lines that I was thinking, and what I meant was what I played so 18.Qe4 but I should've been a little more clear. But, with it, now is the time to figure out variations after 18.Qe4 In other words, why it came to find with all the different variations.
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