GameKnot: GameKnot related, Chess Puzzles for Defense

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GameKnot related: Chess Puzzles for Defense

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rich_sposato
07-Oct-10, 12:10

Chess Puzzles for Defense

The current chess puzzles are all about causing checkmate. What if we had chess puzzles which were all about preventing checkmate?

In the current puzzles, a person has to see which move(s) leads to checkmate. In a defensive puzzle, a person has to both see which of the opponent's move(s) lead to checkmate and figure out how to stop it. That's trickier on two counts. First, a person has to think of the game from the opponent's point of view and see how the opponent can exploit a weakness in one's own position. Secondly, a person must figure out which moves can stop the checkmate.

Any chance on getting puzzles which encourage people to think defensively?

black_cat_hamlet
07-Oct-10, 15:12

Not a bad idea!

tugger
12-Oct-10, 12:49

It might well work for the tactical section, I'm not sure it would work from a user-composition point of view though, we would just end up with a messy list of mostly-flawed puzzles like the old puzzle section here before it was dragged into the modern age. At least all attacking puzzles listed are checkmate, the computer has run through all defensive options, but you can't do the same for a defensive puzzle, the position would need to be analysed by computer to ensure that the defensive line you took is enough to get back to an equal position or better.

But for sure, it would be a great idea to have defensive tactical problems, so long as they've been fully analysed.

rich_sposato
06-Nov-10, 16:49

Here are some defensive puzzles. In each, the player must prevent mate. While all of these end in draws, I'd also like to see defensive puzzles that don't end in draws but still prevent checkmate.

A puzzle from Richard Reti: White to play and draw.

A puzzle by Genrikh Kasparyan: White to play and draw.

Another puzzle by Reti: White to play and draw.

From a game played by Frederick Yates and Frank Marshall: Black to move and draw.

From Lasker versus Tarrasch: White to play and draw.

black_cat_hamlet
06-Nov-10, 22:42

For the first puzzle...

1.Kg7! should draw for White - here are two possible lines;

1. Kg7 h4 2. Kf6 h3 3. Ke7 h2 4. c7 Kb7 5. Kd7 h1=Q 6. c8=Q+

And

1. Kg7 h4 2. Kf6 Kb6 3. Ke5 h3 4. Kd6 h2 5. c7 h1=Q 6. c8=Q

For the second line, if 3...Kxc6 then White rounds up the h-pawn easily with Kf4

I'll look at the other puzzles at some other time

archduke_piccolo
07-Nov-10, 00:32

Yates - Marshall

I think the diagram must be wrong (reversed board maybe?). At stands, after any move by Black, White takes the pawn and promotes next turn.

If I am right about that, then the puzzle becomes more interesting: the a=pawn (NOT h-pawn) is 'en-prise', and the f-pawn has the legs of the Black king (on account of the 2-square initial move of the pawn.

b

So a pawn move won't do:
1...a3 2.Kxa3 Kc2 3.f4 (+/-)

And this K-move transposes:
1...Kc2 2.f4 etc.

Any K move along the rank is just silly, and after
1...Ka2 2.Kxa3 Kb2 3.f4 ... as before.

That leaves just one move:
1.Rb2! ...
and now:
a] 1... Kxa3 2.Kc3 reels in the f-pawn (=)
b] 1... f4 2.a3 f5 3.a2 f6 4.a1=Q f7 5.Qf1 Black wins!

rich_sposato
07-Nov-10, 10:14

Yes, the board is reversed, ionadowman. I figured that out after I posted the entry.

sccadams
09-Nov-10, 16:04

For the second puzzle.

My intuition says the correct move for white is

1. Bf4

where after

1... Bxa2 2. Bxd6 Bb3 3. Bxa3
definitely draws for white.

However, if black plays

1... Bxf4 2. Rxa3 Bc2,

I'm not sure how white would draw here.

tugger
10-Nov-10, 11:40

ion

1. Rb2! for the Yates - Marshall is truly brilliant.

wschmidt
15-Nov-10, 16:42

I haven't seen it,

but I know that Dan Heisman, who has a column over at ChessCafe.com, has an entire book devoted to problems/puzzles dealing with threats. It's called "Looking for Trouble." Knowing the quality of some of his other stuff, it's probably pretty good.

archduke_piccolo
16-Nov-10, 22:32

tugger...

...Yeah, I know. I figured (hoped) people would see it as a typo (the K is only, oh, 3 letters distant on the keyboard from the R; obviously a fingerslip). I have no idea where that Rook came from, maybe the King was going walkabout incognito.

But I really hate it when things like that happen.

shamash
01-Feb-11, 23:06

Karsten Muller's "Test and Improve Your Defensive Skill"

There are people who enjoy puzzle books.

I am not one of those people.

Puzzles are for individuals -- games are for interaction.

Plus, most books of chess puzzles fail to explore the ideas and rationale behind the sequence of moves chosen.

One exception -- a book I recommend -- happens to be a book of puzzles for improving defensive skills.

The book is Karsten Muller & Merijn van Delft's CHESS CAFE PUZZLE BOOK 3: Test and Improve Your Defensive Skill.

It's full of ideas that stick with you, expressed in words, not just variations, as in, (annotating Avruke's erroneous 32nd move in Avrukh-Mikhalevski (Ramat Aviv 1998)):

"Black's coordinated attacking forces must be reduced, so 32 g4? is a fatal mistake as it allows the invasion of Black's rooks."

Highly recommended, especially the authors' discussion comparing active to passive defense.

.

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