28 July, 2015

Black to Play, and exchange correctly


As Black, I was presented with this position, after the Knight has captured a pawn on d4.

Instinctively, I felt there was a correct combination here, that would give an advantage to Black.

What would you play ?




My game continued [33...Nxd4 32. Rxc8 Ne2+ ?  33. Kh1 Rxc8 34. Bxe5 Re8 ? 35. Rd5 ?? Nf4 ] which won, but was a bad combination.

22 July, 2015

Improving Tactics

This isn't a complicated " White to play", but from my point of view its more that it shows for me that these days I appear to 'see' things more than I used to.

The idea occurred on the previous move when the Black Queen was on d8, but it didn't work. 

As soon as Qe7 was played, I knew what I would play, and did so...



White to play and win

Solution if required [  1. Rxc6 bxc 2. Qxa5 ]

12 July, 2015

White to Play

The surprisingly summery Summer has distracted me from the blog.

Just to keep things ticking over, here's a simple one for you.

Taken from a blitz game, Black has just captured a Bishop on a4...


White to play
Solution if required [The Queen recapture gives Black a steady win. White should play 29. Rc8+ Rxc8 30. bxa and wins ]