A lovely problem....
As one commentator at ChessTempo remarked, the tactic is so simple to see, but it doesn't work.
The trick ( or perhaps more accurately, the skill ) is to find the moves that make it work !
A recent purchase ( Nieman - "Chess Tactics Antenna" ) would classify this as either "Unprotected Piece" or more likely "Alignment", two of the 'Seven Signals' that he uses to describe patterns/situations that should trigger your 'tactics antenna'.
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| White to play |
The title says it all.
Practising tactics ( or any element of chess ) is helpful and, usually, productive.
It improves your ability to see patterns, and hopefully to see them quicker or more accurately.
However, if you do not practise a thinking method or process when playing, then you can fail to obtain the maximum benefit from your training.
I succeeded in gaining material in my solution, but I failed. Why so ?
Simple.
Top of the thinking process should be the King : the safety of your own, and the vulnerability of your opponent's.
I missed the mate.
I'm sure, reader, that you won't , but that's either because you are better at tactics than me ( highly likely ) but you also have a clue that material is not what is a stake here.
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| White to play and Mate |
Sad to say, but in the position below, I missed the winning move in this blitz game, even though I had registered and played a variation of it a few moves later.
Proof, not only that you should always be looking, but that however much you are practising, you can always do more.
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| Black to play and win |
Technically, it would be difficult to fail this mate problem, as there were 4 or 5 alternatives given in Chess Tempo. However, I was pleas...
