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As yet another teaser from our very soon to be released electronic republication of Richard Pask's Key Themes, we bring you a situation that Mr. Pask takes as far as a Black win, but leaves it to you to finish the job.
Here's a runup to the diagram:
| 1. | 10-14 | 22-18 |
| 2. | 11-15 | 18x11 |
| 3. | 8x15 | 24-20 |
| 4. | 6-10 | 28-24 |
| 5. | 1-6 | 23-19 |
| 6. | 9-13 | 25-22 |
| 7. | 6-9 | 29-25 |
| 8. | 4-8 | 26-23 |
| 9. | 14-17 | 21x14 |
| 10. | 9x18 | 23x14 |
| 11. | 10x26 | 31x22 |
| 12. | 7-10 | 25-21 |
| 13. | 8-11 | 27-23 |
| 14. | 5-9 | 23-18 |
BLACK
Black to Play and Win
B:W32,30,24,22,21,20,19,18:B15,13,12,11,10,9,3,2.
Can you find where White went wrong, and correct the play, and then can you find the winning move for Black and finish the job?
When you think your work is complete, finish off by clicking on Read More for solution and commentary.
Solution
Where did White go wrong? Mr. Pask questions 12. ... 25-21 but KingsRow 1.15q thinks that after 13. 8-11 27-23? loses while 13. ... 32-28 might still have held the draw.
From the diagram, 15. 12-16! is the move leading to a win. Mr. Pask gives this follow-up:
| 15. | 12-16! | 19-12 |
| 16. | 10-14 | 20-16 |
| 17. | 14-23 | 16-7 |
| 18. | 2-11 | 21-17 |
| 19. | 11-16 |
and leaves the rest to us. But White is in a bad way, for instance
| 19. | ... | 24-20 | |
| 20. | 16-19 | 32-28 | (if 20-16 23-26!) |
| 21. | 23-27 |
and now 21. ... 30-26 or 21. ... 30-25 lose at once to 15-18, while running for a king doesn't work either:
| 21. | ... | 20-16 |
| 22. | 27-31 | 16-11 |
| 23. | 31-27 | 11-8 |
| 24. | 19-23 |
and White has no moves; for example, 24. ... 30-25 loses to 25. 15-18 and 24. ... 8-4 loses to the back shot by 25. 23-26.
Whether or not you were able to finish this one off, we'll finish off our editing on Key Themes within the next few weeks, and publish it here for your entertainment and education.
You can email the Webmaster with comments on this article.
