Benko’s Bafflers
Most of the time these studies
resemble positions that could actually occur over the board. You must
simply reach a theoretically won or
drawn position for White. Solutions
can be found on page 71.
Please e-mail submissions for
Benko’s Bafflers to:
[email protected]
Qf5+ Kc1 5. Qg5+ Kb1 6. Qg6+ Kc1 7. Qh6+
Kb1 8. Qh7+ Kc1 9. Qxc7+ Kb1 10. Qb6+
Kc1 11. Qc5+ Kb1 12. Qb4+ Kc1 13. Qxa3+
Kb1 14. Qb2 mate.
The special maneuvers by the queen
might not be new (even for that time) but
it must have been enriched by this new
work. Looking closer at the many pieces,
it is obvious some improvements can be
found. Thus the rook on h1 is superfluous and the a2-pawn should be white so
that 13. Qc4+ Kb1 14. Qxa2+ could not
provide yet another alternative. Further,
the bishop on c7 could easily be a pawn.
These matters of economy were not seriously taken into account in that time.
Excelsior
This famous study was born as a result
of a bet. The task was to find out which
piece is least likely to deliver mate. The
b2-pawn has become the chosen one ...
Sam Loyd, 1861
n+rvl-+-+
+p+-+p+p
-zp-+-+-+
+R+-+-+K
-+-+-+-+
zp-+-zp-zPN
-zPP+R+-+
sN-+-+-+k
White mates in five moves
1. b4!
The threat is either Rd5 or Rf5.
1. ... Rc5+ 2. bxc5 a2 3. c6! Bc7 4. cxb7
And then bxa8=Q or B mate.
The expression of excelsior has its origins in Latin with the meaning of “ever
higher,” which became an independent
theme in problems and studies.
uschess.org
Problem I
S. Loyd 1868
-+-+-+-+
zp-zp-+-+-+-zp-+-+
zp-+-zp-+k+-+-zp-+
+-mK-+-zpL
-+-+-+-zp
+-+-+-+-
White to play and draw
Race
Pal Benko, 1990
-+-+-+-mk
+-+-+-zp-+-mK-+R+
+-+-+-+-+p+-+-+
+-+p+-+-+-+-+P+
+-+-+-+-
White to play and win
Again, the g2-pawn will be the hero.
1. Ke7 d2 2. Rd6 c3 3. Kf7 Kh7 4. g4 c2 5. g5!
d1=Q 6. Rh6+! gxh6 7. g6+ Kh8 8. g7+ Kh7
9. g8=Q mate.
Gallop
Emanuel Lasker, 1895
(adjusted by Pal Benko)
-+-+KsN-sN
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+-+-+-+-+P+-+-+
+n+-+k+-
White to play and win
1. c4 Nd2 2. c5 Nb3 3. c6 Nd4 4. c7 Nb5 5.
c8=N! wins.
The former world champion was also
inspired by the excelsior theme. In his
original work the c2-pawn was placed on
c3 but I thought it is better on c2 where
it is not threatened to be taken, yielding
a perfect excelsior. (The reverse of this
with black can be seen in the January
Problem II
B. Horowitz 1872
-+-+-+-+
zp-zp-+-+-+-zp-+-+
zp-+-zp-+-+-mk-zp-+
+K+-vl-zp-sNP+-+-zp
+-+-+-+L
White to play and win
2012 Chess Life issue, also by me.) Three
knights win against a solo knight.
New Times
Pal Benko, 1988
-+-+-+-mk
+-+-+-zpL
-+-+-+K+
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+-+-+Psn-zP-+-+-+
+-+-+-+-
White to play and win
1. b4 Ne2
1. ... Ne4 2. Bg8 wins.
2. b5 Nd4 3. b6 Nc6
White wins by forcing the knight away
with 3. ... Nxf3 4. b7 Ne5+ 5. Kf5 Nd7 6.
Bg6 Kg8 7. Be8 Nb8 8. Ke6 g5 9. Bh5.
4. b7 Nd8!
No better is 4. ... Nb8 5. f4 Nd7 6. f5
Nb8 7. f6 gxf6 8. Kh6 f5 9. Bxf5 Kg8 10.
Kg6 Kf8 11. Kf6 Ke8 12. Ke6 Kd8 13.
Kd6 Nd7 14. Kc6 Nb8+ 15. Kb6.
5. b8=B! Ne6
White gets a winning two bishops versus
knight endgame after 5. ... Nc6 6. Bg3!! (6.
Bc7? Ne7+ 7. Kf7 Nd5 is even) 6. ... Ne7+
7. Kf7 Ng6 8. Bg8 Ne5+ 9. Ke8! wins.
6. Bd6!!
All of the other tries fail: 6. Be5? Nf8+
7. Kf7 Ng6; 6. Bg3? Nf4+! 7. Kg5 Ne6+! (7.
... Ne2? 8. Bd3! Nxg3 9. Kg4 Nh1 10.
Be2 wins) 8. Kf5 Nd4+ 9. Ke4 Ne2 10. Bg6
Nxg3+ 11. Ke3 Nf1+ 12. Ke2 Nh2.
6. ... Nf8+ 7. Kf7 Nxh7 8. Be7! wins.
By this time it was proved that two
bishops win against a solo knight.
.
Chess Life — July 2012
47