Fridays by the Fireside No. 5 - Chess As It Is Played - The Two Rook Sacrifice

In our fifth installment of Fridays by the Fireside we feature a dramatic two rook sacrifice from the Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld book The Fireside Book of Chess.


Chapter - Chess As It Is Played
Section - The Two Rook Sacrifice
Page - 315

When a master has a reputation for brilliancy, his opponents play against him with extra caution and thus reduce his opportunities for combinative fireworks. But despite his reputation as a 'Peck's bad boy,' Mieses was still able to produce such light-hearted classics as this one:

English Opening - London 1939
Craddock vs. Mieses

Romp with Rook - Queen and Pawn Endgame Puzzle

Here’s a chess puzzle that Women’s Grand Master Susan Polgar rates as a one-and-a-half stars out of four for difficulty. Even Rook should be able to solve that! I've created my own version of the puzzle using ChessVideoTV's free puzzle generator.

This puzzle is from an actual Grand Master game played just this past Thursday (09-13-07) between David Navara vs Jan Timman at the Czech Coal Carlsbad Tournament 2007.

White to move and win in 1 turn. I doubt I would have seen this move if it had been in my own game - but I did figure it out after about a minute of thinking it through. If you are an absolute beginner the hints I have added may be helpful.

To use the puzzle – once you have figured out the solution – make the winning move on the chess board (it appears you must use the 'Full Size' view to do this with this particular puzzle). If you are correct a message will appear showing how White wins. If you find it too difficult – you can get up to two hints by clicking the “Need a hint?” link near the top (hints are available only from the 'Full Size' view of the puzzle).



You can replay the complete game here thanks to the nice people at ChessGames.com.

Fridays by the Fireside No. 4 - Odd, But True - A Challenging Mate-in-Six Problem

In our fourth installment of Fridays by the Fireside we feature a very challenging "Mate-in-6" problem from the Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld book The Fireside Book of Chess.

Now, even if you find mate-in-one puzzles difficult - don't panic in despair - I feel very confident you can solve this "Mate-in-6" problem if you give it your best effort.


Chapter - The Magic of Chess
Section - Odd, But True
Item - 70
Page - 94

To use the puzzle, make each correct winning move for White on the chess board. If you pick the correct move for White Black will automatically respond. If you make all six of the correct moves in order Black will be checkmated. If you find the puzzle too difficult – you can get up to two hints by clicking the “Need a hint?” link near the top (from the 'Full Size' view of the puzzle).