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fiat96
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Meanwhile, white to move and mate in two. Did it take you awhile?
NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
Priestly chess players, drop me a line. HERE
In chessy news, in Baku my guy Wesley So nearly gave me a heart attack with his come from behind games. He fought his way back from touch positions to draw and then win a tie breaker and then draw another to advance. The tournament is knock out: lose your tie breakers and you are out of the tourney.
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1. Rd4+ followed by 2. c4#.
Longtime reader just now posting! I really appreciate the daily chess puzzles.
1. Rd4+ … 2. c4#
This one took me an intense 30 seconds.
The king and knight are protecting the potential escape squares e5 and c4, so no moving those. The rook, on the other hand, is not uniquely protecting any square near the king, so a good candidate to move.
For the c4 move to mate, d4 must be taken care of. Forcing black’s bishop or the pawn to capture on that square suffices.
Not being too terribly attached to my dignity, or in too much fear of humiliation, I will attempt another chess puzzle.
Nf6+
Forces Kc5
Ra5#
Thank you fiat96 for your excellent analysis. I should say that I didn’t get this solution. Maybe I was mentally blocked in not accepting to sacrifice the rook. Or maybe I was doubting the other pieces alone would be strong enough to check mate.