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It’s white’s move. Mate in 2.
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
Interested in learning? Try THIS.
In chessy news, Ray Robson won his 5th consecutive Puzzles World Championship. Puzzle rush… solve as many puzzles as possible while the clock ticks down. They do this at terrifying speed.
I try to do puzzles every day for a “chunk” of time, the chunk’s length depending on life’s goings ons. I’ve seen some of these streamers start out puzzle rush and I can’t imagine how they even move and click the mouse that fast much less solve the problems. I think it has to do with several factors. First, they are of a generation that never didn’t have a mouse to click. They develop pattern recognition. They have far above average visual memory retention. This is one of the reasons why I am hesitant to play short format chess online: I’m just not fast enough with the mouse. Ever see someone like Hikaru in a time-crunch rush with just seconds on the clock?
For example…. I set this to start at the beginning of a hyper bullet game. Each player starts with 30 seconds! The pre-moving is … whew!
Is this really chess? I guess so. It serves a purpose.
Chess’ “Wimbledon” has started. Tata Steel Chess in Wijk aan Zee (13-28 January). 14-player single round -robin events. 100 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for the remainder of the game, with a 30-second increment per move from the start. Blitz for tie-breaks.
This morning at OTB I won all my games, classical and blitz (10 minutes). Felt good. Non-Catholic and Catholic members alike were all over me asking about what they are hearing in the mainstream media about Francis and controversies. They are genuinely shocked and want to know if it’s all true. Not the easiest sea of icebergs to navigate.
Meanwhile… this guy.
Cardinal Joseph Zen celebrates his 92nd birthday today. Please say one Hail Mary for this brave shepherd. pic.twitter.com/hCRcDP8Ym1
— Sachin Jose (@Sachinettiyil) January 13, 2024
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How to put Black into Zugzwang, when he threatens your Queen? The answer:
1. Qd5! which threatens 2. Qg8 mate. Black cannot answer that threat by pushing his pawn, nor can he capture the Queen with his Rook, because then 2. Rg8 is mate.
So Black has to move his King, but where to?
If 1. . . . Kd8, 2. QxR is mate.
And if 1. Kf8, 2. Qg8 is still mate.
Qd5