Two challenges
As a chess player, you have to pass the time somehow. Vlastimil Hort, the great storyteller, is currently working on his second book of memoirs. But you can’t just work all day. There are no chess tournaments at the moment, only a few on the internet. And the former World Championship candidate doesn’t enjoy playing with the mouse — his cats would take offence at that.
What can he do to stay mentally fit? Puzzles are the perfect solution. Try to find the solutions by yourself, and then check if you got it right by clicking ‘show’ below each diagram.
The White Sniper is characterised by three moves against any black setup: 1.g3 2.Bg2 and 3.c4 though not necessarily in that order. Think of The White Sniper as a Hyper- Accelerated Sicilian Dragon against anything that Black plays.
1.g7 f2 2.Be7 f1Q 3.Bf6 Qxf6 4.gxh8Q+ Qxh8 (4…Kxh8 5.exf6 Kg8 6.f7+ Kh8 7.f8Q#)5.d4 Qg7 6.hxg7 h5 7.e6 h4 8.e7 h3 9.Kd7 h2 10.e8Q+ Kxg7 11.Qe5+ Kg6 12.Qxh2with mate in six.
The second puzzle is easier, according to Hort:
1.Nf5 Kf1 (1…f2 2.Ne3 f1Q 3.Nc2#) (1…e3 2.Nxe3 f2 3.Nf4 f1Q 4.Nd3#) 2.Ne3+ Ke1 3.Kc2 f2 4.Kc1 f1Q 5.Nc2#
Vlastimil Hort
MY CHESS STORIES
176 pages, hardback, Nava, 1st edition 2020.
ca. €24.00
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