26th December 2024
The superhero
When I made this study, I wasn't sure if it was complete. But then I remembered the tourney for "classical" studies held a year ago. The organizer Serhiy Didukh gave composers the opportunity to "charm people who like studies without long introductions and wild initial positions."
With this in mind I was certain that this study should not be changed or extended.
No. 2
White to move and draw.
Problem Paradise no 108, problem no 234, page 8, 2024.
Last year I send an agile knight study to Problem Paradise. And this one is quite different of course. But nevertheless it is study with a superhero knight! And like last year there is an intense battle between the white knight and the black king.
White is behind in material and could win something back. However, Black's threat Na1-c2-e3# is quite strong.
1. Nb4+ Kc3 2. Nd5+ (2. Nxa6? Bd6! 3. Nc5 Bxc5 4. Rxc5+ Kb2 5. Rc4 a3 6. Rxd4 Nb3 7. Rc4 a2-+ ) 2.. Kc4 Nb6+ (3. Nxf4? Bb5 4. Nd3 Nb3 5. Nb2+ Kb4-+ or 3. Rxa4+? Kxd5 4. Rxd4+ Ke5 5. Re4+ Kf5 6. Re5+ Bxe5-+ and no success for the desperado rook.) 3.. Kd3.
After three moves - all capture refusals by the way and with some captures being nice tries - not much has changed. Only the white knight went from c6 to b6. It seems however that the black king has out-triangulated the white knight. But White has made some progress, since the mate threat Nc2 can now be answered by Nd5.
4. Rxa4 (4. Rxa6? Nc2 5. Nd5 Ne3+ 6. Nxe3 dxe3 7. Rd6+ Ke4-+ ) 4.. Nc2 5. Nd5 Bb5 (5... Ne3+ 6. Nxe3 dxe3 7. Ra3+ Ke4 (7... Kd4 8. Rxa6 )
8. Rxe3+ ).
The situation is quite confusing and you may want to try to solve it from here.
6. Ra2 Ne3+ 7. Nxe3 Kxe3 and 6. Ra5 Ne3+ 7. Nxe3 dxe3 are no options.
6. Nxf4+! The patzer move is the correct choice, because it comes with a check. But did you see it to the end?
6.. Ke4 7.Ne6! (7. Ra5 Ne3+ 8. Kxd2 Nc4+-+ )
7.. Ke3!
Once again it seems that the black king has out-maneuvered the white knight. Black threatens Bxa4 and Be2+. What to do?
8. Nxd4! Bxa4. And now?
9.Nb3!! That's the point! And it deserves a diagram.
9.. Bxb3 is stalemate, and any move of the knight on c2 is stalemate, too! (And 9.. Kd3 can be refuted by the prosaic 10.Nxd2.)
Draw.
(In the submitted version I had Black play 9.. Bxb3, which I now regret very much. The final position should be that after White's 9th move and leave open which of the six stalemates Black chooses.)
Did you notice that the superhero knight made 8 of the 9 moves? Is this good or bad? I don't know. But that's what superheroes are supposed to do, right?
The judge will surely notice that Bf4 has not moved in the mainline. Maybe that could have been healed by some introductory moves, but additional material would have been required and all in all it would have ruined the overall impression.
Finally, let's have a closer look at 9. Nb3!. It offers the knight en prise and is therefore a sacrifice. But then there are 5 knight moves that make it a future self-pin. What should such a move be called? Are there any predecessors?
Addendum 29th March 2025: Judge GM Martin Minski commented: "9.Nb3! is nice!"
Martin took over the role of judge for the late Mario Garcia at very short notice. Thank you very much for that!