CHESS POSITIONS TO BE SOLVED
TAKEN FROM MY FISCHER RANDOM CHESS GAMES
In this page (that I will periodically update) I intend to show some examples of chess positions, having tactical or strategical implications, taken from Fischer Random Chess games.
All these positions are taken from blitz or rapid games (10 or 15 minute games) that I played on www.instantchess.com, a site that in my opinion offers one of the best playing interface, including the option of playing Chess 960 games, the identification of players by the flag of their country (how romantic, isn't it?) and even a random way of searching for opponents that prevents snooty and snobby players from forming closed and exclusive groups.
My ID on this chess server is Gynus Keen (do you know what it means? The solution is at the bottom of this page).
These positions can be used by beginners and intermediate players to have examples of common combinations and to get familiar with some peculiarities of certain starting positions and the castling rules in Chess 960 games.
The solutions can be directly seen on the right hand side of the pictures (in the notation box); so if you want to try to solve the positions, please keep covered or avoid looking at the moves on the right.
These pictures are direct screen captures of the playing interface.
COMMON COMBINATIONS
Please think about the simple move that wins a piece for Black in the position below.
Black to move and win.
White attacks the black queen: what's Black's reply?
A note to the position above: White could have castled after the queen incursion. Remember that you can castle in Chess 960 too.
White to move and win through a double attack
White moves and wins.
White to play and win at least the exchange (note for beginners: the exchange is the difference in value between a Knight or a Bishop and a Rook)
The rook in c4 is pinned on the queen and attacked by a knight that is also pinned on the white king; what's the best move for Black that wins the exchange?
White to move and win a piece or mate.
INTERMEDIATE MOVES
The black Queen, attacked by the pawn, moved to f4 asking for a queen exchange. What's the "intermediate move" that made this plan fail? Note for beginners: an intermediate move is an in-between unexpected blow (generally gaining a tempo) that refutes the opponent's idea.
Another "intermediate move" prevents White from doubling pawns, after Black asked for a Knight exchange.
MATE ATTACKS
Black to move and mate.
Black to move and mate.
MIND THE OPENING
As the legal starting positions in Fischer Random Chess are 960, it's easy to fall for opening traps or to overlook the flaws inherent in apparently innocent "natural" moves. It seems unbelievable but the truth is that in the position below 2...d5 is already a blunder in view of 3.Bb5+ winning the queen that has to parry the check!
As a matter of fact, in the haste of a blitz game against a high-rated opponent, I overlooked such a winning blow until the fifth move, luckily winning all the same.
Another unbelievable blunder occurred in the game below: Black accepted the pawn exchange, but then my rook captured my opponent's one along the open f-file.
Now find the winning blow for White.
The position below reminds of a variant of Petroff's Defence in classic chess, where the move of the second queen is clearly a blunder because of 5.Qxe4. Black realized that soon after moving and resigned immediately.
A BIT OF STRATEGY
After move 17, White played an interesting move. I can't demand that you spot it because it can't be considered the best move at this point; however I decided to bargain a piece for a pawn majority, that proved strategically successful (at least in a blitz game).
ENDGAMES
A good example of king and pawns endgame where opposition, zugzwang and an extra pawn made the difference for Black. You can follow the rest of the game starting from move 31.
TIME
The diagram below shows a 10' blitz game after 19 moves. At that point I had only 50 seconds left. My speedy finale in 13 moves was not bad going: a real upshot.
Anyone
is invited to send me a message to 
and tell me their ideas about Chess 960.
The basic questions could be: why rejecting the more general concept that the starting position in chess should be simply considered as one out of 960 possible positions? After all, you can play following the same rules and strategies when you start a game from any position of those, don't you agree?
But please be intellectually honest and fair when explaining your point of view.
Solution to the meaning of my ID Gynus Keen: well, if you take my profession into account, the meaning is KEEN on GYNaecological US (ultrasound).
