Ever questioned yourself how certain players seem to notice everything on the board but not you? This is the art of pattern recognition which you can get after playing thousands of games. However, for most people, spending that much time is not possible, therefore the concept of chess puzzles evolved!
Doing chess puzzles is an excellent brain exercise. They show you how to look for patterns, compute moves, and spot hidden winning manoeuvres. The more puzzles you complete, the better you will become, and before you know it, your rating will be boosted.
In this article, we’re going to solve a puzzle for every section of the game: the beginning, the middle, and the end. Attempt to solve them by yourself first and before making a move, always look for better moves. Let’s begin!
The Opening Puzzle: Spot a Quick Win for Black
Solution:
The best move would be Bxf2+!! An insane bishop-sacrifice. White has two options, the most common move is to capture back to get out of the check, another is, just ignore the bishop and move away from the check, that loses the rook and black is winning.
But if white captures it,
you are now getting even more material. The best move would be a forced check Ng4+, then white king has to move. But what are you going to achieve from this check? If you look closely, then Ne3 simply traps white queen and you are completely winning.
The best learning from this puzzle is to always look for sacrificial patterns and try to think at least three moves ahead in the opening games. For black, it was the knight hoping, black knight’s only obstacle to trap the queen with Ne3 was the irritating f2 pawn and therefore it was removed with the bishop sacrifice for the greater good.
The Middlegame Puzzle: Find a Powerful Combination for Black
Solution:
Middlegame is where you need to do a deep calculation whenever your piece is under attacked or you are about to attack. As shown in the puzzle, your pieces are under attacked and white rooks are strong due to the rook battery, therefore a deep calculation is must.
- If you thought about just capturing the pawn with bishop, then it is a blunder since it opens up the d file and with an instant your rook at d8 is gone with a check and white is completely winning.
- If you thought about just capturing the hanging bishop, it’s a blunder too since white ends up winning a pawn and now white leads with two pawns overall and totally winning.
The best move is to simply play Bc5+ check,
it helps black to stay out of the d-file threats of rook battery and you can forcefully capture their rook, leaving white no option but to capture back, and on the next move, free f7 bishop since it was hanging already.
The Endgame Puzzle: Is White Winning? Find the Best Move
Solution:
Black is offering a trade but does it worth it at this position? Simply no. If white captures it without any hesitation, then black is completely winning. Since it connects black’s two pawns, and one more trade will leave black with a passed pawn. If white tries to capture the passed pawn, then do not forget, there’s also c5 pawn waiting for promotion and black is fast enough to capture c4 and clear its way to promotion.
The best and winning move for white is g5!!
Because, it leaves black with no choice, but to capture g5 otherwise on the next move it will capture and proceed for the promotion!
Once black captures g5, h5 becomes a passed pawn!! And now an easy pawn promotion!
At The New England Chess School, we know that practice makes perfect. We provide individual coaching so you can grasp these tactical concepts and more. We also have online tournaments where you can try out your new skills against others. Continue following our blog section for additional chess tips, lessons, game analysis, and puzzles.