Beautiful Puzzles

by
Rucha Pujari

Copyright © 2016 Rucha Pujari

Publisher: Asim Pereira

 Table of Contents
Introduction
Note To The Solver
i. Making Ideas Happen
ii. Not An Everday Move
iii. Be Generous
iv. Use All Your Weapons
v. Silent Killers
vi. Finish It Off
vii. Never Underestimate
viii. It Ain’t Simple
ix. Think Smart
x. Test Out
About the Author
Introduction
Chess is a beautiful game.

Hundreds of years, millions of games, and yet we keep on finding more and
more beauty in this game. Such games and combinations move our mind and
leave us with a feeling of pleasure.

Personally, I admire the artistic aspects of Chess. With this interest in mind, I
started exploring and going through hundreds of games – mostly recent ones
in search of aesthetics. The positions are completely new and ideas, fresh.

Presenting here 150 hand-picked chess combinations for you to solve and
admire.

I am sure you will enjoy going through them and… Happy Solving!

Rucha Pujari

January 2016
Note To The Solver
The following 150 puzzles are presented through ten different chapters, the
title hinting the theme.

Few positions may have been deviated a bit from the actual game for the sake
of a unique solution.
i. Making Ideas Happen
“All that matters on the Chess board is good moves” – Bobby Fischer
1/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 1/16. Volcko, Richard (1832) - Bakalar, J. (2011)

Bardejov Open 2014 2015.01.01

Black wants to take advantage of his activity of minor pieces 31... Rxc1+!!
32. Rxc1 Bxb2# Bishop and Knight mate! 0-1
2/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 2/16. Schuelke, T. (1972) - Schroeder, Kevin (2199)

Sparkassen Open A 2014 2014.07.12

23... Nxf2! 24. Rxf2 Ne2+-+ And Black's Knights decide the game. 0-1
3/16. White to play
SOLUTION 3/16. Ratkovic, Milov (2295) - Rajkovic, Mladen (2116)

5th ch-Vojvodina Open 2014.07.15

Always look out for the possible ways to trap the enemy King in the endgame
33. Rc6!! Rd8 34. f4# 1-0
4/16. White to play
SOLUTION 4/16. Negi, Parimarjan (2640) - Idani, Pouya (2502)

Asia Open Championship 2014.04.22

33. Re8!! Surprisingly, this is the only winning move for White Rxe8 34.
Qd7++- with a winning advantage. 1-0
5/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 5/16. Djurhuus, Eivind X (2079) - Matthiesen, M. (2316)

Politiken Cup 2014 2014.07.29

25... Rh6! 26. Qxg3 Rg6!-+ Removing the g-pawn. This is a very good
example of making ideas work. 0-1
6/16. White to play
SOLUTION 6/16. Christensen, Thom2 (2139) - Green, Per (1984)

Politiken Cup 2014 2014.07.28

The only piece saving the mate on h6 is the g7 Pawn 35. Rxg7+!! Rxg7 36.
Nh6# 1-0
7/16. White to play
SOLUTION 7/16. Anand, V. (2781) - Van Wely, L. (2681)

36th Olympiad 2004.10.20

51. Rg1!! It is important to have a view of the full board Rc5 52. Rg7# 1-0
8/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 8/16. Almagro Llamas, P. (2492) - Baules, J. (2317)

5th ch-Iberoamericano 2014 2014.07.24

38... Rxd3+!! Destroying the defender 39. Rxd3 Rxf2# 0-1

9/16. White to play
SOLUTION 9/16. Schandorff, L. (2529) - Haubro, M. (2224)

Politiken Cup 2014 2014.07.27

32. Rxb6!! This move starts a very nice tactics axb6 33. Qb8+ Qf8 34.
Bh7+!+- 1-0
10/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 10/16. Mueller, Reinho (2282) - Hector, J. (2511)

Copenhagen CC 2014 2014.05.15

38... Qxh3+!! This Queen sacrifice wins the game, as it deflects the Rook
from the defence. 39. Rxh3 Rg1+ 40. Kf2 R7g2# 0-1
11/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 11/16. Karthikeyan, P2. (2435) - Gupta, Ab (2631)

13th Parsvnath Open 2015.01.10

33... Rxa3+!! 34. Bxa3 b2+ Clearance! 35. Bxb2 Ra8+-+ Followed by mate.
0-1
12/16. White to play
SOLUTION 12/16. Hohn, A. (1965) - Badestein, H. (2077)

Werner-Ott-Open 2014 2014.07.12

24. Nd5! Bc5 25. Ne7+!! This move is very important Bxe7 26. Rxc6+- A
beautiful tactical idea! 1-0
13/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 13/16. Chernov, Va (2437) - Kozakov, M. (2474)

32nd Untergrombach Open 2015.01.04

25... Qe1+!! Exploiting the weak position of White's King. 26. Rxe1 Rxe1+
27. Kg2 Rg8# 0-1
14/16. White to play
SOLUTION 14/16. Anand, V. (2781) - Charbonneau, P. (2490)

36th Olympiad 2004.10.26

34. Rxf7+!! Nxf7 35. Ne6+! Rxe6 36. Qxd4++- A forced combination that
leaves White with a practical winning advantage. 1-0
15/16. White to play
SOLUTION 15/16. Marie, M. (2232) - Lizak, Jakub (2056)

25th Cracovia Open A 2015.01.02

32. Rxd5!! Did you calculate this move? Rxd5 33. Qxf7+ Kh8 34. Qf8+
Kh7 35. Be4# 1-0
16/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 16/16. Bartell, T. (2418) - Brooks, M. (2430)

CCSCSL IM Inv 2012.11.27

28... Nf3+!! 29. Kh1 [29. Rxf3 is met by Qxg2#] 29... Qg3! Threatning mate
with Qh2 30. gxf3 Qxh3+ 31. Rh2 Qxf1# 0-1
ii. Not An Everday Move
“The beauty of a move lies not in its appearance but in the thought behind it”
– Aaron Nimzovich
1/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 1/15. Ozen, Bahadir (2010) - Kinsiz, O. (2266)

Turkish Cup 2015 2015.02.05

37... Qf3+!!-+ The Queen can be taken in three different ways, but this
amazing Queen sacrifice wins on the spot. Really, not an everday move! 0-1
2/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 2/15. Rodionova, Polina (2184) - Sukandar, I. (2392)

Moscow Open Students w 2015.02.01

47... Rg4!! Extraordinary move! Black sacrifices the only piece that she has.
48. fxg4 g1=Q+-+ 0-1
3/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 3/15. Palliser, R. (2444) - Shaw, J. (2424)

4NCL 2014-15 2015.02.15

24... Rg3!! A spectacular move. 25. hxg3 Qe4!!-+ And the mating threat on
g2 is unavoidable. 0-1
4/15. White to play
SOLUTION 4/15. Lindgren, P. (2332) - Mikalsen, E. (2164)

44th Rilton Cup 2014-15 2015.01.05

59. Rxg4!! Fascinating move based on the theme of Pin and Deflection.
Nxg4 60. Qh7# 1-0
5/15. White to play
SOLUTION 5/15. Kholopov, A. (2334) - Dzhaumutbaev, E. (2190)

Moscow Open A 2015 2015.02.01

28. Ne5!! Cutting the line fxe5 29. e8=Q++- 1-0

6/15. White to play
SOLUTION 6/15. Caruana, Fabiano (2789) - Ponomariov, Ruslan (2723)

42nd Sparkassen Chess Meeting 2014.07.13

40. Ba6!! The most beautiful move, now the threat is Qb7 mate. Black can
take the Bishop but that only prolongs the mate by one move. Kxa6 41. Qa8#
1-0
7/15. White to play
SOLUTION 7/15. Tuononen, J. (2115) - Linden, L. (2076)

TCh-FIN 2014-15 2015.02.07

25. Rg4!! Pin to Win! fxg4 26. Qf8+ Rxf8 27. Rxf8# 1-0
8/15. White to play
SOLUTION 8/15. Hrabusa, M. (2319) - Shuvalova, Polina (2108)

25th Czech Open A 2014 2014.07.19

20. Qa5!! Qc5 [20... Qxa5 is answered by 21. Na7#] 21. Na7+! Qxa7 22.
Qc7# 1-0
9/15. White to play
SOLUTION 9/15. Gulden, Egemen (1800) - Kisadere, Kutay (1760)

Turkish Cup 2015 2015.02.04

White found a beautiful combination with 54. Rb6!! Qxb6 55. Bc7+! Kf7 56.
Bxb6+- 1-0
10/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 10/15. Granda Zuniga, J. (2674) - Mozharov, M. (2540)

34th Benasque Open 2014 2014.07.11

36... Rf4+! 37. gxf4 Qxf4+ 38. Kh5 Bd8!!-+ A very unusual move. Please
note that this is the only move that wins! 0-1
11/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 11/15. Camacho Collados, M. (2440) - Bachmann, Ax (2652)

5th ch-Iberoamericano 2014 2014.07.23

29... Qc3+ 30. Qb2 Rc2!! 31. Qxc3 Rxa2# Beautiful mate. 0-1
12/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 12/15. Bohman, Leif (1879) - Lukacs, Albert (1910)

FSFMA May 2014 2014.05.10

25... Bxh3!! 26. gxh3 Rf3!! Quite a spectacular sacrifice and follow-up by
Black 27. Rg1 [If 27. Kh2 something like Qh5 is enough to win] 27... Rxh3#
0-1
13/15. White to play
SOLUTION 13/15. Anand, V. (2769) - Topalov, V. (2702)

Amber Blindfold 2000.03.22

41. Qh3!! Did you calculate this move? Qg6 42. Rxg4+!! hxg4 43. Qh4#
Abstract idea! 1-0
14/15. White to play
SOLUTION 14/15. Buksa, N. (2127) - Sabuk, P. (2347)

January Lviv Tradition IM 2015.02.01

35. Re8+! Kh7 36. Rh8+!! Kxh8 37. Qf8+ Kh7 38. Qxg7# A forced
combination that leads to checkmate. 1-0
15/15. White to play
SOLUTION 15/15. Anand, V. (2765) - Lautier, Joel (2660)

Credit Suisse 1997.??.??

21. Bg6!! Qxd1 22. Rxe6+!! Kf8 23. Bxh6+ Kg8 24. Bxf7# Include all the
pieces in the attack. 1-0
iii. Be Generous
“We cannot resist the fascination of sacrifice, since a passion for sacrifices is
part of a chess player’s nature” – Rudolf Spielman
1/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 1/16. Vucinic, G. (2252) - Sokic, D. (2178)

4th ch-Vojvodina Int 2013.06.29

Mate in two 17... Qxh2+!! 18. Kxh2 Rh5# 0-1

2/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 2/16. Pycha, Patrik (1969) - Moravec, V. (2184)

Prague Open 2015 2015.01.11

36... Rxh3+!! 37. Kxh3 Qh6+-+ White's King is trapped and mate will
follow next move. 0-1
3/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 3/16. Nasuta, FM 2336. (2336) - Diermair, IM 2451. (2451)

mitropa2014_s1 2014.05.27

32... Re1+!! An amazing way to deflect the Queen from the support of f3. 33.
Qxe1 Qxf3-+ With a winning advantage. 0-1
4/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 4/16. Lipp, A. (2139) - Sequera Paolini, J. (2413)

18th Lienz Open 2015 2015.02.10

25... Rxc2!! 26. Rxe2 Rexe2-+ The threat of checkmate on h2 is deadly. 0-1
5/16. White to play
SOLUTION 5/16. Hou Yifan (2618) - Muminova, Nafisa (2321)

4th WGP 2014 2014.04.14

White finishes off the matter with 31. Qxf8+!! Kxf8 32. Rd8# 1-0
6/16. White to play
SOLUTION 6/16. Czupor, Attila (2084) - Gutmann, A. (2046)

Styrian Open 2014 2014.07.13

18. Rg4+!! Sacrificing the Rook to deflect the f6-Knight from defence. Nxg4
19. Qh7# 1-0
7/16. White to play
SOLUTION 7/16. Anand, V. (2788) - Ivanchuk, V. (2739)

World Blitz 2009.11.16

26. Qxc8!! And if Black takes the Queen... Rxc8 27. Nf7# Beauty! 1-0
8/16. White to play
SOLUTION 8/16. Amangeldiyev, G. (2090) - Bartha, S. (2067)

FSFMA May 2014 2014.05.07

31. Qxh6+!! Queen sacrifice is followed by mate Kxh6 32. Rh3# 1-0
9/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 9/16. Szelag, M. (2456) - Socko, B. (2611)

Bundesliga 2014-15 2015.02.01

What did Black see before sacrificing his Queen? 21... Rxg2+! 22. Kh1
Rg1+!! 23. Kxg1 Rg8+-+ Followed by mate soon. 0-1
10/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 10/16. Pesotsky, V. (2239) - Balint, Vi (2222)

FSIM February 2015 2015.02.10

38... Qxg1+!! Queen sacrifice, of course! 39. Kxg1 Ra1+ 40. Kf2 R7a2+-+
0-1
11/16. White to play
SOLUTION 11/16. Gupta, Ab (2619) - Ahmed, Abdu (2251)

8th Agzamov Memorial 2014 2014.05.17

27. Rxh7+! Qxh7 28. Rh1!! Double Rook Sacrifice! Qxh1 29. Qg7# 1-0
12/16. White to play
SOLUTION 12/16. Gentes Benito, M. (1964) - Lillo Ferrer, J. (2052)

40th Seville Open 2015 2015.02.01

27. Qxh6!! You can be generous when the mating threat on your opponent is
inevitable. Bxh6 28. Rxh6 Qf4 29. Rh8# 1-0
13/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 13/16. Bhambure, S. (2087) - Sa, K. (1908)

13th Parsvnath Open 2015.01.16

27... Rxh4+! 28. gxh4 Bf3+!! 29. Nxf3 Qh3+ A nice combination of
sacrifices to finish off the game. 0-1
14/16. White to play
SOLUTION 14/16. Antoli Royo, J. (2429) - Lyell, M. (2228)

3rd Salento Open A 2014 2014.05.20

24. Qxh7+!! That was easy, wasn't it? Kxh7 25. Rh4+ Kg8 26. Rh8# 1-0
15/16. White to play
SOLUTION 15/16. Filip, Lucian (2455) - Kovalenko, Igor (2611)

Iasi Open 2014 2014.05.13

28. Rxh7+!! Forces mate Kxh7 29. Qh3+ [Not 29. Nf6+ Kg7 30. Qh3 As
now Black is winning after a move like Qc2, Rh8 or Qg5] 29... Kg7 30.
Qh6+ Kg8 31. Nf6# 1-0
16/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 16/16. Bosiocic, Mari (2571) - Rapport, R. (2621)

TCh-AUT 2012-13 2012.11.04

35... Rh1+!! 36. Nxh1 Rxh1+! Sacrificing the second Rook! 37. Kxh1 Qh4+
38. Kg1 Qh2# 0-1
iv. Use All Your Weapons
“When you see a good move, look for a better one” – Emanuel Lasker
1/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 1/15. Petrov Jole (2427) - Zelcic Robert (2542)

Croatian Cup 2014 2014.05.16

29... Qh3 Threatning mate on g2 30. Qf1 Re1!! Use all your resources! 31.
Qxe1 Qg2# 0-1
2/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 2/15. Matveeva, Olga (2223) - Charochkina, Daria (2377)

Russian W Higher League 2014.06.10

35... Qxf2+!! 36. Rxf2 Ra1+-+ Followed by mate next move. 0-1
3/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 3/15. Marjanovics, G. (2070) - Kosanovic, G. (2394)

18th Battle of Senta Open 2014.07.22

39... Rb3!! This move is based on many themes: Pin, deflection, sacrifice,
weak king, et cetera! 40. Qxb3 Qe4# 0-1
4/15. White to play
SOLUTION 4/15. Macieja, B. (2583) - Grover, S. (2475)

UT Dallas Spring Int 2014 2014.03.09

27. Ng6!! With the threat of Rh8 mate fxg6 This move opens the a2-g8
diagonal and White takes the advantage with 28. Qb3++- 1-0
5/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 5/15. Ashwin, J. (2487) - Thejkumar, M. (2452)

51st ch-IND Premier 2013 2013.12.27

Black finished off with 26... Rxe2!! 27. Nxe2 [27. Qxe2 Qxc3+ Wins] 27...
Qa1# 0-1
6/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 6/15. Vitouch, A. (2325) - Mons, L. (2435)

TCh-AUT 2014-15 2015.02.28

20... Qh5! 21. Nf3 Nd4!! The point, use all your weapons in attack! 22.
Nxd4 Qh2# 0-1
7/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 7/15. Potapov, Alexa1 (2399) - Goluch, P. (2231)

25th Czech Open A 2014 2014.07.26

Black concludes his attack on the queenside with 22... Qxc3+!! 23. Qxc3 [23.
bxc3 Rb1#] 23... Bxc3-+ And if 24. bxc3 Rb1# 0-1
8/15. White to play
SOLUTION 8/15. Mekhitarian, K. (2565) - Umetsubo, C. (2311)

81st ch-BRA 2015 2015.01.20

30. Qxh6+!! gxh6 [30... Kxh6 31. Rh8#] 31. Nf6+ Kg7 32. Rg8# Beautiful
picture! 1-0
9/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 9/15. Leko, P. (2741) - Carlsen, M. (2765)

Rapid Match 2008.06.01

42... Qa1+ 43. Kg2 Qe1! Attacking the king 44. e4 And the current World
Champion has already seen Ne3+!!-+ 0-1
10/15. White to play
SOLUTION 10/15. Koczo, K. (2219) - Varga, Attila (1758)

29th Spring Festival 2013.03.19

Time to take advantage of Black's passive position 24. Qxd6!! Qxd6 25.
Rxc8+ Qf8 26. Bh7+!+- 1-0
11/15. White to play
SOLUTION 11/15. Etchegaray, P. (2404) - Uriarte Prieto, G. (2017)

37th San Sebastian Open 2014.04.13

19. Qxh7+!! Right! Nxh7 20. Bxh7+ Kh8 21. Ng6# Pretty scene! 1-0
12/15. White to play
SOLUTION 12/15. Colmenares, A. (2331) - Stankovic, Ze (2246)

Basel Masters 2015 2015.01.05

Hope you have calculated the move 33. Rgd1!! Bxd1 34. Qc6+ Kd8 35.
Qxa8++- Followed by mate soon. 1-0
13/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 13/15. Bujnoch, R. (2282) - Kraus, To (2394)

TCh-CZE Extraliga 2014-15 2015.02.07

This one is a really interesting combination 31... Rxc2+!! 32. Kxc2 Ne3+!!
33. Rxe3 [33. Kc1 Qd1#] 33... Qxb7-+ 0-1
14/15. White to play
SOLUTION 14/15. Anand, V. (2725) - Gelfand, Boris (2700)

Dos Hermanas 1996.??.??

42. Nef6+! gxf6 43. Rg4+!! Kh8 44. Qxf3+- With a winning advantage. 1-0
15/15. White to play
SOLUTION 15/15. Schiendorfer, E. (2350) - Curien, N. (2223)

TCh-SUI 2014 2014.05.18

The most convincing way towards victory is 34. Rxg8+!! Qxg8 [34... Kxg8
35. Rd8#] 35. Qxh6+ Rh7 36. Qf6+ Rg7 37. Rd8+- 1-0
v. Silent Killers
“Chess is imagination” – David Bronstein
1/14. White to play
SOLUTION 1/14. Moiseenko, Va (2475) - Lobanov, Sergei (2277)

24th Heart of Finland Open 2014 2014.07.09

Sometimes the silent moves are the most deadly 25. Qg6!! hxg6 26. hxg6++-
1-0
2/14. White to play
SOLUTION 2/14. Anand, V. (2650) - Salov, Valery (2665)

Paris Immopar rapid 1991.??.??

17. Bd2!! Sometimes retreat is extremely profitable! Qc5 18. Rc1+-

Trapping the Queen. 1-0
3/14. White to play
SOLUTION 3/14. Lamorelle, J. (2340) - Le Ruyet, L. (2259)

89th ch-Paris IdF 2014 2014.07.12

19. Be5!! Leaving Bishop en prise! fxe5 20. Rf7+ Kg8 21. Qh7# 1-0
4/14. White to play
SOLUTION 4/14. Kolbus, D. (2319) - Polak, Jiri (1893)

14th Marienbad Open 2015 2015.01.20

12. Rb5!! A very difficult move indeed Bg7 13. Rxa5!! The idea, Black
cannot defend bxa5 14. Bc6+- 1-0
5/14. White to play
SOLUTION 5/14. Jirka, J. (2429) - Fox, An (2026)

Prague Open 2015 2015.01.09

83. Nd6+!! Kxa7 84. Kf2! Trapping the Knight Nh1+ 85. Kg2+- 1-0
6/14. Black to play
SOLUTION 6/14. Amgalanbaatar, R. (2117) - Tari, A. (2487)

Gibraltar Masters 2015 2015.01.30

30... Rg6+ 31. Kh1 Rxd2!! 32. Qxd2 Qe7!!-+ A quiet move that concludes
the combination. 0-1
7/14. White to play
SOLUTION 7/14. Velichko, Arseny (2118) - Tutisani, Noe (2308)

Moscow Open A 2015 2015.02.02

22. Bc1!! A very creative move! Qa6 Only square for the Black Queen. 23.
b5! Qb7 24. bxc6+- 1-0
8/14. White to play
SOLUTION 8/14. Alexandrova, O. (2432) - Dalo, Hermes (2258)

TCh-CAT Gp1 2015 2015.02.07

And the winning move is 73. Kc5!! Rxb2 74. Rd6+ Kf7 75. Rb6+- 1-0
9/14. Black to play
SOLUTION 9/14. Vorobiov, E. (2584) - Shimanov, A. (2640)

Aeroflot Open Rapid Qualifier 2013 2013.02.13

37... g4+ 38. Kh4 Kh6!! Now Black is threatning Rh2 mate. 39. Rh1 Rxd5!!
40. cxd5 Be7# Amazing combination! 0-1
10/14. Black to play
SOLUTION 10/14. Smeets, J. (2550) - Carlsen, M. (2625)

Corus B 2006.01.15

35... Rxg3+ 36. fxg3 Qf1+ 37. Kh2 Kg7!! Black's King clears the file for the
Rook to deliver mate! 38. Re4 Rh8+-+ 0-1
11/14. Black to play
SOLUTION 11/14. Kramnik, V. (2799) - Anand, V. (2799)

Amber Rapid 2008.03.15

42... Qf3!! 43. cxb7+ Kf5 44. Bxf3 gxf3 45. b8=Q Rh1# Beautiful idea! 0-1
12/14. White to play
SOLUTION 12/14. Bengherabi, K. (2172) - Belouadah, S. (2343)

ch-ALG 2015 2015.02.04

46. Bg8+! Kh6 47. Bd5!! Beauty Qxh4 [47... cxd5 48. Rh8#] 48. Rh8+ Kg5
49. Rxh4+- 1-0
13/14. White to play
SOLUTION 13/14. Popov, Iv RUS (2622) - Swapnil, SD. (2418)

7th Chennai Open 2014-15 2015.01.04

Tactics in Rook endgame 54. Rb7+ Kc8 55. Ra7!! Kd8 56. c7+ Kd7 57.
c8=Q+ [ 57. c8=R+ is also winning] 57... Kxc8 58. Ra8++- 1-0
14/14. White to play
SOLUTION 14/14. Fedorchuk, S. (2665) - Ivanisevic, I. (2608)

89th ch-Paris IdF 2014 2014.07.08

32. Rf5!! With the idea of Rh3 mate Kh7 [32... Bxf5 33. exf5 Is not much
help for Black, as the threat of Rh3 is not parried] 33. Rh3+ Kg6 34. Qd1!!
Did you see this move? Rh8 35. Nf4+!! gxf4 36. Qg4++- Computer-like
tactics! 1-0
vi. Finish It Off
“Good positions don’t win games, good moves do” – Gerald Abrahams
1/15. White to play
SOLUTION 1/15. Sadilek, P. (2262) - Wcislo, D. (2243)

Husek Vienna Open 2014 2014.07.13

White has many ways to win this position, but the simplest and most
beautiful is 29. Rd4#!! 1-0
2/15. White to play
SOLUTION 2/15. Weclawski, D. (2029) - Winterholler, Christina (2059)

DFEM 2015 2015.02.13

25. Rxh6+!! gxh6 26. g7#!! It's always enjoyable to finish off the game with
a Pawn checkmate. 1-0
3/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 3/15. Tabatabaei, M. (2444) - Grachev, B. (2670)

Moscow Open A 2015 2015.02.04

60... Rg4+!! Easiest way to win, forcing mate in two 61. Bxg4 Ng6#! 0-1
4/15. White to play
SOLUTION 4/15. Sandu, Mi (2222) - Peptan, C. (2443)

ch-ROU w 2013 2013.02.23

Of course White is winning, but I hope you found the simplest way 30.
Qxe6+!! fxe6 31. Rxf8# 1-0
5/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 5/15. Paldus, P. (2008) - Heppell, I. (2090)

Highlands Open 2014 2014.05.23

27... Qxh2+!! 28. Qxh2 Nf2# Beautiful Knight mate. 0-1

6/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 6/15. Kopta, J. (2041) - Talla, V. (2421)

Karvina Open 2014 2014.07.05

Sacrificing the Rook to force the enemy King into the mating net... 28...
Rh1+!! 29. Kxh1 Qh2# 0-1
7/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 7/15. Hammer, J. (2074) - Carlsen, M. (2450)

WYb14 2003.10.23

17... Qh5+!! Queen sacrifice decides the game 18. gxh5 Rh4# 0-1
8/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 8/15. Finokaliotis, G. (2059) - Frhat, A. (2374)

37th Aegean Open 2014 2014.07.19

39... Qxf2+!! Forcing White to clear the back rank 40. Rxf2 Rh1# 0-1
9/15. White to play
SOLUTION 9/15. Badev, K. (2394) - Janchev, P. (2177)

77th ch-BUL SF 2013 2013.02.13

We should always consider the possibility of piece sacrifice in every position

31. Rxe6+!! fxe6 32. Qg7# 1-0
10/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 10/15. Roop, S. (1919) - Debashis, D. (2501)

52nd ch-IND National B 2014 2014.05.09

30... Rxg3+!! 31. fxg3 [31. Rxg3 Now the Rook loses defence of the h-file
Qh1#] 31... Qxe3+ 32. Kh2 Rf2+ And the mate will follow soon. 0-1
11/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 11/15. Larsen, Preben R (1808) - Olsen, Aa (2054)

Copenhagen CC 2014 2014.05.17

Remember this typical pattern of sacrifice 36... Qxh2+!! 37. Kxh2 Rh5+ 38.
Kg1 Rh1# 0-1
12/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 12/15. James, Jack (1867) - Zhu, Leo Lei (2054)

122nd ch-NZL Open 2015 2015.01.04

25... Ng3+!! 26. hxg3 Rh8+ 27. Nh3 Rxh3# And the game is over, since the
g-pawn is pinned and could not capture back. 0-1
13/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 13/15. Hole, O. (2351) - Salomon, J. (2346)

ch-NOR 2014 2014.07.19

29... Qxe1+!! 30. Kxe1 Bb4+ 31. Kf1 Re1# A nice way to finish the game!
0-1
14/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 14/15. Enchev, I. (2393) - Dimitrov, R. (2445)

79th ch-BUL SF 2015 2015.01.27

24... Re1+ 25. Kf2 Qe2+!! 26. Bxe2 R8xe2# Simple yet pretty combination.
0-1
15/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 15/15. Dave, D. (2201) - Meister, P. (2410)

40th Sitges Open 2014 2014.07.29

33... Rh1+!! The easiest and most beautiful way to victory 34. Kxh1 Qh3+
35. Kg1 Qxg2# 0-1
vii. Never Underestimate
“The older I grow, the more I value Pawns” – Keres
1/12. White to play
SOLUTION 1/12. Karoly, Carlos Acacio Gomes (1914) - Born, C. (2199)

Floripa Open 2015 2015.01.14

31. Rxe4 Bxe4 32. f4!! The pawn move decides the game on spot. So never
underestimate the power of pawns! 1-0
2/12. White to play
SOLUTION 2/12. Goudriaan, Etienne (2401) - Beerdsen, Thomas (2260)

Open NK 2014.07.23

35. Rh5+!! gxh5 36. g5#! Pawn Checkmate. 1-0

3/12. Black to play
SOLUTION 3/12. Fernandez Cazorla, A. (2213) - Oms Fuentes, L. (2290)

TCh-CAT Gp1 2015 2015.02.07

Black hits with 44... Qxh5!! 45. Qxh5 e2 Pawn power! 0-1
4/12. Black to play
SOLUTION 4/12. Cramling, P. (2518) - Plotkin, V. (2306)

Gibraltar Masters 2015 2015.01.29

58... g5+!! 59. hxg6 Qh6# A beautiful pattern. 0-1

5/12. White to play
SOLUTION 5/12. Purenne, B. (2225) - Dreux, V. (1935)

29th Avoine Open 2014 2014.07.20

17. Qxh5+!! gxh5 18. g6+ Kh6 19. e4++- First the g-Pawn and now the e-
Pawn! 1-0
6/12. Black to play
SOLUTION 6/12. Onischuk, Al (2650) - Carlsen, M. (2710)

GM Blitz Playoff 2007.08.02

40... Qxg1+!! When in doubt, sacrifice your Queen! 41. Kxg1 d2 42. Qh5
Bc2-+ And the Pawn promotes safely on the next move. 0-1
7/12. White to play
SOLUTION 7/12. Gorbanovsky, O. (2172) - Tiron, C. (1914)

TCh-European Youth 2014 2014.07.21

34. g7+!! Kxg7 [34... Bxg7 is not possible due to 35. Qxb4] 35. Qg2+ Kh7
36. Qg8# 1-0
8/12. White to play
SOLUTION 8/12. Gomez Jurado, L. (2336) - Armengol Comas, J. (2212)

TCh-CAT Gp2 2015 2015.02.14

38. e6+! Kf8 39. e7+! Kf7 40. Rxg8+- And the Pawn reaches the eighth rank
if Black recaptures the Rook. 1-0
9/12. White to play
SOLUTION 9/12. Ghaem Maghami, E. (2586) - Preotu, Razvan (2341)

51st Canadian Open 2014 2014.07.23

35. Rd8! Rxd8 36. Qxd8 g5 37. h5!!+- Sometimes a quiet Pawn move is
very effective. 1-0
10/12. White to play
SOLUTION 10/12. Docx, S. (2488) - Gagunashvili, M. (2556)

19th European Teams 2013.11.08

25. Rxh6+!! gxh6 26. g7+ Kh7 27. g8=Q# Pretty scene! [Note that
promoting to Rook doesn't work here 27. g8=R+?? Qxf7-+] 1-0
11/12. Black to play
SOLUTION 11/12. Kramnik, V. (2772) - Anand, V. (2783)

WCh 2008.10.20

33... Rc1+ 34. Bf1 Ne3!! A very fashionable piece sacrifice! 35. fxe3 fxe3
And the pawn becomes extremely powerful 36. g4 e2-+ 0-1
12/12. White to play
SOLUTION 12/12. Anand, V. (2515) - Spassky, Boris V (2580)

Cannes schev 1989.??.??

The former World Chess Champion found a beautiful way to continue the
game with 49. Nd3+!! Nxd3 50. a6 Be8 51. Nd5+! Ke5 52. Ne7!! Kd6 53.
a7+- And the Pawn reaches the eighth rank. 1-0
viii. It Ain’t Simple
“The most powerful weapon in Chess is to have the next move” – David
Bronstein
1/15. White to play
SOLUTION 1/15. Riquelme Abuffon, Nicolas (1934) - Nunez Cerda, Andres
(1792)

Zicosur Open 2015 2015.01.10

38. Nf6+ Kh8 39. Rxg7!!+- This move decides the game. Black cannot
capture the Rook in the view of Queen check on eight rank. 1-0
2/15. White to play
SOLUTION 2/15. Nguyen Van Huy (2445) - Gupta, Ab (2631)

13th Parsvnath Open 2015.01.12

62. Nf6+!! gxf6 63. Qxh6+- And the potential power of g-pawn is too strong.
For example f5 64. Qh7+ Kf8 65. g7+ And the Pawn promotes. 1-0
3/15. White to play
SOLUTION 3/15. Macieja, B. (2583) - Yang, Dar (2463)

Bay Area International 2014 2014.01.06

36. Rxf6!! Qxf6 37. Bh6++- Wins the Queen. 1-0

4/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 4/15. Jimenez Fraga, P. (2463) - Obregon Rivero, J. (2509)

49th Capablanca Mem Open I 2014 2014.05.14

22... Qh3!! Two exclamation marks are not enough to express the beauty of
this move... 23. gxh3 Nxh3# 0-1
5/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 5/15. Farid, F. (2401) - Wittmann, W. (2196)

25th Czech Open A 2014 2014.07.18

The only way to win is to not give any discovered check by Knight! 38...
Qd1+! 39. Kxe3 Nd5# Unusual Knight mate in the centre. 0-1
6/15. White to play
SOLUTION 6/15. Chirinos, C. (2059) - Malmdin, N. (2191)

23rd World Seniors 2013 2013.11.16

32. Rxc5!! dxc5 33. d6++- The discovered check wins material. 1-0
7/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 7/15. Wallis, C. (2348) - Morris, J. (2378)

Australian Open 2015 2015.01.11

31... Nb6!! 32. Nd2 [If 32. Nxb6 d2-+] 32... c4 33. Nb1 d2-+ White is
helpless against the dangerous passed pawns. 0-1
8/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 8/15. Sprenger, J. (2479) - Hoeksema, E. (2340)

Dutch League 2014-15 2015.02.07

26... Bxc5! 27. Qxc5 d4! 28. Qb6 Rb5!! Amazing tactical combination to
trap the Queen. 0-1
9/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 9/15. Prasanna, Ra (2436) - Nguyen Duc Hoa (2507)

7th Chennai Open 2014-15 2015.01.06

28... Bxg3!! Black exploits the weak back rank 29. Qc8+ Re8!! Beauty [ Not
29... Kh7? 30. fxg3] 30. Qxd7 Re1# 0-1
10/15. White to play
SOLUTION 10/15. Nabaty, T. (2579) - Neelotpal, D. (2437)

Gibraltar Masters 2015 2015.02.02

50. Rg8+ Kxf7 51. Rf8+!! [Not 51. d8=Q?? Qf1+ 52. Kg4 Qe2+ 53. Kh3
Qf1+= And Black splits the point] 51... Kg7 [51... Kxf8 52. d8=Q+ Kf7 53.
Qc7++-] 52. d8=Q+- 1-0
11/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 11/15. Maes, W. (2267) - Hovhanisian, M. (2513)

Pays de Charleroi Open 2014 2014.07.31

The position might seem equal, but Black has 29... Rxf5!! 30. Qxf5+ Qxf5
31. exf5 Bf3-+ The idea! 0-1
12/15. Black to play
SOLUTION 12/15. Dhananjay (1905) - Grover, S. (2469)

52nd ch-IND National B 2014 2014.05.09

31... Qxh2+!! 32. Qxh2 f2+ 33. Qxf2 Rh1# Beautiful combination! 0-1
13/15. White to play
SOLUTION 13/15. Bortnyk, Olexandr (2539) - Ivanishen, Yuriy (2469)

Nebesna sotnya Mem Rapid 2015.02.21

32. Rh8!! g5 [If 32... Kxh8 33. Qxh6+ Kg8 34. Rc8+ Wins on spot] 33.
Rcc8!! The important move gxf4 34. Rcg8# 1-0
14/15. White to play
SOLUTION 14/15. Kunin, V. (2527) - Alber, H. (2336)

HEM Master Open 2013 2013.03.27

32. Rb8!! Kf7 [32... Qf7 33. Rxe8++-] 33. Rxe8 Qxd5 34. Re7+ And White
saves the Rook with a tempo Kf8 35. cxd5+- 1-0
15/15. White to play
SOLUTION 15/15. Breder, D. (2462) - Schneider, Il (2511)

TCh-AUT 1st Bundesliga 2013-14 2014.03.21

29. Rxh7+!! Perfect time to sacrifice! Kxh7 30. Qh3+ Kg7 31. Re7+ Rf7 32.
Rxf7++- 1-0
ix. Think Smart
“Strategy requires thought, tactics requires observation” – Max Euwe
1/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 1/16. Short, N. (2697) - Ghaem Maghami, E. (2568)

Talking Chess Match Blitz 2013.03.12

Do not miss the simple moves like 31... Bf3+! 32. Qxf3 Qxf3+-+ 0-1
2/16. White to play
SOLUTION 2/16. Rios, Cr (2421) - Nilsen, Jo (2346)

32nd Andorra Open 2014 2014.07.25

Did you find the idea? 32. Bxc4 Rxc4 33. h4!! Deflecting the Queen and
White will pick up the c4-Rook next. Yes, we never know when an h-Pawn
will make our day! 1-0
3/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 3/16. Petenyi, T. (2445) - Michalik, P. (2570)

TCh-SVK 2014-15 2015.02.21

27... Rxd5!! Deflecting the Rook 28. Rxd5 Qe1# 0-1

4/16. White to play
SOLUTION 4/16. Kerigan, D. (2311) - Pregarac, V. (2164)

20th HIT Open 2015 2015.02.02

30. Rxe7!! Rxe7 31. Qh8# Simple, wasn't it? 1-0

5/16. White to play
SOLUTION 5/16. Kanarek, M. (2471) - Stoma, P. (2326)

Najdorf Mem Open A 2014 2014.07.16

26. Qxf7+!! Qxf7 27. Rxe8# Remember this pattern based on the theme of
Pin. 1-0
6/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 6/16. Codenotti, M. (2402) - Petrov, G MKD. (2200)

Karpos Open 2013 2013.03.11

30... Qxd2!! Exploting White's weak back rank. 31. Rxd2 Rc1+-+ 0-1
7/16. White to play
SOLUTION 7/16. Blatny, P. (2414) - Fuksik, J. (2164)

TCh-CZE 1 Liga Vychod 2015.02.15

39. Nc6!! Surprise! Nxc6 [39... Qxc6 40. Qxe7+- is winning for White.] 40.
Qe8# 1-0
8/16. White to play
SOLUTION 8/16. Abramovic, B. (2426) - Novak, Jir1 (2006)

XXVII Belgrade Trophy 2013.11.24

29. Nf6+!! Qxf6 [29... Kh8 30. Qh5# or Qh5] 30. Qxc8+- 1-0
9/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 9/16. Skrondal, I. (2258) - Berg, E. (2551)

TCh-NOR Elite 2014-15 2015.02.08

16... Rxh7!! 17. Qxh7 Bf5! 18. Qh8 Bxb1-+ Wins material. 0-1
10/16. White to play
SOLUTION 10/16. Pantev, V. (2423) - Mladenov, E. (2115)

37th Bulgarian Open 2015 2015.02.02

50. Qf5+!! Beautiful move, removing the defender of the b1-Rook with
tempo. Qxf5 51. gxf5++- Capturing the Rook on b1 next move. 1-0
11/16. White to play
SOLUTION 11/16. Moiseenko, A1. (2695) - Huzman, A. (2582)

16th ch-EUR Indiv 2015 2015.02.26

32. Rxg5+!! hxg5 33. h6+! Nice way to deflect the King... Kxh6 34.
Qxf6++- 1-0
12/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 12/16. Kucera, Petr (1987) - Ragaa, H. (2063)

Duras BVK Open A 2014 2014.07.06

Sometimes we forget to consider the indirect support, Black played here 38...
Re3+!! 39. Rxe3 Rxe3+ 40. Kf2 Rxe4-+ 0-1
13/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 13/16. Fasil, M. (1972) - Njili, K. (2403)

Sharjah Rapid 2014 2014.07.06

19... Nc2+! 20. Nxc2 Qxe1+!! Of course, the back rank is weak! 21. Nxe1
Rd1# 0-1
14/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 14/16. Belous, Vladimir (2586) - Matlakov, Maxim (2689)

Russian Higher League 2014.06.07

When the opponent King is weak, you can happily sacrifice, like for example
26... Rc2+!! 27. Bxc2 Rd2+ 28. Ke1 Qg2-+ And White cannot defend. 0-1
15/16. White to play
SOLUTION 15/16. Roy Chowdhury, S. (2426) - Dodeja, P. (2178)

35th TCh-IND 2015 2015.02.22

31. Rxb5!! Nice sacrifice based on precise calculation Rxe4 32. Rxc5 Rxd2
33. Rc8+! Kh7 34. Bxe4++- 1-0
16/16. White to play
SOLUTION 16/16. Rios, Cr (2351) - Navia, E. (2069)

Subzonal 2.3 2012 2012.11.05

23. Rxb6!! Qxb6 [23... axb6 24. Qxa8++-] 24. Qxd5+ Kh8 25. Nf7+ Kg8
26. Nh6+ Kh8 27. Qg8++- Followed by Knight mate on f7. 1-0
x. Test Out
“All I want to do, ever, is just play Chess” – Bobby Fischer
1/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 1/16. Gulamali, Kazim (2419) - Khachiyan, Melikset (2642)

2014 National Open 2014.06.15

Theme: Decoy 28... Re2+!! 29. Qxe2 Nf4+-+ 0-1

2/16. White to play
SOLUTION 2/16. Fuchs, Ju (2299) - Ries, J. (1981)

DFEM 2015 2015.02.14

17. Bg7!! Qxg5 18. Qh8# [Not 18. Nxg5? Kxg7 And Black ends up with
three pieces for the Queen.] 1-0
3/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 3/16. Dimopoulos, A. (1925) - Mouroutis, K. (2209)

42nd TCh-GRE 2014 2014.07.02

36... Rd1+! 37. Rxd1 Rxd1+-+ Power of X-ray attack. 0-1

4/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 4/16. Brockway, Andrew (1727) - Yan, Caroline (2209)

122nd ch-NZL Open 2015 2015.01.02

20... Qc1+!! [Not 20... Rc1+? 21. Ne1 and the e8-rook is under threat] 21.
Ne1 Qxa1-+ 0-1
5/16. White to play
SOLUTION 5/16. Tica, Sven (2174) - Loncar, R. (2371)

Liburnija Open 2014 2014.05.21

28. Nh6+!! A spectacular move! gxh6 29. Qf6!! Threatning mate with the
idea of Bd4 Bd5 30. Bd4+- 1-0
6/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 6/16. Shvayger, Y. (2323) - Delchev, A. (2617)

Basel Masters 2015 2015.01.02

34... Bc3! 35. Rxe5 Bxe1+ 36. Kf4 Bg3+!!-+ And Black ends up with a
winning advantage, thanks to the beautiful Bishop manoeuvre. 0-1
7/16. White to play
SOLUTION 7/16. Sadikhov, U. (2335) - Verboven, Alex (1868)

37th Taminco Open 2014 2014.07.19

15. Ne6+ Ke8 16. Qd8+!! Rxd8 17. Nc7# A perfect example of smothered
mate! 1-0
8/16. White to play
SOLUTION 8/16. Odeh, K. (1982) - Barrenechea Bahamonde, G. (2223)

Gibraltar Masters 2015 2015.02.01

Always look out for tactical resources in the endgame 51. Rb6+!! Kc5 52. a7
Rg8 53. Rb8+- And the Pawn will promote soon. 1-0
9/16. White to play
SOLUTION 9/16. Marcos, M. (2104) - Walid, Anwar (1919)

Sharjah Rapid 2014 2014.07.08

26. Nxg6+!! hxg6 27. Qxe7+ Kxe7 28. h7+- And the passed pawn is
unstoppable. 1-0
10/16. White to play
SOLUTION 10/16. Lopez Martinez, Josep (2538) - Mohammad, Nubairshah
Shaikh (2275)

26th Roquetas de Mar Open 2015.01.03

59. Re7+ Kg6 60. f7!! Kxg7 61. Re8!! A beautiful pattern! 1-0
11/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 11/16. Gadimbayli, Abdulla (2184) - Repka, C. (2417)

14th Marienbad IM1 2015 2015.01.18

31... Nf3+!! 32. Kh1 [If 32. Nxf3 Qxg4+ 33. Kh2 Qg2#] 32... Qf4! Attacking
the h2 point. 33. Rxf8+ Kh7!-+ And White can resign. [33... Kxf8?? 34.
Qd8# Always be careful] 0-1
12/16. White to play
SOLUTION 12/16. Danin, A. (2565) - Simantsev, M. (2432)

Prague Open 2015 2015.01.16

30. Nxb7! Rxb7 31. Rxg5!! Qxg5 32. Qe4!+- With the double threat of Qh7
and Qb7. 1-0
13/16. Black to play
SOLUTION 13/16. Brown, Mart (2194) - Fernandez, Michael (2029)

101st ch-GBR 2014 2014.07.29

30... Qxa2+!! 31. Kxa2 Ra5+ 32. Kb1 Ra1# The typical idea! 0-1
14/16. White to play
SOLUTION 14/16. Anand, V. (2765) - Nikolic, Predrag (2630)

FIDE-Wch k.o. 1997.12.12

27. Rxd7!! Kxd7 28. Rb4!! Now that the King is on d7, the Knight on d5 is
pinned. Qf5 29. g4!+- Trapping the Queen. Beautiful combination. 1-0
15/16. White to play
SOLUTION 15/16. Kraus, F. (2012) - Sobek, J. (2324)

Karvina Open 2014 2014.07.03

25. Qxf7+!! Yes, sacrifice! Kxf7 26. Rdf1+ Bf6 [26... Ke8 27. Rg8++-] 27.
Rg7+! Ke8 28. Rxc7+- With a winning advantage. 1-0
16/16. White to play
SOLUTION 16/16. Dvoirys, S. (2560) - Panov, Maksim (2153)

72nd ch-Urals 2014 2014.03.23

29. Bxg6!! hxg6 30. h7 Kg7 31. Re8! The most important move Kxh7 32.
Rh4+ Kg7 33. Reh8+- And the mate is inevitable on h7. 1-0
About the Author

Rucha Pujari is a Woman FIDE Master from India. She fell in love with
Chess when she was six, and ever since has been actively competing in
tournaments.

Apart from Chess she likes to read, paint, write, travel and take on new
challenges. She has written around 35 articles in a weekly column of a very
famous Marathi newspaper, where she talked about Chess and life of a
sportsperson. She has also taken part in promoting Chess in her city.

Presently she is studying English Arts and literature. She runs her own Chess
Academy in Kolhapur, Maharashtra.

You can follow her blog at http://www.ruchess.blogspot.in