Here is a position from the 1976 Olympiad in Haifa between GM Jan Timman (Holland) white, and IM Werner Hug (Switzerland) black. I remember Hug from 1971 when he was the surprise winner of the World Junior Championship held in Athens, and he became Switzerland’s best player until Korchnoi took out Swiss citizenship.

Anyway, in this position Timman clearly has the more solid position and Hug’s pawns are a bit of a mess. Hug now had to decide between 1…Rfe8 to put pressure on white’s “e” pawn; 1…g4 to move the pawn away from a potential discovered attack from white’s queen; and 1…Qc5 with the idea of Qe5+ which would be a nice outpost for the queen. Unfortunately he chose the wrong move and lost.

Today’s puzzle is which move did Hug choose and what was white’s winning reply?

Timman v Hug 1976 - Black to play and lose!

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This position is from the game Vinay Lakshman v IM James Morris in the recent RJ Shield Tournament. White entered the rook endgame a pawn ahead but has allowed Black counter-play and now the game is in the balance. It probably depends on him finding the correct plan in the diagrammed position. What would you play as White?

[Event "RJ Shield"]
[Site "melbourne,  AUS"]
[Date "2009.09.27"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Vinay Lakshman"]
[Black "James Morris"]
[JsCom "startply 0"]
[Result "*"]
[Setup "1"]
[FEN "8/8/1k6/1p4RP/2p5/P5P1/1r6/4K3 w - - 1 46"]

46.h6 Rh2 47.Rg6+ Ka5 48.g4 Ka4 49.Ra6+ Kb3 50.g5 c3 51.Rc6 c2 52.g6 Rxh6 53.g7 Rxc6 54.g8=Q+ Rc4 55.Qg3+ Ka2 56.Qg2 Kb1 57.Qg6 Kb2 58.Qg2 Kxa3 59.Qg3+ Ka2 60.Qg2 b4 *

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At the moment, whenever I have some spare time, I’m using the iPhone App. “Chess DB” to play through some chess games.   The application claims to have over 500,000 games on file and you just select the player whose games interest you.

I’ve chosen Bob Wade, and English IM (originally from NZ) who died recently aged 87 and who was one of the most important figures in world chess in the last century.   He persuaded Batsford to publish a series of chess books in the 1970′s and 80′s and he played a key role in making England a leading chess power from the 1970s onwards.

He had a very large chess library and was always pleased to have visiting players from Australia or New Zealand drop in to see him.  Peter Parr and I called to see him on our way home after the 1976 Olympiad and spent a pleasant afternoon chatting with him.

In today’s puzzle he is on the losing end of a position against the Belgian player A.O’Kelly de Galway.   Wade (Black to play) has to decide between exchanging queens or retreating with 1…Qe6.   Which move is better?

Black to Play. Should he play 1...Qxd1 or 1...Qe6.

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Last week I had the pleasure of attending the finals of the Secondary Interschool Championships at Brighton Grammar and was pleasantly surprised by the high standard of play.  The Melbourne High boys in particular dominated the event and occupied all the top boards at the tournament.

Chui v Tanner

I recorded some of the games on my iPhone (using Shredder Classic – a very good app.) and noted in particular the game between Willian Chui and Michael Tanner.  William (white) had been building up a big attack on the kingside and had his pieces placed menacingly around the black King.  I was looking over his shoulder pondering how he could best bring the attack to a successful conclusion when William beat me to it and found a pretty combination to win the game.  Can you spot it also?   Read on to the hint if you need help.

White to play and win.

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There has been a complaint. It seems that not everyone is able to solve “Jammo’s Chess Puzzles” even with the occasional hints that I offer. Failure, rather than spurring readers on to improve their chess skills so that these puzzles will no longer be a mystery, (and delighting at seeing the unimagined solution), means there is a grave danger that repeated failures at puzzle solving will discourage our budding chess champions.

The message has therefore come down from on high that I should chuck in some easy puzzles so that all our readers will be able to bask in the glory of having solved “Jammo’s Chess Puzzle”.

I am only too happy to oblige and accordingly I offer you “Jammo’s Chess Puzzle #8”. What is White’s best move?

What is White's Best Move?

If you are struggling with this one, then read the hint below: Read more…

This week’s puzzle shows White with a very promising attacking position, but how is he to finish Black off before he can set up a defence?

White to Play.

If you are struggling to find the solution and want a hint, read on!

HINT: When trying to find a combination always look at all checks and captures.
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I was reading through a book of chess puzzles the other day and was pleased to see an Australian player featured. The position was Koshnitsky v Wolfers (Australia 1971) which I suspect may have been a correspondence game. Gary Koshnitsky “the Grand Old Man of Australia Chess” was twice Australian Champion and an International Master at Correspondence Chess. He passed away in 1999 at the age of 91 and his last words were “checkmate!” See if you can find the winning combination that Kosh played.

Koshnitsky v Wolfers (Aust. 1971)

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