ArcaMax

Today is a different type of puzzle. The diagram is an actual position between grandmasters after White’s 6th move. Can you figure out what moves were played to get to this position?

Alertness in the middle game is our theme today. After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.Bxc6+ bxc6 6.d4 exd4 7.Qxd4 f6 8.c4 g6 9.Nc3 Nh6 10.0–0 Nf7 11.b3 Bg7 12.Bb2 0–0 13.Rad1 Qe7 14.h3 f5 SEE DIAGRAM and now what should White’s plan be?

Last time out, I showed you a finish to a 5-minute game I played. From the same game, I had an earlier opportunity to play a much better move. After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Nc3 (The Boden-Kieseritsky Gambit)Nxc3 5.dxc3 Bd6 A surprise and not good, but what to do with the clock ticking. I decided to just castle here and then attack, but I...

From a 5-minute game I played yesterday. With a few minutes or seconds left on the clock in any 5-minute game, it becomes important to recognize quickly mating patterns. In this position, the importance of the pin on the f7 pawn is crucial.

Here we have an example of Black playing the first moves well and achieving equality, but then he starts to go astray with the usual result. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 d5 4.Qa4 f6 5.Bb5 Nge7 6.exd5 Qxd5 7.0–0 Bd7 8.d4 e4? (the first mistake-best was 8...exd4 9.cxd4 Ne5) 9.Nfd2 Ng6 10.Bc4 Qa5?? (the second mistake-best was 10...Qh5) 11.Qb3 f5 12....

Chess games are not infrequently decided by one player not paying attention to little details that are actually a big deal. This game is an example of that. It starts out calmly enough. 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.e3 Bf5 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Nc3 e6 7.Ne5 Nbd7? [But here we have a mistake. Black needed to play 7...Nfd7 8.g4 Bg6 with an equal game, but ...

The particular line Black chose through move ten is still very popular. On move 11, however, he shuts out his bishop to give a square for his queen, and it starts to go downhill.

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Nbd7 6.Nf3 Be7 7.Nxf6+ Nxf6 8.Bd3 b6 9.0–0 Bb7 10.Qe2 0–0 11.Rad1 c6? 12.Ne5 Qc7 13.Qe3 Nd5 (Better was 13...c5 14....