2024/08/16 DPA: "Attracting El Rey, Winning La Reina"
White faces imminent checkmate in the form of 1. ... Rxe1+. 2. Nxe1 Qf1#. Which makes White's job easy: get to the checkmate finish line first.
Oh, and the defender of the Rook, the Knight, is en prise. And the only door to escape is probably wired to a pressure-sensitive bomb. And the room is on fire.
Almost forgot about the remote pawn on a7.
I don't see any attacks that lead anywhere.
- 1. Qh8+ Kxh8
- 1. Qxe6 [temporarily defends the Rook] fxe6
- 1. Be5, threatening 2. Qh8#, is too slow
- 1. Qxf7+ has no follow-up
What about 1. Qa1 to X-Ray defend White's Rook through Black's Rook?
1. ... Rxa1. 2. Rxa1 eliminates the back rank mating threat and 3. a8(=Q) is looming [and Black conveniently cannot stop it].
If Black doesn't take White's Queen, White can first play 2. Rxb1.
But continuing on with the first line: 1. Qa1 Rxa1. 2. Rxa1 gxf3. 3. a8(=Q) and White has a Rook vs 3 minors, a big deficit. So this doesn't appear to be the solution.
1. Qe5 Rxe1+ 2. Qxe1 Qa3 wins the pawn.
But 3. Bb8 defends it then 3. ... Bc5 adds an attacker.
No Bishop move checks so that's too slow.
Moving the Rook anywhere, including capturing the Black Rook, leads to White's checkmate.
Moving the Knight allows 1. ... Rxe1#.
1. h3/h4 Rxe1+. 2. Nxe1 Qa3 and Black remains up the exchange.
This can be eliminated because there are 2 moves which lead to the same outcome.
Same for 1. Qa1, Qc3, and Qe5: all lead to 1. ... Rxe1+ 2. Qxe1 [not 2. Nxe1 Qf1#] Qa3.
And 1. Qd4 and 1. Qb2 don't prevent 1. ... Rxe1+.
It seems I've eliminated every move so obviously I've made an analysis error somewhere.
White cannot prevent 1. ... Rxe1+ [unless he moves the Rook, which leads to mate] so he either has to defend it or attack. I see no attack.
1. Qxe6 temporarily defends the Rook but 1. ... fxe6 renews the threat.
The best outcome appears to be if White avoids getting checkmated and can promote his pawn.
Could the a pawn be bait?
1. h3 Rxe1+. 2. Nxe1 Qa3. 3. a8(=Q) Qxa8. 4. Be5, threatening 5. Qh8#
Actually, White needn't even promote; 3. Be5 saves a move.
But 3. ... Bg7 foils that idea.
4. Qe7 Bxe5 5. Qe8+, threatening 6. a8(=Q)
I found a new way to defeat 1. Qa1: 1. ... Rxa1. 2. Rxa1 Ba2 [blocking the Rook's control of the a file and if 3. Rxa2 Qb1+.
I give up. I cannot see it.
1. Qxf7+; the only move I didn't try.
.
The key was recognizing how the Queen sac brought the King to f7 where the Royal Fork could occur.
I can't explain why I didn't even consider 1. Qxf7 [unlike yesterday's puzzle where I considered the winning move but dismissed it in a second without looking more deeply]. I looked at every other Queen move, even ones that lost my Queen immediately with compensation and yet f7 was a void, as if it didn't exist.