Chess Puzzles for Kids

8/10/2019 Chess Puzzles for Kids

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Contents

Introduction 5Algebraic Notation 6Using Puzzles to Improve 8

100 Chess Puzzles

Queen &Bishop Line-Up

1) Picking Off the Pieces 122) The Classic Fork with e4 133) The Two-Move Knockout 144) The Mega-Knockout 155) More Queen& Bishop Line-Ups 16

Attacks on the g6-Square (After Castling)

6) The g6 Trick 177) The xh6/g6+ Combo 188) The f6+/g6+ Combo 199) How to Beat a World Champion 20

Attacks on the e6-Square

(After Castling)10) Central Collapse 2111) The xe6/xe6 Combo 2212) A Backward Pawn on e6 2313) Knightmare on e6 2414) More Knightmares on e6 25

Attacks on the King

15) The Killer f3/f5 Set-Up (1) 2616) The Killer f3/f5 Set-Up (2) 2717) The Tricky g3/g4 Set-Up 2818) The Quiet Killer: f6 2919) Knight Sacrifice on f6 3020) More f6+ Sacrifices 3121) Open the h-File with g5 3222) Fright Knight 33

23) The Belated King-Hunt 34

24) Tactics on the Queenside 3525) Finishing Off with g4+ 3626) The Simple xg7 Capture 37

Forks, Skewers, Pins...

27) Winning the Exchange 3828) Hungarian Horror Story 3929) The Unwelcome Visitor 4030) More g6 Bishop Offers 4131) Winning Material with h6+ 4232) The h6 Exchange Win 4333) The Useful h5+ Trick 4434) Another Useful h5+ Trick 45

35) Surprise Skewers 4636) Weak Queenside Dark Squares 47

Decoys &Deflections

37) A Delightful Decoy 4838) More Delightful Decoys 4939) Dazzling Deflections 5040) Fun with Bishops& Knights 5141) Tals Tallinn Trick 5242) The a6 Trap 5343) The Rook & Knight Decoy 54

Zwischenzugs

44) Mastering the Zwischenzug 5545) The g4 Zwischenzug 5646) The g6 Zwischenzug 57

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Mating Patterns

47) A Mighty Mate on g8 5848) More Mighty Mates 5949) You Can Mate with Two Knights 6050) The Rarest Checkmate 6151) Boden& Friends 6252) Arabian Knights 6353) Remember the Rook-Lift 6454) Rook-Lift with f5 6555) Smothered &

Semi-Smothered Mate 6656) A Classic Semi-Smothered Mate 6757) A Queen Sacrifice on h7 6858) Off to the Beach 69

Attack on the Uncastled King

59) Attacking the Uncastled King 7060) A xe6 Sacrifice 7161) A Rare& Deep Discovery 72

Discovered Attacks

62) Prising Open the a-File 7363) Discovered Attack on the c-File 7464) Discovered Attack with g4+ 7565) Amazing Discoveries 7666) Carnage on the Chessboard 7767) A Neat Way to Win a Rook 78

Back-Rank Combinations

68) A Susceptible Structure 7969) Snooze& Lose 8070) More Snoozing, More Losing 8171) Back-Rank Brilliance 8272) A Pawn-on-the-Seventh Trick 8373) Rook & Queen Double-Act 8474) The Triple-Act 85

75) The Classic Rook Deflection 86

76) More Classic Rook Deflections 8777) In the Footsteps of Alekhine 88

More Attacks on the h7-Square

78) Learning from History 8979) Pawn-Grab on the h7-Square 9080) More Free Pawns 9181) The Ubiquitous Greek Gift 9282) The Cunning xd7 Trap 9383) Keep Control with h6 9484) Horts Nifty Sidestep 95

Perpetual Checks

85) Simple Perpetual with a Queen 9686) The Standard Queen Perpetual 9787) A Perpetual Classic 9888) Knight Sacrifice Perpetual Classic 9989) A Queen& Knight Perpetual 10090) The Rook& Knight Perpetual 10191) Something Old, Something New 102

Opening Traps

92) Abnormal Opening Patterns 10393) The Slav Trap 10494) Double Trouble 10595) Balashovs Queen Blunder 106

Endgame Themes

96) A Right-Royal Endgame Tactic 10797) Upside-Down Chess 10898) Conjuring Up a Passed Pawn 109

And Finally...

99) Dont Try This at Home 110100) And Its Good Knight from Him 111

Mission Impossible: Test One 112Solutions 118

Mission Impossible: Test Two 120Solutions 126

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31a) White moves

D.Vinckier-Ann.BuschFrench Womens League 2011

The classic trap. White wins the blackqueen with a knight fork in just threemoves.

1 h6+ Black resigns. The knight cantbe taken as the white queenpins the g7-pawn against the black king. 1...h8allows 2 xf7+ g8 3 xd8.

31b) White moves

Belikov-Kalegin, Alushta 2007

Here a Russian grandmaster cleverlywins a pawn. Can you work out how?

1 h6+ h8 2 xe5! (very neat if2...xe5, then 3 xf7+ g8 4 xe5,

or worse 2...d6 3 xd6!)2...gxh6 3xf6+ and White is a pawn up with agreat position.

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31 WINNING MATERIALWITHh6+

XABCDEFGHY8r+ +rvk+(7zlw +pzp6 zp+ns +&5+ + zN+ %4P+ +P+ +$3+ S + WP#2LZP+ ZP+"1T V T M !xabcdefghy

XABCDEFGHY8 +rwrvk+(7+p+ +pzp6p+ +ns +&5+ +p+N+ %4 + Z + +$3+ S + W #2PZ + ZPZ"1T V T M !xabcdefghy

This terrific attacking set-up features a white queen on g3 and awhite knight on f5. Among other possibilities, you can often win

pieces or pawns with a knight check on the h6-square.


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32a) White moves

A.Kovaliov-Dmitrenko, Alushta 2003

Moving the bishop to h6 is a standardexchange-winning motif.

1h6g6 What else can Black do? Matein one with xg7 was threatened. 2xf8 White goes rook for bishop ahead,whichever way Black recaptures on f8.

32b) White moves

W.Salamon-A.JirovecAustrian League 2007/8

A complex example. Can you see howto attack Blacks Sicilian formation?

1f5!exf5 (if 1...dxe5, then 2 f6! xf6 3

xf6 or 1...h8 2 fxe6 dxe5 3 xf7)2h6 g6 3 xf8 Whites aggressivekingside play has won rook for bishop.

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THEh6 EXCHANGE WIN

XABCDEFGHY8r+ + tk+(7+ w vpzp6pz zp+ +&5s + Z + %4P+ SlZ +$3+ + V W #2 ZP+L+PZ"1T + +R+K!xabcdefghy

XABCDEFGHY8r+ w tk+(7z +nvpzp6n+p+p+ +&5+ +pZ + %4 + Z + +$3+N+ +NW #2PZ + ZPZ"1T V M +R!xabcdefghy

32We have already learnt about the phrase winning the exchange inPuzzle 27. In this standard theme, White wins a rook (worth five

pawns) for a bishop (worth three pawns) a profitable trade.


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33a) White moves

Strenzke-W.Klotzki, Bargteheide 1989

Two points to note: the black queen isundefendedand the black g6-pawn ispinned.

1 h5+! Black resigns. Whites checkwins the black knight on f6, as the blackking must retreat. Instead 1...xh5 losesthe black queen to 2 xd8.

33b) Black moves

Man.Pohl-F.Mietner, Fssen 1993

White has just played 1 h3, threateningthe black queen. Why was this a badidea?

1...h4+! 2 f1 (the white queen on e2is undefended, meaning Black wins af-ter 2 xh4 xe2)2...xf3 Black winsa knight since 3 gxh4 h1 is mate.

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33 THE USEFULh5+ TRICK

XABCDEFGHY8r+ +rvk+(7z z +pzp6 z z +n+&5+P+R+ + %4P+P+ +q+$3+ + ZNZP#2 V +QZK+"1T + + + !xabcdefghy

XABCDEFGHY8 tlw + +(7z s +pmp6 + z sp+&5+pzPtPW %4 +P+ + +$3+ S +LSP#2PZ + +P+"1+R+ +RM !xabcdefghy

This double-pin motif is a superb weapon to have inyour arsenal of tricks. The pattern can arise in quite a

number of different opening variations too.


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34a) White moves

S.Darr-Womacka, Germany (teams) 2007/8

Blacks knight is pinned against hisking. This enables White to swapknights in style.

1 h5+! gxh5 2 g5+ f8 3 xf6Whites smart little sequence has leftBlacks kingside pawns a wreck. ShortlyWhite will capture theh5-pawn for free.

34b) White moves

Belikov-Lutsko, Voronezh 1997

How did White gain a huge attack even with his rook on g5 threatened?

1 f4! (1 g3! is based on the sameidea)1...hxg5 2 h5+! h6 (2...gxh53 xg5+ h8 4 xf6+ leads toa quickmate)3 xf6 Black is in big trouble;e.g., 3...c6 4 g4+ h7 5 xg5!.

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ANOTHER USEFULh5+ TRICK

XABCDEFGHY8 +r+ t +(7zpwl+pm 6 + Tpspz&5+ + W T %4 + + + +$3+ Z + +P#2PZL+NZP+"1+ + + M !xabcdefghy

XABCDEFGHY8 + t + +(7zlt +pmp6 z wpsp+&5+ + W + %4 zPZ + +$3+ + + S #2PZ +LZPZ"1+ TR+ M !xabcdefghy

34In this theme the white queen is on the e5-square where itpins the

black knight. So after White plays h5+, Black must capture with hispawn. This exposes the black king to a queen check on the g5-square.

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Chess Puzzles for Kids