Monday, July 02, 2007


Once in a while, I showcase a game for its sheer oddity. It is very seldom that we get four queens on the board, but here is one example of it. This position occurred at playchess.com with less than a minute left in a 5-min blitz game. Both sides do not have a direct shot at the opposing king, and a tempo is most important here. It's black to move, and that tempo carried him to victory.

The game continued 38... Qaa1, threatening mate on h1, 39. g4 Qh1+ 40. Kg3 Qa3, still working that tempo with white unable to interpose either one of his queens to ease the attack, 41. f3 Qe1+ 42. Kh2 Qae3. Here, we come to a ceasefire for positioning, but white is unable to get a counter-attack going. White played 43. Qcb6 for an exchange of queens. But, that makes black's attack lose steam and white's passed B pawn stronger. Black refused the exchange with 43...Qf4+ and 44. g3 white allowing himself to be mated with 44...Qfg3#. The importance of one tempo!

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