Is There a Tactic or Not?: Tricky Positions part 2

Buon giorno!  Did you read last week's article?  If so, then you are ready for some super tricky positions!  The question remains:  is there a tactic here?  Mrs Jessica E Prescott (aka BoundingOwl) has some new puzzles for you today.  Can you solve them?

Your job is to find the best move.  It could be an outright winner, or it could be more subtle (not obvious).  Like in tennis, you could either ace your opponent and blow a serve right past him, or you could rally it out.  It may take longer, but it still wins.  The hard part in chess is figuring out when you have an ace.  (Do you remember the four questions?)

1.  White to move after ...Nbd7.   Follow the sequence by using the arrows below.  Should white play cxd5?  Is the pin on f6 real?

 

 

Does white actually win that pawn for free?  No!  Black breaks the pin and captures the knight on d5!!  Doesn't that lose the black queen?!  Find the next best move for black.

 

 

2.  Does white have a cool sac on f7?  This is often a target square.  Does it work here?  Click on the arrows once you have your answer.

 

 

3.  What if you switch the move order?  Does Nxe5 work?  Find black's best move.  Click on the MOVE LIST when you are done.

 

 

 

 

4.  How about now?   There is a subtle difference here...

 

 

5.  Does white have a winner here?

 

 

What would you do if you had black?

 

 

These positions were fairly difficult.  Congratulations on solving them!  Now go play a match and decide when to serve up a 90mph tactic!

Tip of the week:  Ask yourself questions in real life, too, for example:  "I feel like running across the street without looking.  Is this a good decision?"  

See you next week, chess friends!    (And the answer to above question is a resounding NOOOO....)