Solitaire Chess Quiz: Polgar and the World Cup

Solitaire Chess Quiz:  Polgar and the World Cup by, Mrs Jessica E Prescott (aka BoundingOwl)

Guten Tag!  Good morning!  Have you been keeping up with all the mega chess tournaments going on?  I was going to tune in to the Kings vs Queens matches but I noticed Judit Polgar wasn't playing anymore.  Why not?  She was still fighting in an elimination tournament.  Here is some information from chessbase.com.

"The tournament is taking place in the Ugorian Chess Academy in the very heart of Khanty-Mansiysk, which has hosted three previous World Cups: 2005, 2007, and 2009. The 128 participants hail from 46 different countries, and are playing for a total prize fund of US $1.6 million. In addition the first three finisher get tickets to the Candidates tournament in the next World Championship cycle."

So obviously I was super excited to see how my hero, Judit Polgar, was doing!  Today we are going to look at her win against Leinier Dominguez Perez.  Can you play like a Grandmaster?

Polgar starts with a Sicilian.

 

 

 

 

 

1.  It's black's turn now.  What would you play here?  a.  a5  b. Rac8  c. Nxe4

Do not scroll down until you have written down your choice!  No peeking!

 

 

 

 

2.  Black's turn.  What would you play here?  a.  Nxf3  b.  Rxd4  c.  h6

Think hard...it's a tactic!

 

 

3.  Black's move.  What would you play now?  a.  Qb6  b.  Qd7  c.  e5

 

                          sneaky....    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.  Black is winning!  What is the best move?  a.  Rxd4  b.  Rxh5   c.  Rc5

Click on the arrows to see if you were right!Laughing

 

 

And now a puzzle!

 

 

5.  Three final choices:  What made Perez resign?  a.  Re8   b.  Bxb2+  c.  Rc2

 

Results:

1.   a. a5  2 points   b. Rac8  5 points   c. Nxe4  0 points.  No sacking!

2.  a. Nxf3  10 points  b. Rxd4  2 points   c. h6 1 point.  Attack!

3.  a. Qb6 4 points  b. Qd7 4 points  c. e5! 10 points.  Fork!

4.  a. Rxd4 5 points  b. Rxh5 2 points  c. Rc5 0 points. Discovered attack!

5.   a. Re8 3 points  b. Bxb2+ 10 points c. Rc2 -3 points.  Forcing move and removing the guard from the weak back rank.

How did you do?  40 is the total number of GM points possible.  If you got less than 20 points replay the game again slowly to see if you can figure out why the best moves really are best.

Tip of the week:  If you are attacking don't play passive moves.