14 Puzzle Streak | My Thoughts
In an attempt to improve my tactical knowledge of chess, I’ve been playing a lot of Puzzles on Chess.com. The cool thing about Chess.com is how they have various modes when solving puzzles. Two that I enjoy are Puzzles and Puzzle Rush.
Puzzles has you solve chess puzzles that grow in difficulty as you solve them.
Puzzle Rush has you try and solve puzzles as quickly as possible.
3 minutes
5 minutes
Survival (round ends with three fails)
Playing Puzzles, I noticed a pattern of solving one puzzle and then failing the next one, repeating the pattern. Since I was starting to notice patterns and understand the tactical objectives, I went from success to failure, repeating this pattern to eventually having my longest win streak.
I wanted to share the puzzles in my 14 puzzle streak.
1)
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "?"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "1-0"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1bqk2r/pp1nbppp/4p3/2p1P1B1/2P1N3/5Q2/PPP2PPP/R4RK1 b kq - 0 11"]
[Puzzle_Length "2"]
[Tactic_line "Nd6+ Ke7 Qxf7#"]
11... Bxg5 12. Nd6+ ({-5.70} 12. Qg3 f6 13. f4 Bh6 14. Rad1 Qe7 15. Nd6+ Kd8 16.
exf6 gxf6 −+) 12... Ke7 13. Qxf7# ({-0.41} 13. Qh5 g6 14. Qxg5+ f6 15. Qh6 Qf8
16. Qe3 fxe5 17. f4 exf4 $12) ({-6.81} 13. Nxf7 Rf8 14. Qh5 g6 15. Qxg5+ Kxf7 16.
Qxd8 Rxd8 17. Rad1 b6 −+) 1-0
So once Knight moves to d6, it forces the King to move and regardless of whether the King moves to e7 or f8, the next move is mate. As someone that does a horrible job at noticing mate, getting more practice is super helpful. My rating bounces between 700 - 800 and only one time passed 800, which means that I need to study more.
2)
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "?"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/6p1/5pKp/p7/5P2/kP6/P7/8 w - - 4 39"]
[Puzzle_Length "4"]
[Tactic_line "h5 Kxf6 h4 Kg5 h3 f5 h2"]
39. Kxg7 h5 ({-0.14} 39... f5 40. Kf6 Kxa2 41. Kxf5 Kxb3 42. Kg6 a4 43. f5 a3
44. f6 $12) 40. Kxf6 h4 ({0.00} 40... Kxa2 41. Kg5 Kxb3 42. f5 a4 43. f6 a3 44. f7
a2 45. f8=Q $12) ({+47.96} 40... a4 41. Kg5 axb3 42. axb3 Kb4 43. f5 Kc5 44. f6
Kd6 45. Kxh5 +−) 41. Kg5 h3 ({0.00} 41... Kxa2 42. Kxh4 Kxb3 43. f5 a4 44. f6 a3
45. f7 a2 46. f8=Q $12) ({+47.96} 41... a4 42. Kxh4 axb3 43. axb3 Kb4 44. f5 Kc5
45. f6 Kd6 46. Kh5 +−) 42. f5 h2 ({-1.96} 42... Kxa2 43. f6 h2 44. f7 h1=Q 45.
f8=Q Qd5+ 46. Kg6 Kxb3 47. Qb8+ $17) ({-1.65} 42... Kb2 43. f6 h2 44. f7 h1=Q 45.
f8=Q Qd5+ 46. Kh6 Kxa2 47. Qf1 $17) *
This is just a puzzle that helps you practice the Endgame in a game. So this puzzle was just pushing the pawn until it could be promoted into a Queen. Something I learned from watching Gothamchess is the importance of pawns during the Endgame. I suspect as I increase my rating, a victory will come down to my understanding of Endgame tactics.
3)
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "?"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "1-0"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1bR1rk1/1pp2ppp/1b6/pP2p1B1/n1q5/2P2Q2/N4PPP/3R2K1 b - - 1 20"]
[Puzzle_Length "2"]
[Tactic_line "Rxf8+ Kxf8 Rd8#"]
20... Qxa2 21. Rxf8+ ({-7.80} 21. R1d2 Qb1+ 22. Rd1 Bg4 23. Qxg4 Qg6 24. Qxa4
Qxg5 25. R8d5 Rfd8 −+) 21... Kxf8 22. Rd8# ({-8.09} 22. Rd2 Qb1+ 23. Rd1 Bg4 24.
Qxg4 Qxb5 25. c4 Qc6 26. Qf5 Kg8 −+) ({-11.81} 22. Be3 Qc4 23. Bxb6 Nxb6 24. h3
Qxb5 25. Qh5 h6 26. Rd8+ Ke7 −+) 1-0
This is a puzzle that comes up a lot, which is a good thing since this is something I often see in games but fail to capitalize on. I think of it as a corridor that traps confines the King, allowing a Queen or Rook to just jump and mate. There are more variations of this corridor type strategy, so being able to spot them is important.
4)
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "?"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "1-0"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "1k3b1r/1p3pp1/7p/QBp1N2P/P6q/2P1n3/1P2K3/8 b - - 4 30"]
[Puzzle_Length "3"]
[Tactic_line "Nd7+ Kc8 Qa8+ Kc7 Qb8#"]
30... Ng2 31. Nd7+ ({0.00} 31. Nc6+ Kc8 32. Na7+ Kb8 $12) 31... Kc8 32. Qa8+
({0.00} 32. Kf1 Qe1+ 33. Kxg2 Qe4+ 34. Kf1 Qf3+ 35. Ke1 Qg3+ 36. Kd2 Bd6 $12)
({0.00} 32. Kf3 Ne1+ 33. Ke2 Qe4+ 34. Kf1 Qf3+ 35. Kxe1 Qg3+ 36. Kd2 Bd6 $12)
32... Kc7 33. Qb8# ({0.00} 33. Kf1 Ne3+ 34. Ke2 Qxh5+ 35. Kxe3 Kd6 36. Nxf8 Qe5+
37. Kd3 Qd5+ $12) ({-1.97} 33. Qa5+ Kd6 34. Qb6+ Ke7 35. Qxc5+ Kd8 36. Qb6+ Kc8
37. Qa7 Qe1+ $17) 1-0
This is a pattern that only just now I realized, which is how the King is mated by the Queen. In this puzzle the squares c6 and d7 are blocked for the King. It works the same if it’s mirrored. The moment you see that and the Queen is protected, like on b8, it’s mate-in-one. If I was playing Black, I’d need to watch out for the pattern to prevent getting mated as well.
I created another GIF, to show this pattern.
Queen on c8 is mate. Notice the two pawns and how they’re placed. If you notice that grouping with the King, it’s a potential mate.
5)
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "?"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3r1rk1/1bp3p1/p2P1q1p/1p3N2/1P2Pp2/P2Q1P2/6PP/4RR1K w - - 1 25"]
[Puzzle_Length "4"]
[Tactic_line "Qxf5 Qxf5 Rxf5 e6 cxd6 e7 Re8"]
25. e5 Qxf5 ({+3.84} 25... Qe6 26. Ne7+ Kf7 27. Qh7 cxd6 28. exd6 Rh8 29. Qc2
Qxd6 30. Qf5+ $16) 26. Qxf5 Rxf5 ({+10.38} 26... Rxd6 27. Qxf8+ Kxf8 28. exd6 cxd6
29. Re6 Bd5 30. Rxd6 Bc4 31. Re1 +−) ({+10.27} 26... Rxd6 27. Qxf8+ Kxf8 28.
exd6 cxd6 29. Re6 Bc8 30. Rxd6 Ke7 31. Rb6 +−) 27. e6 cxd6 ({-1.73} 27... Rxd6
28. e7 Bc6 29. e8=R+ Bxe8 30. Rxe8+ Kh7 31. Re4 c5 32. bxc5 $17) ({-1.41} 27...
Bc6 28. d7 Bxd7 29. Rd1 Re5 30. exd7 Re7 31. Rd4 Rexd7 32. Rxf4 $15) 28. e7 Re8
({+2.38} 28... Rc8 29. e8=Q+ Rxe8 30. Rxe8+ Kf7 31. Rb8 Bd5 32. Rd1 Ke6 33. Rb6
$16) ({+2.73} 28... Rff8 29. exd8=Q Rxd8 30. Re7 Bd5 31. Rd1 Bb3 32. Rd4 d5 33. h4
$16) *
I don’t know if this is the case, but I think this puzzle is testing me on whether I know when is a good time to exchange Queens while still gaining material. For me, I’m still not confident about knowing when is a good time to exchange Queens. In lower rated games, I’m sure that exchanging Queens without doing the calculations are okay, but the higher I go in the rating, I need to know whether the exchange is worth it.
There’s also knowing how to prevent the opponent from promoting their pawn.
6)
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "?"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2kr1bnr/ppp2ppp/3p4/3P4/3pq3/8/PP1QBP1P/RNB1K1R1 w Q - 2 12"]
[Puzzle_Length "3"]
[Tactic_line "Qh1+ Bf1 Re8+ Re3 dxe3"]
12. Rg3 Qh1+ ({0.00} 12... Nf6 13. Kf1 Qh1+ 14. Rg1 Qxd5 15. Na3 Re8 16. Nb5
Rxe2 17. Qxe2 $12) 13. Bf1 Re8+ ({-0.23} 13... c5 14. Qd3 Nf6 15. Nd2 Re8+ 16. Kd1
Qxh2 17. Qf3 Kb8 18. Kc2 $12) ({+0.96} 13... Qe4+ 14. Qe2 Qe5 15. Bg2 f5 16. Na3
Nf6 17. Nc4 Qxe2+ 18. Kxe2 $14) 14. Re3 dxe3 ({+0.74} 14... Rxe3+ 15. fxe3 dxe3
16. Qg2 Qxg2 17. Bxg2 g6 18. Bxe3 Bg7 19. Nc3 $12) ({+1.08} 14... Re4 15. Rxe4
Qxe4+ 16. Qe2 Nf6 17. Qxe4 Nxe4 18. Nd2 Nf6 19. Nf3 $14) *
So, I remember this puzzle making me stressed since I was getting close to surpassing my previous record. I was also surprised that I was getting so many wins. Remember, I was doing a win to loss pattern with the occasional 2-3 streak before losing again. The fact that I had won 6 puzzles was something I wasn’t used to since my last long streak was ages ago.
This puzzle seemed to be testing if I understood discovered attacks, where moving the Queen forced the Bishop to move and block the attack. But by moving the Bishop, the King was exposed to an attack by the Rook on e8. Then instead o f capturing the Rook on e3 with the Rook on e8, I needed to understand that I should capture with the pawn. It makes sense to capture with the pawn since it’s worth less than the rook.
I was curious how the game would play out, so I just followed what Stockfish suggested while setting the computer to be a 1300 rated player. Since the puzzle was rated in the 1300 range, I just made the bot be 1300.
7)
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "?"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "1-0"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1b2rk1/pp3ppp/3q4/8/2B5/2P2QPn/PP3P1P/3R1K1R b - - 2 19"]
[FirstMove "19b"]
[AnalysisVersion "v5.9.5-dccfb02b9"]
19... Qc6 ({24:Mat03} 19... Qc6 20. Qxf7+ Rxf7 21. Rd8+ Qe8 22. Rxe8#)
({24:-6.9} 19... Qg6 20. Qd3 Bf5 21. Qd6 Be6 22. Be2 Qf5 23. Qd4 Rad8 24. g4 Qg5
25. Qe3 Qxe3 26. fxe3 Rxd1+ 27. Bxd1 Bd5 28. Rg1 Nxg1 29. Kxg1 Rd8 30. Kf2 Bxa2
31. Ke1 f6 32. Bc2 Be6 33. h3 Kf7 34. Be4 b5 35. Ke2 Bc4+ 36. Kf3 Rd2 37. b4)
20. Qxf7+ ({24:Mat03} 20. Qxf7+ Rxf7 21. Rd8+ Qe8 22. Rxe8#) 20... Rxf7
({24:Mat02} 20... Rxf7 21. Rd8+ Qe8 22. Rxe8#) 21. Rd8+ ({24:Mat02} 21. Rd8+ Qe8
22. Rxe8#) 21... Qe8 22. Rxe8# ({24:Mat01} 22. Rxe8#) 1-0
As I was getting nervous that I wouldn’t be able to solve the puzzle, this one, I realized that the Rook would be pinned to the King since the Bishop existed. And then I understood that it was like any other Backrank Checkmate. It’s so cool being able to force a move and then leveraging pins, like it was some kind of animated fighting seen where the character restrains their opponent while they continue with the mission.
8)
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "?"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "7r/pp3pkp/5bp1/1B1N1b2/4n1PK/8/PPR4P/4R3 w - - 1 30"]
[FirstMove "30w"]
[Puzzle_Length "3"]
30. Kh3 Ng5+ 31. Kg3 Bxc2 32. Nxf6 Kxf6 *
This puzzle made me super nervous since solving this puzzle would allow me to tie with my previous record, so I’d need one more to surpass my previous record. I, honestly, didn’t think I was going to solve the puzzle correctly, so each green checkmark was both a relief and additional stress.
With this puzzle not ending with a checkmate, I was curious to see how it played out. I just matched the bot with the puzzle’s rating as I followed Stockfish’s directions.
Following Stockfish’s directions, I know that I wouldn’t have gotten it correct. All the moves were by the book moves.
9)
[Event "7th Capo d Orso Open 2015"]
[Site "Porto Mannu Palau ITA"]
[Date "2015.06.09"]
[Round "4.10"]
[White "Vallifuoco,Gio"]
[Black "Petursson,Mar"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "6k1/p1q2pbp/4p1p1/1B2P3/1pb1p3/P3P3/1B3PPP/Q3K3 w - - 0 1"]
[PUZZLE_TYPE "material"]
[MOVES "2"]
[FULL "30. Qc1 bxa3 31. Bxa3 Qa5+"]
[START_SCORE "-5.71"]
[START_SCORE_DIFFERENCE "-3.62"]
1. Qc1 ({24:-5.98} 1. Qc1 bxa3 2. Bxa3 Qa5+ 3. Qd2 Qxd2+ 4. Kxd2 Bxb5 5. Bd6 f5
6. Kc3 Bf1 7. g3 g5 8. Bc7 Kf7 9. Kb4 Kg6 10. Bb8 Bd3 11. Kc3 Be2 12. Kb4 Bf1
13. Bc7 Kh5 14. Kc5 a5 15. Bxa5 Bxe5 16. Bb4 $19) ({24:-2.11} 1. Bxc4 Qxc4 2.
axb4 Qxb4+ 3. Bc3 Bxe5 4. Bxb4 Bxa1 5. Kd2 Kg7 6. Bc3+ Bxc3+ 7. Kxc3 Kf6 8. Kc4
Ke5 9. Kc5 h5 10. g3 Kf5 11. h3 Ke5 12. Kc6 f5 13. Kc5 Kf6 14. Kc4 a6 15. h4 $19)
({24:-3} 1. a4 a6 2. Bxc4 Qxc4 3. Qc1 Qxc1+ 4. Bxc1 Bxe5 5. Kd2 b3 6. Ba3 Bxh2
7. Bb2 f5 8. g3 h5 9. Ke2 h4 10. gxh4 Kf7 11. Kd2 Bd6 12. Kc3 Be7 13. Kxb3 Bxh4
14. Bc3 Bxf2 15. Bd4 a5 $19) ({24:-4.16} 1. Ba4 Bf8 2. axb4 Bxb4+ 3. Bc3 Qxe5 4.
Kd2 a5 5. Kc2 Bd3+ 6. Kd2 Ba6 7. Kc2 Qc7 8. Qe1 Bd3+ 9. Kb2 Be7 10. Bc2 Qxh2 11.
Bxd3 exd3 12. g3 Qh5 13. Kc1 a4 14. Qd1 Qb5 15. Kd2 a3 16. Qa1 Qc4 $19) 1... bxa3
({24:-6.11} 1... bxa3 2. Bxa3 Qa5+ 3. Qd2 Qxd2+ 4. Kxd2 Bxb5 5. Bd6 f5 6. exf6
Bxf6 7. Bb4 Kf7 8. Kc2 Bd8 9. Bd6 a5 10. Kc3 Bh4 11. f4 exf3 12. gxf3 Bf2 13. e4
Bb6 14. Be5 Bc5 15. Bd4 Be7 $19) ({24:0.88} 1... Bxe5 2. Bxe5 Qxe5 3. Bxc4 b3 4.
Bxb3 Qxh2 5. Qc8+ Kg7 6. Qd7 Qg1+ 7. Ke2 Qxg2 8. Qxa7 Qf3+ 9. Ke1 Qh1+ 10. Kd2
Qh2 11. Qd4+ e5 12. Qxe4 Qxf2+ 13. Kc3 Qe1+ 14. Kc4 Qc1+ 15. Kb5 Qxa3 16. Qxe5+
f6 17. Qc7+ Kh6 18. Qf4+ Kg7 19. Be6 Qe7 20. Bd5 h5 21. Qd4 h4 $16) ({24:1.71}
1... Qa5 2. Bxc4 bxa3+ 3. Bc3 Qc7 4. Ba1 a6 5. Qc3 Qb8 6. Qb3 Bxe5 7. Bxe5 Qxe5
8. Qxa3 Qxh2 9. g3 Qh1+ 10. Bf1 h5 11. Qxa6 h4 12. Qc8+ Kg7 13. Qc3+ Kg8 14.
gxh4 Qxh4 15. Qd4 Qg4 16. Qb4 Kg7 17. Qc3+ Kg8 18. Qc8+ Kg7 $18) 2. Bxa3
({24:-6.17} 2. Bxa3 Qa5+ 3. Qd2 Qxd2+ 4. Kxd2 Bxb5 5. Bd6 f5 6. exf6 Bxf6 7. Bc7
Kf7 8. Kc2 Bf1 9. g3 g5 10. Kb3 Kg6 11. Ba5 Bd3 12. Bc3 Be7 13. Bd4 a6 14. Kc3
a5 15. f4 a4 16. Kb2 g4 17. Kc3 Kf5 18. Kb2 Bb4 $19) ({24:-7.51} 2. Bxc4 axb2 3.
Qxb2 Qxc4 4. Qd4 Qc1+ 5. Qd1 Qc3+ 6. Qd2 Qxe5 7. f4 exf3 8. gxf3 a5 9. f4 Qe4
10. Qxa5 Qxe3+ 11. Kd1 Qf3+ 12. Kc2 Qe4+ 13. Kd1 Bd4 14. f5 Qf3+ 15. Kc2 e5 16.
Qd2 Kg7 17. fxg6 hxg6 18. Qd3 Qf2+ 19. Kd1 Qg1+ 20. Ke2 $19) ({24:-9.15} 2. f4
axb2 3. Qxb2 Qb6 4. Kf2 Bxb5 5. Qc3 Bf8 6. Qb2 Kg7 7. Qc1 Bd3 8. g4 Bb4 9. Kg3
Qa5 10. Kf2 Bd2 11. Qb2 Bc3 12. Qc1 Bb4 13. h3 Qa2+ 14. Kg1 Bb5 15. g5 Qe2 $19)
2... Qa5+ ({24:-6.17} 2... Qa5+ 3. Qd2 Qxd2+ 4. Kxd2 Bxb5 5. Bd6 f5 6. g3 g5 7.
Bc7 Kf7 8. Kc3 Bf1 9. Kd4 Kg6 10. Kc5 a5 11. Bxa5 Bxe5 12. Bb4 g4 13. Bd2 Kf7
14. Kc6 h5 15. Kc5 Bf6 16. Be1 h4 17. gxh4 Bxh4 18. Kd6 Bd3 $19) ({24:-0.62} 2...
Bf8 3. Bxf8 Qa5+ 4. Qd2 Qa1+ 5. Qd1 Qxd1+ 6. Kxd1 Bb3+ 7. Kd2 Kxf8 8. Kc3 Bd5 9.
Kd4 g5 10. Ba4 Kg7 11. Bc2 a5 12. g4 Bb7 13. Bxe4 Bxe4 14. Kxe4 a4 15. Kd4 a3
16. Kc3 a2 $15) ({24:1.88} 2... a6 3. Bxc4 Qxe5 4. Be2 h6 5. g3 a5 6. Qc8+ Kh7 7.
Qc2 Qa1+ 8. Qc1 Qe5 9. Kf1 Qc3 10. Bb5 Qxc1+ 11. Bxc1 Bc3 12. Ke2 Kg7 13. Bd2
Bxd2 14. Kxd2 Kf6 15. Kc3 Ke5 16. Kb3 Kd5 17. Ka4 $18) *
My heart was racing since solving this puzzle would allow me to surpass my previous longest streak.
My thought process with this was to just aim for the check, which seems to be often the tactical choice for puzzles. This helps me to try and get used to how to be on the attack instead of being super passive with my moves.
Again, I played through this with the help of Stockfish and set the bot to a similar rating as the puzzle.
With this game, I feel like when there were Passed Pawns, just push pawn until it can promote. It’s fun watching the GIF and seeing how the pieces move towards the inevitable conclusion.
10)
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "?"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1b1k2r/ppppqpp1/7p/2N5/3n2nP/1P4P1/P1PPPPR1/RNBQKB2 w Qkq - 1 10"]
[Puzzle_Length "1"]
[Tactic_line "Nf3#"]
10. Nd3 Nf3# ({0.00} 10... Qe4 11. e3 Nf3+ 12. Ke2 Nd4+ 13. Ke1 Nf3+ $12) 0-1
What helped me to solve this puzzle was understanding pins. The moment I recognized the pin, the Pawn on e2 unable to move because the Queen on e7, I could move the Knight to f3 for mate-in-one. Since the King is surrounded by its own pieces, it’s unable to do anything when the Knight attacked it.
I think being able to recognize the pin is why this puzzle was rated 1421.
11)
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "?"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "B4r2/6kp/p2p2p1/1p6/3q1b1P/8/PPK1R3/R1BQ1N2 w - - 5 28"]
[Puzzle_Length "3"]
[Tactic_line "Rc8+ Bc6 Rxc6+ Kb1 Qxd1+"]
28. Bxf4 Rc8+ ({+13.34} 28... Qc5+ 29. Kb1 Rxf4 30. Re7+ Kf8 31. Re4 Rxe4 32.
Bxe4 Ke7 33. Qf3 +−) 29. Bc6 Rxc6+ ({+13.82} 29... Qa4+ 30. Kd3 Qxf4 31. Rc2 Rf8
32. Qe1 Rf5 33. Bb7 Re5 34. Rc7+ +−) ({+14.34} 29... Qxf4 30. Qd5 a5 31. Qxb5
Qb4 32. Kd3 Qxb5+ 33. Bxb5 Rc5 34. Re7+ +−) 30. Kb1 Qxd1+ ({+9.17} 30... Qxf4
31. Ne3 Qxh4 32. Qd5 Qh5 33. Qxh5 gxh5 34. Nf5+ Kf7 35. Rd2 +−) ({+13.85} 30...
Rc4 31. Qxd4+ Rxd4 32. Bc1 Kf7 33. Ne3 Rxh4 34. Nd5 a5 35. Re7+ +−) *
Even though Black’s Queen is exposed, moving the Rook to check the King creates the opportunity to capture White’s Queen. Though the GIF doesn’t end with checkmate, the only option White has is to play Bc1. Black then plays Qxc1#.
12)
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "?"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r3r3/6pp/p2B2k1/q1pP1b2/5Q2/1Pp5/P2N1PPP/R3K2R w KQ - 7 24"]
[Puzzle_Length "2"]
[Tactic_line "c2+ Kc1 Qa3#"]
24. Kd1 c2+ ({+1.22} 24... cxd2 25. Be5 Rxe5 26. Qxe5 h5 27. f3 c4 28. bxc4 Qb4
29. Ke2 $14) 25. Kc1 Qa3# ({+4.78} 25... Re2 26. Be5 Qa3+ 27. Bb2 Qb4 28. Qg3+ Qg4
29. Nf3 Qxg3 30. hxg3 $16) ({+5.65} 25... Qc3 26. Qg3+ Qxg3 27. Bxg3 Re2 28. Nc4
Rae8 29. Kb2 R8e4 30. Rac1 +−) 0-1
This was just a basic checkmate, knowing to push the Pawn and then and forcing the King to c1. Even though this was rated 1667, I didn’t find this one to be overly difficult. Moving the pawn to c2 felt natural. I’m not sure if this is because I’m getting better at my tactics or something else (maybe the puzzle was easier than its rating).
13)
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "?"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "1-0"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5r1k/ppp4p/2np2n1/4p1BQ/2B1P2P/7q/PPP5/5RK1 b - - 3 25"]
[Puzzle_Length "4"]
[Tactic_line "Bf6+ Rxf6 Qe8+ Kg7 Qg8+ Kh6 Qg5#"]
25... Nf4 26. Bf6+ ({0.00} 26. Rxf4 Qg3+ 27. Kh1 exf4 28. Qh6 Rf7 29. Bxf7 Qe1+
30. Kg2 Qe2+ $12) 26... Rxf6 27. Qe8+ ({-17.44} 27. Rxf4 Qg3+ 28. Kh1 Qxf4 29.
Qe8+ Rf8 30. Qxf8+ Qxf8 31. c3 Qf3+ −+) ({-17.69} 27. Qg5 Rg6 28. Qxg6 hxg6 29.
Rxf4 Qg3+ 30. Kf1 Qxf4+ 31. Kg1 Qg3+ −+) 27... Kg7 28. Qg8+ ({-10.15} 28. Rxf4
Rg6+ 29. Qxg6+ Kxg6 30. h5+ Kxh5 31. Rf7 Qe3+ 32. Kh2 Kg6 −+) ({♚ Mate in 9} 28.
Qd7+ Qxd7 29. Kf2 Qg4 30. Ke1 Ng2+ 31. Kd2 Rxf1 32. Bxf1 Qf4+ −+) 28... Kh6 29.
Qg5# ({-11.26} 29. Rxf4 Rg6+ 30. Qxg6+ hxg6 31. Rf2 Nd4 32. Bd3 Nf3+ 33. Rxf3
Qxf3 −+) ({-15.67} 29. Rf3 Qxh4 30. c3 Rg6+ 31. Qxg6+ Kxg6 32. Bf1 Qe1 33. b4
Ne2+ −+) 1-0
Though there isn’t a Pawn on the right side of the King on h6, I was able to notice the pattern and seeing that the Queen would be protected by the Pawn on h4. The pattern shows up quite often, so I was happy that I recognized it.
14)
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "?"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "1-0"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r7/pp1k1p2/4p1p1/2Q5/6R1/2P4P/P1q2rPK/8 b - - 0 26"]
[Puzzle_Length "3"]
[Tactic_line "Rd4+ Ke8 Qxc8+ Ke7 Qd8#"]
26... Rc8 27. Rd4+ ({-8.06} 27. Qxa7 Qb2 28. Qd4+ Ke7 29. Rg3 Qd2 30. Qh4+ Ke8
31. a3 Qd6 −+) 27... Ke8 28. Qxc8+ ({-9.11} 28. Qb5+ Kf8 29. Qxb7 Qxc3 30. Qb4+
Qxb4 31. Rxb4 Rxa2 32. Rg4 Kg7 −+) ({-9.39} 28. Qg5 Qxc3 29. Qe5 Qc7 30. Qxc7
Rxc7 31. a3 Kf8 32. Rg4 Rcc2 −+) 28... Ke7 29. Qd8# ({0.00} 29. Rd7+ Kf6 30.
Qh8+ Kg5 31. h4+ Kg4 32. Qd4+ Rf4 33. Qe5 f6 $12) ({0.00} 29. Kh1 Qc1+ 30. Kh2 Kf6
31. Qh8+ Kf5 32. Qg7 Qg5 33. Qxf7+ Qf6 $12) 1-0
This is just a basic checkmate, so it was pretty easy. But thanks to this puzzle, I had achieved a 14 puzzle streak, which was pretty awesome.
I’m also reading some chess books and watching videos on openings, currently studying the Italian Opening.
Reaching such a long streak in Puzzles, I do feel like I’m slowly improving with my chess skills. Currently, I want have a 1000 ELO. I think that’s a reasonable goal and something achievable for me. Once I reach 1000 ELO, I’ll aim for 1500. I’ll hold off with 1500 since 2000 feels like when chess is getting serious at that level.
I think it would be nice to gain a title, like National Master which would need me to be 2200 rated.