Oplossing opgave 60 (van 9 december)

In onderstaande stelling zag de witspeler kans om heel snel zijn superieure stelling tot gelding te brengen. Hoe deed hij dat?

Muffang - Devos (Parijs 1948)

Oplossing: er is een manier om de dekking van g7 door de zwarte dame op te heffen, waarna niets meer het geven van mat door de witte dame in de weg staat:

1. Tc7! (de sleutelzet) Dxc7 (het enige, zoals eenvoudig te zien is) 2. Txd8 en zwart moet opgeven, omdat 2. ... Dxd8 wordt beantwoord met Dxg7 mat en 2. ... Dxe5 met Txe8 mat.

Een goed antwoord werd opgestuurd door Jan Pilon (SC Ten Boer).

Schaken in de literatuur (5):

There were more people gathered in "Top Boards" than before; as games ended they came to watch the finals. She pushed by them, stepped over the rope and sat down. Her hands were perfectly steady, and her stomach and eyes felt fine. She reached out and moved; she punched the clock firmly.

Beltik studied the move for a few minutes and took her knight with his bishop, as she knew he would. She did not retake; she brought a bishop over to attack one of his rooks. He moved the rook out of the line of fire. He had to. She felt the blood rush into her cheeks as she brouht her queen from the back to the centre of the board. It now threatened to take the rook, pinned the king's knight pawn and could take the bishop with a check. She looked at Beltik. He was studying the board and rolling up his sleeves. His clock was ticking.

It took him almost fifteen minutes to find the move that Beth, in the bathroom, had been certain he would make. She was ready. Her rook came over behind her queen and she heard Beltik take in his breath sharply. Someone in the crowd began to whisper. Beth waited.

After ten more minutes Beltik moved his queen to a defensive position. It wouldn't work. She reached out with her hand steady and her mind cristalline and advanced a pawn, attacking his queen.

Beltik stared at the pawn for a moment as though it were a cockroach on the board. If he took it, he would find his queen pinned, unable to move. If he moved his queen away, Beth would begin a series of threats. If he left it were it was, he would lose it. "Son of a bitch!" he whispered.

Uit: Tevis, Walter: The Queen's Gambit. - London: Pan Books, 1984. - 286 p.