NSCF Home
Chess Close-Up

In this position from the 2002 Greenburgh Winter Classic, Black
was down material and it was hard to tell if he was looking unhappy
or just getting poised to strike. A close-up look shows he was winning.



 8 
 7 
 6 
 5 
 4 
 3 
 2 
 1 
     a  b   c  d   e  f   g  h
 

1.Kg1 Qe3+ 2.Kf1 Qf3+ 3.Rf2 Qh3+ 4.Ke2 Qd3+ 5.Ke1 Rg1+ leads to mate,
so White must try 1.Ne2 Rxg2 2.Kxg2 Qxe2+ 3.Kg1 Qe3+ 4.Kf1 Qxa3, which
leaves Black up material, with a better placed queen and a passed pawn at e4.