Tactics in the King's Knight Openings
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Here are some chess puzzles from the Three Knights (ECO C46).
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3
Solutions are between the brackets under each puzzle.
Drag your cursor from one bracket to the other.
White to move and win except where noted.
a)
William Pollock vs Hall, England, 1890
r2qk2r/ppp1nppp/3p1n2/2bNN3/2B1P3/2PP4/PP3PPP/R1Bb1RK1 w - - 0 1
[ Nxf6+ if Kf8 Nfd7+ or if gxf6 Bxf7+ mates ]
b)
White mates in 2.
Donisthorpe vs Peter Mundell, London, 1892
r2q1b1r/pppbk2p/3p1pB1/3Pp2Q/2P5/4B2P/PP3PP1/R3K2R w - - 0 1
[ Qxe5+ ]
c)
White mates in 7.
Leonhard Hanke vs Rainer Hoffmann, Germany, 1994
r1b2k1r/pp1p1ppp/2pN1n2/8/7Q/4B3/qPP2PPP/2KRR3 w - - 0 1
[ Qxf6 if gxf6 Bh6+ or if Qa1+ Kd2 Qa5+ c3 Qd5+ Kc1 ]
d)
Stefka Savova vs Natasa Videkanic, Yugoslavia, 1994
r2q1rk1/ppp2ppp/4b1n1/7Q/3PNn2/3B3P/PPPB2PK/R6R w - - 0 1
[ Bxf4 if Nxf4 Nf6+ mates ]
e)
White mates in 10.
Nenad Doric vs Danijel Buric, Zadar, 1995
r1bqkb1r/ppp4p/2n2nN1/7Q/2BPp3/8/PPP2PPP/R1B1K2R w KQkq - 0 1
[ Bf7+ if Kxf7 Ne5+ or if Kd7 Qh3+ Kd6 Bf4+ ]
1d)
Stefka Savova vs Natasa Videkanic
Three Knights (C46) Puzzles, Part II.
Black to move and win except where noted.
a)
Black mates in 4.
Benjamin Bassett vs Nicky Krstic, Canberra, 1995
r1b1k2N/pppp2pp/2n5/2b1p3/2B1n2q/2N3P1/PPPP1P1P/R1BQK2R b KQq - 0 1
[ ...Bxf2+ Kf1 Qh3+ Ke2 Nd4+ ]
b)
Nenad Doric vs Gert Schnider, Velden, 1996
r2q1rk1/p2b1ppp/2pp4/4b3/4N3/4QN2/PPP2PPP/2KR3R w - - 1 0
[ Nxe5 dxe5 Nc5 ]
c)
David Navara vs Miroslav Muron, Czech Republic, 1997
r2q2k1/2p1n2p/p2pb1p1/1p6/3QPr2/2N5/PPP1B1P1/2KR3R w - - 1 0
[ Rxh7 Kxh7 Rh1+ if Kg8 Qh8+ ]
d)
Laurent Fressinet vs Giovanni Barbieri, Verona, 1998
r3kb1r/pppb1p2/3p1qpp/8/4P3/2N2BPP/PPP2P2/R2QK2R w KQkq - 1 0
[ Nd5 Qd8 Qd4 if Rg8 Nf6+ or if f6 Nxf6+ Kf7 Nxd7 Bg7 Qd5+ Ke8 Bg4 ]
e)
Leonid Kernazhitsky vs Vladimir Kovalenko, Kiev, 1999
r1q1rbk1/pppb1pp1/5n1p/n3p3/4P2N/2N1B1PP/PPPQ1PBK/3R1R2 w - - 1 0
[ Nd5 if Nc4 Nxf6+ gxf6 Qxd7 or if Nxd5 Qxd5 Nc6 Qxd7 ]
2a)
mate in 4
Benjamin Bassett vs Nicky Krstic
Three Knights (C46) puzzles, pt. iii.
The color disk on the diagram indicates who moves first.
a)
Tomas Orsag vs Peter Hlavac, Slovakia, 1999
3r1rk1/ppp2qpp/3b4/4p3/2Pn1pQ1/3P3P/PP1B1PPN/R2R2K1 b - - 0 1
[ ...h5 if Qg5 Ne6 ]
b)
Mateja Ursic vs Jure Borisek, Areh, 2001
r1b2k1r/ppp1n1pp/2qp1p2/5P1Q/4P3/3B4/P1PB2PP/1R3R1K w - - 1 0
[ Bb5 ]
c)
Black mates in 5.
Viacheslav Slovieneanu vs Carlos Santos, Panormo, 2001
N1r3k1/pp3pBp/6p1/3n4/8/2P2P2/qP1Q2PP/2KR3R b - - 0 1
[ ...Qa1+ Kc2 Nb4+ Kb3 Qa2+ Kxb4 Rc4+ ]
d)
Kirsten Sonnenberger vs Alexander Illgen, Rostock, 2003
r2q1rk1/2pbbppp/1pnp1n2/pP6/2BNPP2/P1N5/2P3PP/R1BQ1RK1 b - - 0 1
[ ...Nxd4 Qxd4 d5 if Be3 dxc4 or if Be2 Bc5 ]
e)
Olga Girya vs David Markosian, Moscow, 2006
1r2r1k1/pbp2pb1/2pp1np1/4q1Bp/P3P3/1PN2B1P/2PQ1PP1/3RR1K1 b
[ ...Nh7 Be3 Qxc3 ]
3c)
mate in 5
Viacheslav Slovieneanu vs Carlos Santos
Three Knights (C46) puzzles, pt. iv.
The color disk on the diagram indicates who moves first.
a)
Olga Girya vs David Markosian, Moscow, 2006
1r2r1k1/pbp2pb1/2pp1np1/4q1Bp/P3P3/1PN2B1P/2PQ1PP1/3RR1K1 b - - 0 1
[ ...Nh7 Be3 Qxc3 ]
b)
Dina Belenkaya vs Igor Ishin, St. Petersburg, 2008
r1b2rk1/2pq1pp1/p1np2n1/1pbNp2Q/4P3/1B1P3P/PPP2PP1/R1B2RK1 w - - 1 0
[ Nf6+ gxf6 Qxg6+ Kh8 Qxf6+ Kh7 Qh4+ mates ]
c)
Evgeny Fadin vs Sergey Kislov, Voronezh, 2009
r1b2k1r/pp2npbp/2pN2p1/4q1B1/4p3/4Q3/PPP2PPP/2KR1B1R w - - 1 0
[ Nc4 Qc7 Bf4 ]
d)
Jesus Garrido Dominguez vs Nicolas Natalicchio Escalante, San Agustin, 2012
r4r2/p1p1qpk1/4bnpp/2p3Q1/3pP3/3B2N1/PPP2PPP/2K1R2R w - - 1 0
[ Nh5+ Kh7 Nxf6+ ]
e)
A Kontokanis vs G Papoulakou, Greece, 2014
r1bq1b1r/ppk5/2pp2np/4p1p1/2B1P3/2N2QB1/PPPR1PPP/2K4R w - - 1 0
[ Qf7+ if Ne7 Bxe5 or if Qe7 Qxg6 ]
f)
Didier Leroy vs Borko Lajthajm, Novi Sad, 2015
r1bqr1k1/pp3ppp/2p2n2/3P4/3b1P2/2NB3P/PPP3PK/R1BQR3 b
[ ...Ng4+ if hxg4 Qh4# or if Kh1 Nf2+ ]
4b)
Dina Belenkaya vs Igor Ishin
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