'Characteristic Puzzles in the Opening' series



Here are some chess puzzles from the games of Zdenko Kozul.
The color disk on the diagram indicates who moves first.

Solutions are between the brackets under each puzzle.
Drag your mouse from one bracket to the other.

a)
Zdenko Kozul vs Karim Abdul, Sharjah, 1985
r3r1k1/p3np1p/4pp2/2p1q2P/2P1N3/1P4P1/P1Q2PK1/R2R4 w - - 0 1
[ f4 if Qf5 Qe2 Red8 Nd6 ]

b)
Zdenko Kozul vs Mariano Grynszpan, Sharjah, 1985
6k1/rp3ppp/8/pR6/n7/6P1/NP2PP1P/6K1 w - - 0 1
[ b3 Nb2 Rd5 Kf8 Rd2 ]

c)
White mates in 5.
Zdenko Kozul vs Udo Kaeser, Liechtenstein, 1988
8/5r2/bp4R1/3nPB1k/3pN3/8/4P2P/6K1 w - - 0 1
[ Ng3+ Kh4 Rg4+ Kh3 Rg5+ Rxf5 Nxf5 Bxe2 Rg3# ]

d)
Zdenko Kozul vs Antonio Antunes, Clermont-Ferrand, 1989
1nq1r1k1/Qbb3p1/2p1p2p/1p2P3/2p1N3/5NPB/1P3P1P/5RK1 w - - 0 1
[ Nc5 if Ba6 Ra1 ]

e)
Zdenko Kozul vs Vladimir Bukal, Bol, 2014
4r2k/p5pp/1q3n2/1P1r2N1/P1n5/6P1/1P2QP1P/3R1RK1 w - - 1 0
[ Nf7+ Kg8 Qxc4 if Qb7 Nd6 ]

1c)
mate in 5
Zdenko Kozul vs Udo Kaeser

Zdenko Kozul Puzzles, Part II.
The color disk on the diagram indicates who moves first.
a)
Black mates in 5.
Zoran Jovanovic vs Zdenko Kozul, Bol, 2014
6k1/1r6/3p4/2pPb3/3qB1P1/3P4/1pQ5/r4RRK b - - 0 1
[ ...Qxe4+ dxe4 Rh7+ Kg2 Rh2+ ]

b)
Zdenko Kozul vs Ante Brkic, Opatija, 2015
2b2rk1/p1Q3b1/4p1pp/5p2/3P4/Pr3N2/1P1RBPqP/3KR3 w - - 1 0
[ Rg1 if Rb7 Qxg7+ ]

c)
Ljubomir Biljanic vs Zdenko Kozul, Skopje, 2017
8/bP3pk1/2Qp2p1/3Pp3/r1B1P2p/7P/1q3PP1/5RK1 b - - 0 1
[ 1...Ra1 if 2.Rxa1 Qxa1+ 3.Bf1 Qb2 or if 2.Qc8 Qxf2+ ]

d)
White mates in 4.
Zdenko Kozul vs Ante Brkic, Pozega, 2018
8/5Q1p/4p2k/6p1/p5PP/4PP2/6K1/q7 w - - 1 0
[ 1.f4 ]

e)
Zdenko Kozul vs Deniz Ozen, Izmir, 2018
1b3rk1/1p1r1p1b/1p3P2/2pp2p1/6P1/1P1P1B2/P3PR1B/2R3K1 w - - 1 0
[ 1.Bxb8 Rxb8 2.Rh2 c4 3.Kf2 c3 4.Rch1 ]

f)
White mates in 3.
Zdenko Kozul vs Ante Saric, Bjelovar, 2019
7k/3N2qp/b7/2p1Q1N1/Pp4PK/5p1P/1P3P2/6r1 w - - 1 0
[ 1.Nf7+ Kg8 2.Qe8+ ]

2a)
mate in 5
Zoran Jovanovic vs Zdenko Kozul

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