Day 390: Castling to safety
Target rating: 1110
Lesson of the day
Castling to safety: the only escape from the attack is to castle — one move whisks the king to g1 or c1 and brings the rook into play as a bonus. In Chess960 this leap can cross half the board, which is exactly why it slips out of sight. Whenever your king is under pressure, ask first: can I still castle? The typical blunder is throwing that right away with a careless king or rook move.
Warm-up
1. Winning blow: pawn to g6 (f5·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
2. Winning blow: queen to c6 (h1·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
3. Attack on the uncastled king: knight to a6 (c5)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
4. Attack on the uncastled king: knight to d6 (e8)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
5. Winning blow: king to f1 (g1·6)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
6. Winning blow: queen to f5 (f8)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
7. Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f3 (d1)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
8. Winning blow: queen to e7 (h7)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
9. Winning blow: pawn to e6 (d5·11)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
10. Winning blow: knight to d7 (e5·5)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
Core set
11. Castling-960 to the rescue on a1 (b1·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
12. Castling-960 to the rescue on f1Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
13. Castling-960 to the rescue on a1 (d1·3)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
14. Castling-960 to the rescue on b1 (d1·5)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
15. Castling-960 to the rescue on h1 (d1)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
16. Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to g5 (c1·13)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
17. Winning blow: knight to d5 (c3·7)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
18. Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e6 (f4·6)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
19. Attack on the uncastled king: queen to g7 (d4·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
20. Attack on the uncastled king: rook to h2 (h1·10)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
21. Attack on the uncastled king: rook to e8 (e1·16)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
22. Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to e3 (d2·11)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
23. Winning blow: queen to f2 (e3)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
24. Winning blow: queen to f8 (f3·4)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
25. Winning blow: queen to d5 (c5·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
Challenge
Review
Day complete — every puzzle solved. See you tomorrow!
Day 391 →