Day 504: Castling to safety
Target rating: 1094
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: king to a1 (b2·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
2. Winning blow: rook to d6 (d1·4)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
3. Attack on the uncastled king: knight to g1 (f3·4)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
4. Winning blow: knight to e5 (f3·7)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
5. Winning blow: knight to h6 (f7·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
6. Winning blow: knight to e2 (g3·3)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
7. Winning blow: queen to e1 (c1·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
8. Attack on the uncastled king: knight to c7 (d5·21)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
9. Winning blow: queen to h7 (d3)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
10. Attack on the uncastled king: knight to e5 (f3·15)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
Core set
11. Castling-960 to the rescue on b1 (d1·7)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
12. Castling-960 to the rescue on a8 (c8)Analysis
Black to move — find the best continuation
13. Castling-960 to the rescue on a1 (c1·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
14. Castling-960 to the rescue on b1 (d1·8)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
15. Castling-960 to the rescue on b1 (e1·3)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
16. Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f3 (d5)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
17. Attack on the uncastled king: queen to g7 (h6·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
18. Attack on the uncastled king: knight to b5 (c3·18)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
19. Winning blow: queen to b6 (f2·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
20. Attack on the uncastled king: rook to e8 (e4·4)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
21. Winning blow: queen to d8 (f6)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
22. Attack on the uncastled king: rook to c8 (c1·13)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
23. Attack on the uncastled king: pawn to b7 (c6·6)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
24. Winning blow: knight to e5 (g4·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
25. Winning blow: bishop to a3 (b4)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
Challenge
Review
Day complete — every puzzle solved. See you tomorrow!
Day 505 →