Day 576: Castling to safety
Target rating: 1344
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: bishop to e5 (a1·12)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
2. Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to a5 (b4·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
3. Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e4 (f3·7)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
4. Discovered attack: rook to e4Analysis
Black to move — find the best continuation
5. Winning blow: pawn to g5 (f4·5)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
6. Winning blow: bishop to c6 (e4·9)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
7. Winning blow: king to a2 (b1·29)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
8. Winning blow: rook to c6 (c1·8)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
9. Winning blow: knight to f4 (h5·4)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
10. Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to f7 (e6·3)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
Core set
11. Castling-960 to the rescue on g1 (f1·8)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
12. Castling-960 to the rescue on h8 (e8·4)Analysis
Black to move — find the best continuation
13. Castling-960 to the rescue on h1 (f1·8)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
14. Castling-960 to the rescue on a8 (b8·5)Analysis
Black to move — find the best continuation
15. Castling-960 to the rescue on a8 (d8·5)Analysis
Black to move — find the best continuation
16. Mate in 2: king to a6Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
17. Discovered attack: queen to e8 (e2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
18. Winning blow: rook to c1 (c4)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
19. Attack on the uncastled king: bishop to f7 (a2·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
20. Mate in 2: rook to b6 (d6)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
21. Winning blow: bishop to c4 (f1·5)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
22. Attack on the uncastled king: rook to c8 (c4)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
23. Mate in 2: knight to f6 (e4·9)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
24. Winning blow: rook to f6 (f1·11)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
25. Mate in 2: queen to a8 (a5)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
Challenge
Review
Day complete — every puzzle solved. See you tomorrow!
Day 577 →