10th April 2002

White has just taken the pawn on f7. How best can black reply?

Well, black's queen is threatened by the Knight on f7, so something must be done to save the queen.

a) Rf8 x f7 - swapping the rook for knight and bishop - a gain of 1 point, cancelling out the lost f pawn. The best move - 4 points
b) Qd8 - e7 - moving the threatened queen, but allowing a discovered check - 3 points
c) d7 - d5 - losing the queen to Nf7 x d8 1 point
d) Bc5 x f2+ a bold sacrifice, as if Ke1 x f2 then Nf6 x e4+ and then d5 blocks the discovered check, and pins the knight on f7. But the reply Ke1-f1 instead of Ke1 x f2 is good. 2 points
e) Nf6 x e4 - losing the queen to Nf7 x d8 1 point
f) Nc6 - a5 - losing the queen to Nf7 x d8 1 point