9

Taken from:

Chess Academy: A subtle blunder

[Title "White to move"]
[FEN "r1bqr1k1/pp1nbpp1/4pn1p/2pp4/2PP1B2/P1NBPN2/1P3PPP/R2Q1RK1 w - - 0 1"]

White can play Nb5 followed by Nc7 but wouldn't Black play Rf8 beforehand?

patbarron
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AturSams
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1 Answers1

17

This is a familiar tactic I often get to use myself in another opening line. If black plays 1... Rf8, then comes 2. Bc7! Qe8 3. Nd6 Bxd6 4. Bxd6 and black loses the exchange anyway.

[Title "White to move"]
[FEN "r1bqr1k1/pp1nbpp1/4pn1p/2pp4/2PP1B2/P1NBPN2/1P3PPP/R2Q1RK1 w - - 0 1"]

1. Nb5 Rf8 2. Bc7! Qe8 3. Nd6 Bxd6 4. Bxd6

Chess is about patterns. Since I was familiar with the pattern, I spotted this tactic immediately.

Dag Oskar Madsen
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    Thanks, this is a wonderful answer. It is interesting how threatening to fork the Rooks allows you to guarantee a Rook capture even when the fork is supposedly evaded. This is something I've seen in Chess often, where there is some sort of balance of power that maintains unless one blunders. – AturSams Sep 23 '15 at 15:36