
From my forthcoming book Chess Heroes Puzzles: Book 2.
White, to play, is a knight ahead, but his queen and rook are both hanging and his back rank is vulnerable.
This position is taken from my game with white against Chris Clegg (Richmond A v Kingston A, 2009).
Here’s the answer:
A complicated position: White is a knight ahead, but his queen and rook are hanging and there are potential back rank problems. The winning sequence is 1. Qxa6 Rd1+ 2. Qf1 Rxf1+ 3. Kxf1 Bxa1 White now only has a bishop and knight for the queen but his c-pawn is very strong. 4. c7 Qe6 (or Qe8) 5. Bd3 (threatening Ba6) 5… Qc8 6. Nh4 threatening both Bxf5 and Ng6+ followed by Ne7. Take 5 points for getting as far as move 3 and another 5 points for the whole variation.
If you enjoyed this puzzle, there are lots more where this came from. The book will be published on Amazon this Spring.