Monday 22 December 2008

Not so good Xmas gifts


I've previously posted about the poor choice of chess books at Borders (click here for previous comments) but I do go in regularly to look for books on other subjects. In the bargain bin I saw a book that might have been a useful gift, until I actually opened it up.
"The Biggest Book of Games for One Ever" looks like a good gift for the lonely chess player, especially as it has a section of chess problems. However I came a cropper on the very first problem. As I am reconstructing from memory, the diagram may not be exactly as given in the book, but the important features are there. The stipulation is "White to play and Win". For those that wish to solve it (or even use Fritz to do the job) good luck. I guarantee you will not find a win for White in this position. And no, there is no trick or rule dodge or anything that will change that. For when I admitted defeat and looked at the answer I had missed the somewhat subtle 1.Qd7+ which wins after 1. ... Kh6 2.Qg7+ Kh5 3.Qh7+ Kg4 4.Qxg6+ winning the Black Queen. The fact that there was no White Queen given in the diagram didn't seem to bother the author and consequently the decision not to buy the book didn't bother me either.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

ha ha - that's funny.

Thanks
Cheers
Garrett.