1

The King Hunt Mato Jelic

Question 1.

How can White punish Black’s

passive start?

Question 2.

Can you find the best move for White

here?

2

Question 3.

White sacrificed two pawns in the

opening. However, he has the more

active pieces and a safer king in

return.

How should White continue?

Question 4.

It seems like White has covered all

the vulnerable squares around his

king.

Can you find a way for Black to

make progress?

3

Question 5.

Can you spot the winning idea for

White?

Question 6.

Black has good attacking prospects

on the kingside.

What should he play?

4

Question 7.

Can you spot the winning

combination for White?

Question 8.

White is a pawn down and his

structure is shattered – however, he

does have more active pieces.

What would you do here as White?

5

Question 9.

Can you find Black’s best option in

this complicated position?

Question 10.

Black just played ...d6 and attacked

White’s bishop.

How should White react?

6

Question 11.

Black’s king is clearly not safe but

can you find a winning combination

for White?

Question 12.

White pushed his h-pawn up the

board in order to open files against

Black’s king.

What’s next for White?

7

Question 13.

In this messy position, Black has

the all-important next move.

Can you spot the winning

combination?

Question 14.

What should White do here,

considering his queen in en prise?

8

Question 15.

White has sacrificed 2 pawns to

stop Black’s king from castling.

How should White proceed?

Question 16.

White has more attacking pieces on

the kingside than Black has

defenders, a good omen for the

attack.

What would you do as White?

9

Question 17.

The position looks fine for Black at

first glance.

What should White play?

Question 18.

White has built up a strong

attacking position on the kingside.

How can he seal the deal?

10

Question 19.

How can White continue his attack?

Question 20.

Black is way behind in

development.

What should White do?

11

Question 21.

White has established a space

advantage and a lead in

development.

Can he take advantage before

Black consolidates?

Question 22.

It pays to know the classics!

How did Bobby Fischer, playing

White, win here?

12

Question 23.

White’s piece are more actively

placed.

What should he play?

Question 24.

This position looks dynamically

equal at first glance.

What should White play?

13

Question 25.

White is trying to attack but

Black’s …d6 attacks 2 of his

pieces.

How should White continue?

Question 26.

Both players are attacking the

other’s king. However, Black can

strike first.

How?

14

Question 27.

This is a game between former

World Chess Champion Anatoly

Karpov and the German

Grandmaster Helmut Pfleger.

At first glance, Black’s seems

absolutely fine.

How can White create an attack?

Question 28.

Clearly White has plans on the

kingside.

Can you find a breakthrough?

15

Question 29.

This position looks calm enough

yet White has a winning move.

Can you find it?

Question 30.

How can White take advantage of

his more active pieces?

16

Solutions

1 White wins after 1.Bxf7+! Kxf7 2.Ng5+ Ke8 (2...Kg8 3.Qc4+ e6 4.Qxe6+ Kf8 5.Qf7#)

3.Ne6+. Black’s queen is trapped.

2 Almost all of Black’s pieces are on the queenside. White has a forced mate against

Black’s king - 1.Qxg7+ Kxg7 2.Rg3+ Kh6 3.Bc1+ Kh5 4.Be2+ Kxh4 5.Bg5#.

3 White wins after 1.Nxg7! Kxg7 2.Qg3+ Kf8 (2...Kf6 3.Qg5#) 3.Bh6#.

4 15...Nxg2! 16.Kxg2 (16.Qxg2 Bxc4 and Black is clearly better) 16...Bh3!! 17.Kxh3

Qxf3. White can’t defend against Black’s mating idea with ...Nf4+ and ...Qh5#.

5 White’s bishop on e2 is hanging, but he has the strong intermediate move 1.cxb7! Bxb7

2.Bb5#! - a double check which leads to an immediate mate!

6 1...Bh3!! is the winning move. After 2.Ne3 (2.gxh3 Qg5+ 3.Kh1 Qg2#) 2...Bxg2

3.Nxg2 Qg5 4.f3 Nh3+, Black wins the queen.

7 Sometimes, the attacking player has to sacrifice material in order to attack the opponent’s

king. In this example, White plays 1.Ng6! fxg6 2.Bxg6+ Ke7 3.Re1+ and Black’s king won’t

survive the attack

8 White can play 1.Bh7+! Kxh7 2.Ng5+! hxg5 3.Qh5+ Kg8 4.Qxf7+ Kh7 5.Qh5+ Kg8

6.hxg5! and Black has no defense against g6, followed by Qh7#.

9 White gets mated after 1...Nxc3! 2.bxc3 Rxe3! 3.fxe3 Bg3+ 4.hxg3 Qxg3#.

10 White wins with the strong move 1.Bf6!! After 1...gxf6 2.f4! Rd8 3.Qh6!, Black has no

defense against the rook lift (Rf1-f3-g3).

11 White has a forced mate in three moves - 1.Ng6+ hxg6 (1...fxg6 2.Bg5#) 2.Nd5+ exd5

3.Qe5#. It should be noted that White can also start with 1.Nd5+.

12 In this position, White already managed to push his h-pawn to h5. After 1.hxg6 fxg6 (1...hxg6

2.Rxh8#) 2.Rxh7+ Kxh7 3.Ng5+! Kg8 4.Qh5+!! gxh5 5.Bh7#.

13 Black wins after 1...Qxh3! 2.Rxh3 (2.gxh3 g2#) 2...Bxh3, followed by mate on g2.

14 White has a winning combination - 23. Bxh7+! Kf8 (23... Kxh7 24. Qh5+ Kg8 25. Qxf7+

Kh7 26. Qg6+ Kg8 27. Nc4! bxc4 28. Re8#) 24. Qxd5! Nxd5 25. Rxc8+ Rxc8 26. Nd7#

1-0

15 A classic example on what happens if one player ignores development. White wins after

14. Bxf6! gxf6 15. Ne5! h5!? (15... Kf8 16. Qh5 Kg7 17. Qf7+ Kh6 18. Ng4+ Kg5 19.

Qg7+ Kh4 20. g3+ Kh3 21. Bf1#) 16. Qd5!! (16. Qd3! Rh6 17. Qd5 Rh7 18. Qg8+ Bf8

19.Ng6+ Re7 20. Bf7#) 16... Rf8 17. Bd3 c6 18. Bg6+ Rf7 19. Qxf7# 1-0

16 In the position at hand, White has a lot more attacking pieces than Black has defenders -

perfect conditions for a final blow. 1.Bxh7+! Kxh7 2.Rh5+ Kg8 3.Nf6+! gxf6 4.Qg4+ +.

17 White continued with the surprising move 1.Nf7!! After 1...Kxf7 2.Qxe6 Kxe6 (2...Kf8

3.Ng5 and mate on f7 follows) Ng5#.

18 White has a well-known mating idea - the bishop sacrifice on h7. 22. Bxh7+ Kxh7 23.

Rxf7 Rg8 (23... Bf6 24. Rxc7+-) 24. Qh3+ Kg6 25.

Qf5+ Kh6 26. Be3+ g5 27. Rh7# 1-0

19 White should play the bishop sacrifice on f7! 25. Bxf7+! Kxf7 26. Ng5+ Ke8 (

26... Kg8 27. Qe6+ Kf8 28. Qf7#) 27. Qe6 Qc6 28. Qf7+ Kd8 29. Bxe7+ Kc7 30.

Bxd6+ Kxd6 31. Qe7+ Kd5 32. Rd1+ Kc4 33. Qb4# 1-0

20 Garry Kasparov, playing White, went for 11. Nxe6! Qb6 12. Nc7+ Qxc7 (12... Kd8 13.

Nxa8+-) 13. exd6+ Kd8 14. dxc7+ 1-0

21 White wins after 1.Bxg6 (exchanging a key defender) hxg6 2.Nxf7! Kxf7 3.Qxe6#.

17

22 Bobby Fischer went for a bishop sacrifice on f7. He played 1.Bxf7+ Kxf7 (1...Rxf7 Ne6

traps the queen) 2.Ne6! Kxe6 3.Qd5+ Kf5 and Black’s king will soon be mated.

23 The weak square in Black’s camp is f7. 1. Nxf7! Kxf7 2. Qxe6+ Kxe6 (2... Kf8 3. Ng5

Ne5 4. dxe5 Ne4 5. Nxh7#) 3.Ng5#.

24 White has the beautiful 1.Bxf7+ Kxf7 2.Ne5+!, winning the queen.

25 White can ignore the threat against his knight on e5. He plays 1. Qe4! (threatening mate

on h7 - Black has no time to take the knight!) g6 2. Nxg6 fxg6 3. Qxg6+ Ng7 4. Qh7+

Kf7 5. Bg6#.

26 Black has the strong tactical resource 1... Rxf2 2. Rxf2 Qxf2+ 3. Kh1 Qxg2#.

27 Karpov played 1. Bxf7+! Kxf7 2. Qh5+ Kf8 (2... Kg8 3. Rxe8+ +-) (2... g6 3. Qxh7+ Kf8

4. Qxg6 Ne5 5. dxe5 Rxe5 6. Qxf6+ +-) 3. Qxh7 Rxe1+ 4. Rxe1 Re8 5. Qh8+ Kf7 6.

Qxe8#.

28 White removes Black’s pawn on the g-file - 1. Rxg7+ Kxg7 2. Rg4+ Ng6 3. Bxg6 Kf8

(3... fxg6 4. Qxg6+ Kf8 5. Qg8#) 4. Qf6 Rd7 5. Qh8+ Ke7 6. Bxf7 Kxf7 7. Qg8+ Ke7 8.

Rg7+ Kf6 9. Rg6+ Ke7 10. Re6#.

29 White can play 1.Bxf7+! Kxf7 2.Ne6 (threatening to trap the queen - Black has to take the

knight) Kxe6 3.Qd5+ Kf6 4.Qf5#.

30 White has winning continuation 1.Bxf7+! Kxf7 2.Qc4+ Kf8 3.Ng6#.