Tactics with Tani!

The cover story in the June edition of Chess Life Kids was devoted to Tani Adewumi's "making master" on May 1, 2021 at the Fairfield County Chess Club.

As part of the story, we included a selection of tactics from Tani's games. Not all of those tactics would fit in the magazine, so here we provide five bonus puzzles from both his online and over-the-board practice. Have fun solving "tactics with Tani!"

Problem 1:

Problem 2:

Problem 3:

Problem 4:

Problem 5:

Solutions

Problem 1:

[pgn][Event "Live Chess"] [Site "ChessKid.com"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "TanitoluwaAps116"] [Black "1chessdude"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "1764"] [BlackElo "1310"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r2q3r/ppp3kp/2np1bp1/5b2/2BP1Q2/1P6/P1P2PPP/RNB2RK1 w - - 0 12"] [PlyCount "1"] [TimeControl "5"] {[#] A nice mate in one to start things off:} 12. Qh6# 1-0 [/pgn]

Problem 2:

[pgn][Event "CCFC Club Championship"] [Site "?"] [Date "2021.05.01"] [Round "3"] [White "Moor, Nathaniel"] [Black "Adewumi, Tanitoluwa"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B41"] [WhiteElo "2199"] [BlackElo "2162"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r1bqkb1r/3p1ppp/p1p1pn2/4P3/8/6P1/PPP2PBP/RNBQK2R b KQkq - 0 8"] [PlyCount "15"] {[#]} 8... Qa5+ $1 {A double attack goes after two targets -- the king, material, or a square -- at once. Here the king and the loose e5-pawn are both attacked, and there's no way to defend both at the same time.} 9. Nc3 Qxe5+ { picking up a clean pawn. After} 10. Be3 Bc5 11. Qd2 Ng4 12. Ne4 Bxe3 13. fxe3 d5 14. Bf3 Qxb2 15. O-O Ne5 {Black won on move 26.} 0-1 [/pgn]

Problem 3:

[pgn][Event "Live Chess"] [Site "ChessKid.com"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "TanitoluwaAps116"] [Black "PelhamPenguin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C30"] [WhiteElo "1748"] [BlackElo "1549"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/6K1/6Q1/4kqpp/8/6P1/7P/8 w - - 0 54"] [PlyCount "19"] [TimeControl "5"] {[#]} 54. Kh6 $3 {The king is also an attacking piece! Here it threatens to take the h5-pawn and support the queen's capturing on g5.} (54. Qxf5+ {is a clear draw:} Kxf5 55. Kh6 h4 (55... Kg4 56. h3+ Kxh3 57. Kxg5 (57. Kxh5 $4 g4 $1 {and Black wins}) 57... Kxg3 58. Kxh5 {is also drawn}) 56. gxh4 gxh4 57. Kh5 h3 58. Kh4 Kf4 59. Kxh3 {and now Black just has to get his king in front of the h-pawn to hold the draw.}) 54... Qxg6+ {Nothing else is better.} (54... Ke4 {loses to} 55. Qxf5+ Kxf5 56. Kxh5 g4 57. Kh4 {and Black can't save the g-pawn. }) ({And after} 54... h4 55. Qxg5 {picks up a pawn and the game.}) 55. Kxg6 h4 56. Kxg5 hxg3 57. hxg3 Ke6 58. g4 Kf7 59. Kh6 $1 Kg8 60. g5 Kh8 61. g6 Kg8 62. g7 Kf7 63. Kh7 {TanitoluwaAps116 won by resignation} 1-0 [/pgn]

Problem 4:

[pgn][Event "Live Chess"] [Site "ChessKid.com"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "TanitoluwaAps116"] [Black "DattaKilari"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "1725"] [BlackElo "1803"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "3r4/5Rpk/1pq3p1/p1p5/7P/1PP2PP1/P3QK2/8 w - - 0 31"] [PlyCount "5"] [TimeControl "5"] {[#]} 31. Rxg7+ $1 Kh8 ({The key point is that after} 31... Kxg7 {White gets back the rook with interest by playing} 32. Qe7+ Kh6 33. Qxd8) 32. Qe7 $1 { Threatening mate in two. Black couldn't find a way out, and played} Re8 33. Rh7+ {TanitoluwaAps116 won by resignation} ({with the key variation being} 33. Rh7+ Kg8 34. Qg7#) 1-0 [/pgn]

Problem 5:

[pgn][Event "NYSSCC K-5"] [Site "Internet Chess Club"] [Date "2021.04.17"] [Round "3"] [White "Adewumi, Tanitoluwa"] [Black "Kotchen, Aaron David Yan-Bo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B56"] [WhiteElo "1946"] [BlackElo "1492"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "1r3r1k/3Pq1bp/p2N2p1/3Q1p2/8/1P1RP3/P1P4P/2KR4 w - - 0 27"] [PlyCount "11"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [TimeControl "3600+10"] {[#]} 27. Nf7+ $1 {Sacrificing the knight... temporarily!} ({The same idea can be achieved through a different move order:} 27. d8=Q Rbxd8 28. Nf7+ Rxf7 29. Qxd8+ Qxd8 30. Rxd8+ {transposing to the game continuation.}) 27... Qxf7 (27... Rxf7 {allows White to win material by promoting:} 28. d8=Q+ Rxd8 29. Qxd8+ Qxd8 30. Rxd8+ {and we again reach the game after White's 30th move.}) 28. Qxf7 Rxf7 {and now that there's only one defender of the d8-square, White can push forward!} 29. d8=Q+ Rxd8 30. Rxd8+ Bf8 31. R1d7 Rxd7 32. Rxd7 {Up a pawn and an Exchange, White went on to win.} 1-0 [/pgn]