Wednesday Workout: Thanksgiving Edition

Before you strap on the feedbag tomorrow, earn all those calories with some chess puzzles today with this week's Wednesday Workout!

We start off fairly easy this month, but some of the later problems are not just "simple tactics." You'll need to use all your chess skills to answer all six problems.

Problem 1:

Problem 2:

Problem 3:

Problem 4:

Problem 5:

Problem 6:

Answers:

Problem 1:

[pgn][Event "1601-2000 US Championship Online Qualif"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2020.11.22"] [Round "6"] [White "Eeuwigschaak"] [Black "sankymaru"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A03"] [WhiteElo "1656"] [BlackElo "1600"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "4r1k1/ppp4p/4r1p1/3q1Pn1/3P1R2/P2QP3/1B5P/5RK1 b - - 0 21"] [PlyCount "1"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [TimeControl "600"] [WhiteClock "0:08:05"] [BlackClock "0:07:23"] {[#]} 21... Nh3# {[%emt 0:00:03] sankymaru won by checkmate} 0-1 [/pgn]

Problem 2:

[pgn][Event "1601-2000 US Championship Online Qualif"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2020.11.22"] [Round "4"] [White "NetCoalesce"] [Black "Alicia_93"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A41"] [WhiteElo "1867"] [BlackElo "1721"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "1R6/8/4p3/qpQ1bk2/8/8/PP2KP2/6R1 w - - 0 35"] [PlyCount "3"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [TimeControl "600"] [WhiteClock "0:04:38"] [BlackClock "0:00:07"] {[#]} 35. Rf8+ {[%emt 0:00:03]} Ke4 {[%emt 0:00:02]} 36. f3# {[%emt 0:00:01] NetCoalesce won by checkmate} 1-0 [/pgn]

Problem 3:

[pgn][Event "SPICE Cup Open 2020"] [Site "Chesterfield MO USA"] [Date "2020.10.21"] [Round "3"] [White "Matta, Nicholas"] [Black "Paciorkowski, Lev"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D85"] [WhiteElo "2177"] [BlackElo "2249"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r2qrk2/3bNp1p/1p1P2p1/p7/2pb1B2/Q4B2/PP3PPP/5RK1 w - - 0 27"] [PlyCount "7"] [EventDate "2020.10.20"] {[#]} 27. Bh6+ Bg7 28. Qc3 $1 {threatening Qxg7 mate} Rxe7 ({Black can't take the bishop due to} 28... Bxh6 29. Qh8#) 29. Qxg7+ Ke8 30. Qh8# (30. Qf8#) (30. Qg8#) 1-0 [/pgn]

Problem 4:

[pgn][Event "ch-Schachbundesliga 2020"] [Site "Karlsruhe GER"] [Date "2020.09.17"] [Round "3.2"] [White "Areshchenko, Alexander"] [Black "Koch, Thomas1"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B84"] [WhiteElo "2678"] [BlackElo "2461"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "Q1b1r2k/6pp/pq1p4/1p4b1/4P3/8/PPP1BR1P/5RK1 w - - 0 21"] [PlyCount "1"] [EventDate "2020.09.16"] [WhiteTeam "SV Werder Bremen"] [BlackTeam "Aachener SV"] {White finds a brilliant move to win on the spot.} {[#]} 21. Qc6 $3 (21. Qc6 { threatens the e8-rook, which can't leave the back rank due to mate threats, and attacks the loose queen. If Black takes the offered piece, it's mate after} Qxc6 22. Rf8+) 1-0 [/pgn]

Problem 5:

[pgn][Event "Uppsala Young Champions"] [Site "Uppsala SWE"] [Date "2020.10.26"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Pantzar, Milton"] [Black "Storme, Isak"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D87"] [WhiteElo "2410"] [BlackElo "2393"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r4rk1/1b3p1p/pp2p1pQ/8/q2NP3/2P2P2/P5PP/2RR2K1 w - - 0 20"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] {[#]} 20. Nc2 $1 {[%cal Gc2e3,Ge3g4,Gg4f6] Offering up the a-pawn to accelerate the redeployment of the knight, eventually heading to the key f6-square.} Rad8 (20... Qxa2 $6 21. Ne3 $40) 21. Ne3 Rxd1+ 22. Rxd1 f5 { Stopping Ne3-g4, but at a positional cost.} 23. exf5 $6 {I'm not sure why White undoes the backwards e6-pawn here.} (23. Rd6 $1 {[%csl Gb6,Ge6]} Qe8 ( 23... Bc8 24. exf5 exf5 25. h4 f4 26. Nd5 $1) 24. Rxb6 Qe7 25. exf5 exf5 26. Qf4 $16) (23. Rd4 $5 Qc6) 23... exf5 24. h4 f4 $1 $132 25. Rd4 Qe8 26. Nf1 (26. Ng4 Qe1+ 27. Kh2 Qg3+ $11) (26. Nc2 Rf5 $13) 26... Rf5 27. Rd6 b5 28. h5 Qf8 29. Qxf8+ Kxf8 30. hxg6 hxg6 31. Rxg6 Rc5 32. Rb6 Bd5 33. Rxa6 Rxc3 34. Rf6+ Kg7 35. Rxf4 Bxa2 36. Rb4 Rb3 37. Rd4 Rb1 38. Kf2 Be6 39. Nd2 Rb2 40. Ke3 b4 41. g4 b3 42. Rb4 Rc2 43. Kd3 Rc1 44. Nxb3 Rb1 45. Kc2 Rf1 46. Nd2 Rg1 47. Kd3 Kg6 48. Ke3 Rg2 49. Rf4 Kg5 50. Ne4+ Kh4 51. g5+ Kh3 52. Rf6 1-0 [/pgn]

Problem 6:

[pgn][Event "ch-USA Junior 2020"] [Site "lichess.org INT"] [Date "2020.10.15"] [Round "9.3"] [White "Balakrishnan, Praveen"] [Black "Burke, John M"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B51"] [WhiteElo "2485"] [BlackElo "2538"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "5k2/1b2bp2/1q1p1npp/1p2p3/1B2P3/1P2N2P/P1QN1PP1/5K2 b - - 0 27"] [PlyCount "15"] [EventDate "2020.10.13"] [EventType "tourn (rapid)"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCategory "11"] [SourceTitle "The Week in Chess 1354"] [Source "Mark Crowther"] [SourceDate "2020.10.20"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2020.10.20"] [SourceQuality "2"] {Burke plays a series of "small tactics" to improve all of his pieces.} {[#]} 27... Qd4 $1 {Hitting the loose bishop and pressuring the e4-pawn.} 28. Bc3 Qc5 $1 {Pinning the bishop and threatening ... b5-b4.} 29. b4 Qc6 {Now White has to bring another defender to e4.} 30. f3 Bd8 {Logical, developing Black's worst piece, although the computer thinks there is better.} (30... Nh5 { [%cal Gh5f4]}) 31. Qd3 Bb6 32. Nb3 Nh5 33. Na5 $2 (33. Nd5 Ng3+ 34. Ke1 f5) 33... Bxa5 34. bxa5 b4 {[%csl Gc3][%cal Gb7a6]} (34... b4 35. Bxb4 Ba6) (34... Nf4 35. Qd2) 0-1 [/pgn]

The complete Workout for 11.25.2020 is also downloadable in pgn format.