Tactical Patterns for the 1200 Player

 11/30/2025 Answer: Bg5!! Brings a situation for a checkmate! The following moves shows how the game went! 11...Qxb2  12 Rxe7+  Kf8  13 Qxf7 # game is over! but I did not do that. I missed the checkmate and worried about my defense. I played 13 h3  Qxa1  14 Nd2 Kg7 (trying to save himself from checkmate) 15 Qf4 still missing checkmate! 15 ... Qb2  16 Bh6+  Kg8  17  Re8# What I am trying to say is that I missed the checkmate in two (forced) but I played the right starting move! I simply missed the checkmate and I had more than one opportunity to checkmate the fellow but I missed them. However, the other player did have a couple of opportunities in which he possibly could fight back but I did try to put myself positionally so the opponent did not have the ability to get out of trouble by attacking me! It was not elegant but by proper positional play I was able to put my opponent away even though my opponent did not get checkmated on move 1...

 11/23/25 Answer: a. hit QxNe3 b. miss Qf1 The knights only defender is the rook but can immediately be taken by my knight making a fork between king and queen. The second answer involvers tucking the queen to a safe place instead of calling a second check!   This is near the opening, but there is a winning move here! It looks bad but it led to a position in which I was able to checkmate my opponent several moves later! Next week's Patterns I will tell you every move in which was played to the end of the game. My take as an under a 1200 player is that we see critical positions but sometimes fail the chess puzzle which has been given ourselves. This position in particular is as tricky as any game I've ever played. A little mistake and instead of me getting the win, I could find myself with a back rank mate myself! There were several moves following my star (best move) that I made but it did give me the opportunity to play a colorful checkmate that was not too hidden from me. I ...

11/16/2025 Answer: Kg2 King is set at opposition allowing for passage of a pawn and as it turned out an early mate. 1200 players are often erratic failing to properly follow up in a combination that is totally winning! I really have no explanation other than that I might not have been completely clear about the combination in the first place. Although I have been rated as a 1900 or 2000 player in chess puzzle solving I still make mistakes in games that involve more complicated tactics than I have the ability to properly solve. I believe that I need to actively be about problem solving that pays more attention to the complete solution rather than rely on my intuition to solve a chess problem that came naturally in one of my games. As I have laid out two games I played back to back both games involving double exclamation mark moves. One the follow up moves are not that complicated and I won. The other I make a misstep and lose the combination with a blunder!    This next game I ...

 11/8/2025 Answer: Rb7+ I've decided to change the format of my blog. Instead of having a daily blog, I am changing over to a weekly blog so I can discuss games in a little more depth. Forgive me if you have enjoyed the daily reading of my blog post. I am going to try and style the blogs more in keeping of the style of other blogs by having at least a two paragraph introduction to the topic I am writing about. This game I played today and my opponent had a rook to a bishop advantage over me and started to take all my pawns with his more maneuverable rook. Take a look at the following position and see if you can find the move I played that secured my victory nevertheless! Hit : Black to play and win!

 11/7/2025 Answer Rxd2 This next game I made a bad choice of a move. I did eventually win, but this move would have been better! White to move black missed his opportunity to play Rd8. I played f7 which allowed my opponent to play Rd8 instead. Causing a little difficulty for me.

 11/6/2025 Answer: Qe1# This next move leads to checkmate and I found it!  Hit : Black to move. See if you cannot find my game winning move!

 11/5/2025 Answer: Rf6+ Wins on the spot! His rook must interpose to prevent mate. This next game helps me see why I am a less than 1200 player. On the 23rd move I had mate, but I missed and played on to 39 moves. See if you cannot find the mate in 23. I played Rc1+

 11/4/2025 Answer: cRc4 Moving the rook up allows a fork between the knight and eventually winning the game! <1200 players often make mistakes and I am no exception. I this next game I could have made my life much easier playing the right move! I made the move h4? What is the better move in this position to put the game away more easily? Miss : White to move:

 11/3/2025 Answer Ne2+ The knight forks the queen and king This next game I was faced with the following position and I was white looking for a subtle move that would break the game wide open. Hit :   Hint: Subtle moves such as the one here, is what I am looking for most as a <1200 chess player. What move by white can blow this game wide open?

11/2/2025   Answer: Qd4+ I advanced my pawns instead and believe it or not lost the game! Hit : This next game I played the game winner.  See if you can find the move that wins the game on the spot:

11/1/2025 Answer: Nb5 The opponent played Qd6 threatening my queen. I played Qxf7 to try to get out of a pickle but my opponent played NxR letting me save my knight at a7 giving me Na7+ forcing mate in one with Kb8 then Qxb7#. I have been losing lately and I must admit that the move I found was too subtle for me and I seek to improve my game play! Miss: This next game is one I played yesterday. See if you can find the move which leads to a win! I was up material but I missed a key move in this position. See if you can find the winning move! I was black: