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 found a brilliant move but my follow up was not good and I ended up losing the game anyways. I must be about the follow up after a good tactical start. Being a < 1200 player, I often see what might look like a good tactical move but my follow up must match the electric move starting the combination!

Just the game before I made a brilliant move sacrificing my queen to gain a material advantage that went the following way:

Hit:


 See if you cannot find the brilliant move that wins material: a . Black to move. White played Kf1

Miss:


This next game I found the brilliant move but failed to follow up properly leaving me behind in the combination: I played Bxh7+ but I blundered the follow up moves that would have won me the game but instead I got left behind in the combination! Black followed with Kxf7. I played Rxd5 and my opponent played Rxd5 and I still have my queen and rook! Then I blundered with Ng5 +? What move instead would have saved my queen and the game? b.

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Tactical Patterns for the 1200 player

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