Answers.Body: <p>Seems Black should just play <code>19. ... Qxf4</code>;
  White can't recapture because the Re6 pins the White e-pawn.
  White will reply <code>20. Bxe6</code>, grabbing a Rook while also putting
  the bQf4 <em>en prise</em>.  But Black retorts <code>20. ... Qe4</code>,
  forking the Be6 and Rh1; White does best to defend this Rook and
  let the Be6 go, so Black ends up winning B+N for R.
  (If <code>21. Bxd7? Qxh1+</code> followed by trading Queens on d1
  and recapturing on d7, winning a whole piece.)</p>
  <p>Several of your variations let White capture the Black Queen
  or Rook for almost nothing; for example <code>19. ... Ba6? 20. Bxf5</code> or
  <code>19. ... Qa5+ 20. Bd2 Ba6? 21. Bxa5</code>.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2024-09-07T03:50:16.937Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2024-09-07T03:50:16.937Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Noam D. Elkies
Body: <p>So I am attempting to solve the <a href="https://lichess.org/training/e0YM1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">9/6/24 daily puzzle</a> on Lichess right now:</p>
  <pre><code>[Fen &quot;&quot;]
  [Title &quot;Black wins&quot;]
  [Startply &quot;37&quot;]
  
  1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.e3 Bg7 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Nxd5 Qxd5 7.Ne2 O-O 8.Nc3 Qd6
  9.Be2 c5 10.Ne4 Qc6 11.Nxc5 Qxg2 12.Bf3 Qh3 13.Nxb7 Nd7 14.Na5 Rb8 15.Nc6 Rb6
  16.Nxe7+ Kh8 17.Nd5 Re6 18.Nf4 Qf5 19.Bg4
  </code></pre>
  <p>This is from a rated 2+1 Bullet game between <code>IM amrsobh (2198) - selfbrain (2203)</code>.</p>
  <p>I am doubtful about whether or not I know the premise of this puzzle (although I believe it is supposed to be &quot;Mate in X amount of moves&quot;), and I'm not so sure about finding the solution to it.</p>
  <p>My first thought was that if I play <code>19. ... Qa5</code>, then White can play <code>20. Bd2</code> and it doesn't matter if I then attempt to play either <code>20. ... Rxe3</code> or <code>20. ... Ba6</code> since White can just block using <code>21. Qe2</code>.</p>
  <ul>
  <li>This also would happen if I tried to play <code>19. ... Rxe3</code> (White could just play <code>20. Bxe3</code> and then I wouldn't be able to make do optimally with just the Queen and Bishop)</li>
  </ul>
  <p>So therefore I first would have to do <code>19. ... Ba6</code>. This is because White now is unable to play <code>20. Kf1</code> without putting the king in check. Also:</p>
  <ul>
  <li>I believe that White should then play <code>20. Be2</code> because that would lead to (assuming White forgets about the pawn on f2) <code>20. ... Bxe2 21. Qxe2 Qa5+ 22. Qd2 Rxe3+</code></li>
  </ul>
  <p>However, I'm not exactly sure what could be done from here, so my question is:</p>
  <blockquote>
  <p>Am I overthinking this puzzle, and if so, what's the intended solution to this?</p>
  </blockquote>
  
Tags: <puzzles><lichess>
Title: I'm not quite sure I understand this daily puzzle on Lichess (9/6/24)
ThreadText: # I'm not quite sure I understand this daily puzzle on Lichess (9/6/24)
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2024-09-07)
  
  So I am attempting to solve the 9/6/24 daily puzzle on Lichess right now:
  [Fen ""]
  [Title "Black wins"]
  [Startply "37"]
  
  1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.e3 Bg7 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Nxd5 Qxd5 7.Ne2 O-O 8.Nc3 Qd6
  9.Be2 c5 10.Ne4 Qc6 11.Nxc5 Qxg2 12.Bf3 Qh3 13.Nxb7 Nd7 14.Na5 Rb8 15.Nc6 Rb6
  16.Nxe7+ Kh8 17.Nd5 Re6 18.Nf4 Qf5 19.Bg4
  
  This is from a rated 2+1 Bullet game between IM amrsobh (2198) - selfbrain (2203).
  I am doubtful about whether or not I know the premise of this puzzle (although I believe it is supposed to be "Mate in X amount of moves"), and I'm not so sure about finding the solution to it.
  My first thought was that if I play 19. ... Qa5, then White can play 20. Bd2 and it doesn't matter if I then attempt to play either 20. ... Rxe3 or 20. ... Ba6 since White can just block using 21. Qe2.
  
  This also would happen if I tried to play 19. ... Rxe3 (White could just play 20. Bxe3 and then I wouldn't be able to make do optimally with just the Queen and Bishop)
  
  So therefore I first would have to do 19. ... Ba6. This is because White now is unable to play 20. Kf1 without putting the king in check. Also:
  
  I believe that White should then play 20. Be2 because that would lead to (assuming White forgets about the pawn on f2) 20. ... Bxe2 21. Qxe2 Qa5+ 22. Qd2 Rxe3+
  
  However, I'm not exactly sure what could be done from here, so my question is:
  
  Am I overthinking this puzzle, and if so, what's the intended solution to this?
  
  **Tags:** puzzles, lichess
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2024-09-07. Score: 6 | Accepted answer
  
  Seems Black should just play `19. ... Qxf4`;
  White can't recapture because the Re6 pins the White e-pawn.
  White will reply `20. Bxe6`, grabbing a Rook while also putting
  the bQf4 *en prise*. But Black retorts `20. ... Qe4`,
  forking the Be6 and Rh1; White does best to defend this Rook and
  let the Be6 go, so Black ends up winning B+N for R.
  (If `21. Bxd7? Qxh1+` followed by trading Queens on d1
  and recapturing on d7, winning a whole piece.)
  
  Several of your variations let White capture the Black Queen
  or Rook for almost nothing; for example `19. ... Ba6? 20. Bxf5` or
  `19. ... Qa5+ 20. Bd2 Ba6? 21. Bxa5`.
  
  
  ---
  
  