Answers.Body: <p>Good question. I went for one of the two options on general grounds, and it turned out to be right, but after checking the lines with an engine my intuition turned out to be right for the wrong reasons. I originally saw that White's king is very exposed, and opponent threatens ...Be4. This is always going to come with tempo, and moreover, after White saves their piece on f3, opponent will have two bishops lined up dangerously against the king. There's no immediate threat but if Black is allowed ...Qe7-e5 then White can easily be mated. Concretely, after 1. Qxf3 Qe7 intending Be4-xd5 and Qe5, I couldn't see a good response for White, which makes 1. Rxf3 the &quot;lesser evil&quot;. Inverted commas because it turns out that move wins.</p>
  <p>Afterwards I turned on the engine that it turns out there's a major idea I didn't spot in this position. Keeping the Queen on d1 means you can transfer it to the queenside much easier. After Black plays ...Qe7 (necessary, the queen is <em>en prise</em>), then Nc6+ bxc6 Bxc6 means you threaten Qb3+ and mate. This does not happen if your Queen is on f3.</p>
  <pre><code>[FEN &quot;1k1r3r/Nppq1pp1/3b1nbp/1B1P4/6P1/4Bn1P/PP6/R2Q1RK1 w - - 0 1&quot;]
  
  1. Rxf3 Qe7 (1. Qxf3? Qe7 2. Rfe1 {(Or any other move)} Be4 {Followed by Bxd5 and Qe5. I stopped my human analysis here, but engine sensibly points out that after 3. Qf2, 3...Bxd5 loses Black's advantage since Nc6+ followed by Ba7+ wins Black's queen. 3...Nxd5 still wins, however.}) 2. Nc6+ bxc6 3. Bxc6 {Threatening Qb3+ and Qb7#.} Qe4 {Gotta stop Qb3+ somehow} 4. Qe2! {Threatening Qb5+ with the same idea} Qb4 {Engine recommends desperate measures like ...Bh2+ and Qc2 to force a queen trade, but if you're going to do that, you might as well resign. Even after that sequence Ba7+ Kxa7 Ra3+ and Ra8# is still a latent threat, or simply getting the two rooks to the a- and b-files.} 5. Qa6 {Threatening Qa8#. White wins.}
  </code></pre>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2024-10-11T04:08:35.753Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2024-10-11T04:08:35.753Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Allure
Body: <p>In Lichess Puzzle Storm, I encountered this puzzle with rating of 1086: <a href="https://lichess.org/training/iuE9g" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://lichess.org/training/iuE9g</a></p>
  <pre><code>[Event &quot;&quot;]
  [Site &quot;&quot;]
  [Date &quot;????.??.??&quot;]
  [Round &quot;&quot;]
  [White &quot;&quot;]
  [Black &quot;&quot;]
  [Result &quot;*&quot;]
  [FEN &quot;1k1r3r/Nppq1pp1/3b1nbp/1B1P4/6P1/4Bn1P/PP6/R2Q1RK1 w - - 0 1&quot;]
  </code></pre>
  <p>The only two viable moves are Qf3 and Rf3. I took the 50-50 and lost. After returning to this puzzle and analyze why, I still couldn't understand why one is winning and the other losing. The lines quickly branched out and became very 'engine-like' to my eyes. Perhaps I am just tired, but I've never encountered a puzzle in the 1000 rating range like this before. I'm a 2000+ blitz player on Lichess.</p>
  <p>At the time of writing, this puzzle has been played 535 times. Could it just be that I ran into this puzzle before it could be properly rated? (Then again, I'm not sure how puzzles are rated on Lichess)</p>
  <p>Is there a clear reason why the winning move is what it is? I'm just worried I'm missing something obvious about the position.</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2024-10-10T08:37:03.737Z
Comments.Text: It's a bit messy and not the best puzzle ever, but I think the point is the wrong move makes getting forces over to the Q side slower, giving black the extra tempi to defend, coupled in some lines with having the right piece on f3 allowing a nasty discovered check. Don't want to say more as you are obviously trying to avoid spoilers to the solution.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Ian Bush
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2024-10-10T08:40:19.500Z
Comments.Text: The low rating I think is because, as you observe, the first move id a 50:50, and if you get it right the follow up best but computer move from Lichess makes completing the solution very easy. Thus you either see the point and get it right, or miss the point entirely but still have a 50:50 chance, which is better than most puzzles - hence the low rating.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Ian Bush
Tags: <analysis><puzzles><lichess>
Title: Lichess puzzle #iuE9g
ThreadText: # Lichess puzzle #iuE9g
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2024-10-10)
  
  In Lichess Puzzle Storm, I encountered this puzzle with rating of 1086: <https://lichess.org/training/iuE9g>
  
  ```
  [Event ""]
  [Site ""]
  [Date "????.??.??"]
  [Round ""]
  [White ""]
  [Black ""]
  [Result "*"]
  [FEN "1k1r3r/Nppq1pp1/3b1nbp/1B1P4/6P1/4Bn1P/PP6/R2Q1RK1 w - - 0 1"]
  
  ```
  
  The only two viable moves are Qf3 and Rf3. I took the 50-50 and lost. After returning to this puzzle and analyze why, I still couldn't understand why one is winning and the other losing. The lines quickly branched out and became very 'engine-like' to my eyes. Perhaps I am just tired, but I've never encountered a puzzle in the 1000 rating range like this before. I'm a 2000+ blitz player on Lichess.
  
  At the time of writing, this puzzle has been played 535 times. Could it just be that I ran into this puzzle before it could be properly rated? (Then again, I'm not sure how puzzles are rated on Lichess)
  
  Is there a clear reason why the winning move is what it is? I'm just worried I'm missing something obvious about the position.
  
  **Tags:** analysis, puzzles, lichess
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: It's a bit messy and not the best puzzle ever, but I think the point is the wrong move makes getting forces over to the Q side slower, giving black the extra tempi to defend, coupled in some lines with having the right piece on f3 allowing a nasty discovered check. Don't want to say more as you are obviously trying to avoid spoilers to the solution.  
  > **username_1**: The low rating I think is because, as you observe, the first move id a 50:50, and if you get it right the follow up best but computer move from Lichess makes completing the solution very easy. Thus you either see the point and get it right, or miss the point entirely but still have a 50:50 chance, which is better than most puzzles - hence the low rating.  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2024-10-11. Score: 5 | Accepted answer
  
  Good question. I went for one of the two options on general grounds, and it turned out to be right, but after checking the lines with an engine my intuition turned out to be right for the wrong reasons. I originally saw that White's king is very exposed, and opponent threatens ...Be4. This is always going to come with tempo, and moreover, after White saves their piece on f3, opponent will have two bishops lined up dangerously against the king. There's no immediate threat but if Black is allowed ...Qe7-e5 then White can easily be mated. Concretely, after 1. Qxf3 Qe7 intending Be4-xd5 and Qe5, I couldn't see a good response for White, which makes 1. Rxf3 the "lesser evil". Inverted commas because it turns out that move wins.
  
  Afterwards I turned on the engine that it turns out there's a major idea I didn't spot in this position. Keeping the Queen on d1 means you can transfer it to the queenside much easier. After Black plays ...Qe7 (necessary, the queen is *en prise*), then Nc6+ bxc6 Bxc6 means you threaten Qb3+ and mate. This does not happen if your Queen is on f3.
  
  ```
  [FEN "1k1r3r/Nppq1pp1/3b1nbp/1B1P4/6P1/4Bn1P/PP6/R2Q1RK1 w - - 0 1"]
  
  1. Rxf3 Qe7 (1. Qxf3? Qe7 2. Rfe1 {(Or any other move)} Be4 {Followed by Bxd5 and Qe5. I stopped my human analysis here, but engine sensibly points out that after 3. Qf2, 3...Bxd5 loses Black's advantage since Nc6+ followed by Ba7+ wins Black's queen. 3...Nxd5 still wins, however.}) 2. Nc6+ bxc6 3. Bxc6 {Threatening Qb3+ and Qb7#.} Qe4 {Gotta stop Qb3+ somehow} 4. Qe2! {Threatening Qb5+ with the same idea} Qb4 {Engine recommends desperate measures like ...Bh2+ and Qc2 to force a queen trade, but if you're going to do that, you might as well resign. Even after that sequence Ba7+ Kxa7 Ra3+ and Ra8# is still a latent threat, or simply getting the two rooks to the a- and b-files.} 5. Qa6 {Threatening Qa8#. White wins.}
  
  ```
  
  
  ---
  
  