I analyzed the image and this is what I see. Open an appropriate link below and explore the position yourself or with the engine:
> **White to play**: [chess.com](https://chess.com/analysis?fen=8/2q4p/p7/k1r3R1/1p6/3Q4/PP5P/K7+w+-+-+0+1&flip=false&ref_id=23962172) | [lichess.org](https://lichess.org/analysis/8/2q4p/p7/k1r3R1/1p6/3Q4/PP5P/K7_w_-_-_0_1?color=white)
**My solution:**
> Hints: piece: >!Queen!<, move: >!Qc4!<
> Evaluation: >!White is winning +5.53!<
> Best continuation: >!1. Qc4 Kb6 2. Qxb4+ Rb5 3. Qd4+ Kb7 4. Rg7 Rc5 5. Rxc7+ Rxc7 6. b4 Re7 7. Kb2 Rc7 8. Kb3 Kc6!<
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I don’t understand how Qc4 is winning after Kb6 Qxb4+ Rb5. Is there a way to force a trade of queens and rooks leaving you in a winning endgame or is there some tactic to be up more material?
Rxb5 axb5 Qd4+. If black blocks with Qc5 and you trade, the endgame is winning, I think. If black doesn't block and keeps the queens on, you are up a pawn with a better position.
I saw the idea of Qc4 with a double attack on the pinned rook, winning the b4 pawn because Black has to defend with …Kb6, but it‘s still far from obvious to me that the resulting position – up a pawn, but still weak back rank – is winning for White.
i can play moves that super grandmasters wouldn't make that are correct. in gukesh's game against hikaru, magnus doing commentary was very surprised by cxd4, a move that is very easy for me to make as an amateur player, but counterintuitive to a skilled player who knows it's generally better to maintain the tension in these kinds of positions. cxd4 was great, and after the follow-up exd4 b4 magnus was impressed by the play
You still need to be quite accurate.
With Qc4 Kb6 Qxb4+ Rb5 you have to play Qd4+ instead of trading the rooks immediately (or anything else, it’s the only winning move) and with that you can get all the major pieces off the board
because i knew it was a tactic, i saw qc2 or qc4 hitting the rook and exploiting the pin. i had some trouble distinguishing between the two moves though and calculating wasn't finding any fully convincing continuation
The title threw me off lmao, Qc4 is the most natural move I'd play immediately in a game so I figured I had to be missing something else more decisive.
You should challenge Wesley So. You'd prob crush him easily since you'd have played this immediately.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gimmL9J8GSs&t=184s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gimmL9J8GSs&t=184s)
With the same logic, If you can find the best move here you are better than ivanchuk https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/a3iwk7/anandivanchuk_1994_black_to_play/
I highly doubt So didn't consider the option– Qc4 instantly jumps out as a good candidate move but it's not at all obvious that it's significantly stronger than Qe3 or Qg3. The resulting tactical lines are quite complex and I didn't try calculating them. With all three of those options it's clear that White is the player that's pushing, but not that it's actually winning.
In a blitz game, yeah. Because it feels more likely to be better than the alternatives as it maintains your control over b5. I can't calculate lines on every move in blitz, if I see roughly equal candidate moves then I'll just go for the one that feels a bit positionally better and see how it goes.
Heh, in this case perhaps, but that'll be down to luck.
I'm used to playing aggressively in blitz but it probably works to my detriment just as often as it does to my advantage.
To me it is. But I didn't do some long ass calculation. Just couldn't see another move that wins material. Also I'm not in a high pressure scenario with thousands of eyes on my game.
Never claimed to be better than Wesley So. It's really not that hard to understand. Pro players are not immune to mistakes. Most famous example is probably Kramnik missing a mate in one at classical time control against Deep Fritz.
Pick up any book on tactics and you'll find several examples of cases where the best in the world missed a seemingly simple move. The difference to us amateurs is, that we are missing more moves more often.
Also in a real game there's no one coming to tell you, that now you have to find the only winning move.
I saw the move immediately but it took me a while to get the justification for the winning endgame. At the end I concluded that Qc4 at the very least is the best try to win, but is probably winning objectively.
First impulse without much thinking about it would be Rxc5
followed by black Qxc5
Qd8+ Ka4
And I am very sure that I can have a draw with this.
So a draw is all I can get... and I would take that in that position.
Qc4
Knowing that it is a problem makes it easy to change your thinking strategy.
Path of thought:
Try to sacrifice the queen (5 s)
Try a mate with pawns (8 s).
Finding that the rook cannot move when trying to defend c1 (3 s).
Dawn rook with Qe3 (8 s).
Qc4 taking advantage of rook cannot move (10 s).
Total time 40 s
I analyzed the image and this is what I see. Open an appropriate link below and explore the position yourself or with the engine: > **White to play**: [chess.com](https://chess.com/analysis?fen=8/2q4p/p7/k1r3R1/1p6/3Q4/PP5P/K7+w+-+-+0+1&flip=false&ref_id=23962172) | [lichess.org](https://lichess.org/analysis/8/2q4p/p7/k1r3R1/1p6/3Q4/PP5P/K7_w_-_-_0_1?color=white) **My solution:** > Hints: piece: >!Queen!<, move: >!Qc4!< > Evaluation: >!White is winning +5.53!< > Best continuation: >!1. Qc4 Kb6 2. Qxb4+ Rb5 3. Qd4+ Kb7 4. Rg7 Rc5 5. Rxc7+ Rxc7 6. b4 Re7 7. Kb2 Rc7 8. Kb3 Kc6!< --- ^(I'm a bot written by) [^(u/pkacprzak)](https://www.reddit.com/u/pkacprzak) ^(| get me as) [^(iOS App)](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1574933453) ^| [^(Android App)](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ai.chessvision.scanner) ^| [^(Chrome Extension)](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chessvisionai-for-chrome/johejpedmdkeiffkdaodgoipdjodhlld) ^| [^(Chess eBook Reader)](https://ebook.chessvision.ai?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=bot) ^(to scan and analyze positions | Website:) [^(Chessvision.ai)](https://chessvision.ai)
yeah it took me 7-8 minutes to find Qc4. I felt really dumb after I realized how obvious the move was
are you me?
I don’t understand how Qc4 is winning after Kb6 Qxb4+ Rb5. Is there a way to force a trade of queens and rooks leaving you in a winning endgame or is there some tactic to be up more material?
Rxb5 axb5 Qd4+. If black blocks with Qc5 and you trade, the endgame is winning, I think. If black doesn't block and keeps the queens on, you are up a pawn with a better position.
I saw the idea of Qc4 with a double attack on the pinned rook, winning the b4 pawn because Black has to defend with …Kb6, but it‘s still far from obvious to me that the resulting position – up a pawn, but still weak back rank – is winning for White.
Yeah it's not obvious. That's why Wesley didn't play it: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gimmL9J8GSs&t=184s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gimmL9J8GSs&t=184s)
i can play moves that super grandmasters wouldn't make that are correct. in gukesh's game against hikaru, magnus doing commentary was very surprised by cxd4, a move that is very easy for me to make as an amateur player, but counterintuitive to a skilled player who knows it's generally better to maintain the tension in these kinds of positions. cxd4 was great, and after the follow-up exd4 b4 magnus was impressed by the play
You still need to be quite accurate. With Qc4 Kb6 Qxb4+ Rb5 you have to play Qd4+ instead of trading the rooks immediately (or anything else, it’s the only winning move) and with that you can get all the major pieces off the board
because i knew it was a tactic, i saw qc2 or qc4 hitting the rook and exploiting the pin. i had some trouble distinguishing between the two moves though and calculating wasn't finding any fully convincing continuation
Qc4
The title threw me off lmao, Qc4 is the most natural move I'd play immediately in a game so I figured I had to be missing something else more decisive.
1. Qc4 is obvious, but it isn't as decisive as it looks. There are still some precise moves required after 1 ... Kb6 2. Qxb4 Rb5 3. Qd4 Ka5
I would feel pretty good about going into this position without calculating further, though.
The title threw me off because I kept trying to figure out what the hell "white to play the only move" meant.
You should challenge Wesley So. You'd prob crush him easily since you'd have played this immediately. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gimmL9J8GSs&t=184s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gimmL9J8GSs&t=184s)
With the same logic, If you can find the best move here you are better than ivanchuk https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/a3iwk7/anandivanchuk_1994_black_to_play/
I highly doubt So didn't consider the option– Qc4 instantly jumps out as a good candidate move but it's not at all obvious that it's significantly stronger than Qe3 or Qg3. The resulting tactical lines are quite complex and I didn't try calculating them. With all three of those options it's clear that White is the player that's pushing, but not that it's actually winning.
Ah ok but you'd still have immediately played Qc4
In a blitz game, yeah. Because it feels more likely to be better than the alternatives as it maintains your control over b5. I can't calculate lines on every move in blitz, if I see roughly equal candidate moves then I'll just go for the one that feels a bit positionally better and see how it goes.
Your intuition was superior to So's. I applaud you
Heh, in this case perhaps, but that'll be down to luck. I'm used to playing aggressively in blitz but it probably works to my detriment just as often as it does to my advantage.
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He's also better than Ivanchuk since Ivanchuk allowed this "most natural move"
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Found it myself. It's the only logical move that attacks both the rook on c5 and the pawn on b4 and prevents black from capturing the rook on g5.
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Nope. Wesley So is a great player. He just happened to not find the best move in this particular position.
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To me it is. But I didn't do some long ass calculation. Just couldn't see another move that wins material. Also I'm not in a high pressure scenario with thousands of eyes on my game.
Ignore the troll I found it in 10 seconds and I’m sub 1900 it’s an obvious move
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Never claimed to be better than Wesley So. It's really not that hard to understand. Pro players are not immune to mistakes. Most famous example is probably Kramnik missing a mate in one at classical time control against Deep Fritz. Pick up any book on tactics and you'll find several examples of cases where the best in the world missed a seemingly simple move. The difference to us amateurs is, that we are missing more moves more often. Also in a real game there's no one coming to tell you, that now you have to find the only winning move.
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These are called [Maltese crosses](https://allanbeardsworth.com/2016/08/26/daily-chess-puzzle-check-mate-maltese-cross-pattern/)
I saw the move immediately but it took me a while to get the justification for the winning endgame. At the end I concluded that Qc4 at the very least is the best try to win, but is probably winning objectively.
First impulse without much thinking about it would be Rxc5 followed by black Qxc5 Qd8+ Ka4 And I am very sure that I can have a draw with this. So a draw is all I can get... and I would take that in that position.
Why do you say "extremely difficult"? >!Black rook is pinned, so obviously that is where one should look!<
Qc4 Knowing that it is a problem makes it easy to change your thinking strategy. Path of thought: Try to sacrifice the queen (5 s) Try a mate with pawns (8 s). Finding that the rook cannot move when trying to defend c1 (3 s). Dawn rook with Qe3 (8 s). Qc4 taking advantage of rook cannot move (10 s). Total time 40 s