Author: Dana Turnmire
Date: 22:09:30 06/17/01
Here are 3 positions found in Nunn's Chess Openings where all the "solutions" are considered "brilliant" moves. I don't have any of the current top chess programs so I compared the three that I do have to CM8000 (CM5000, Fritz 5 and Genius 2). CM8000 does very well compared to these programs and I may be wrong but I doubt if any of the other top programs could do much better than CM8000 with these problems. At the end of each problem I give CM8000's analysis of the correct move. I may try to add a few more in the near future. All problems were run on an AMD k6-2/500 128RAM computer. NCO Test 1 English Opening (Hedgehog) 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 b6 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. 0-0 e6 6. Nc3 Be7 7. Re1 d6 8. e4 e5 9. Nh4 Nc6 10. Nf5 Bf8 11. Qa4 g6. White to play. Solution: 12. d4! CM8000 4'15". CM5000 couldn't find the correct move after 2 hours. Genius 2 couldn't find the correct move after 4 hours. Fritz 5 27'52". The Chessmaster recommends: Pawn to d4. Analysis: You move your pawn to d4. Black counters with pawn takes knight, which double-attacks your pawn at d4. You move your pawn to d5, which moves it out of harm's way and threatens Black's knight at c6. Black responds by moving queen to d7, which frees Black's knight at c6 from the pin, removes the threat on Black's pawn at f5, and clears the way for a queenside castle. Your pawn captures knight, which forks Black's bishop at b7 and Black's queen and creates a passed pawn on c6. Black answers with bishop captures pawn, which removes the threat on Black's queen and threatens your queen. You move your queen to c2, which moves it to safety. Black counters with knight captures pawn. Your knight captures knight, which blocks Black's pawn at e5. Black responds with pawn takes knight. Your bishop takes pawn, which partially pins Black's bishop at c6 and blocks Black's pawn at e5. Black responds with pawn to h6. As a result of this line of play, your attack potential is greatly enhanced. In addition, Black's pawn formation is somewhat disrupted. NCO Test 2 Schmid Benoni 1. d4 c5 2. d5 Nf6 3. Nf3 g6 4. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. e4 0-0 6. e5 Ng4 7. Ng5 Nh6 8. h4 Bxe5 9. h5 Nf5. White to move. Solution: 10. Nxh7! CM8000 53". CM5000 3'52". Genius 2 couldn't find the correct move after 1 hour. Fritz 5 couldn't find the move after one hour. The Chessmaster recommends: Knight takes pawn at h7. Analysis: Your knight takes pawn at h7, which attacks Black's rook at f8. Black responds by moving rook to e8, which moves it to safety. Your pawn takes pawn, which removes the threat on your knight at h7. Black responds with pawn captures pawn. You move your pawn to g4, which attacks Black's knight at f5. Black counters with knight to d6, which moves it to safety and blocks your pawn at d5. You move your bishop to d3, which attacks Black's pawn at g6 and makes way for a castle to the kingside. Black replies by moving pawn to e6. Your bishop captures pawn, which attacks Black's rook at e8 and creates a passed pawn on g4. Black responds by moving rook to e7, which moves it to safety. You move your bishop to g5, which pins Black's rook at e7 and attacks Black's rook at e7. As a result of this sequence of moves, you win three pawns for a pawn. In addition, your attack potential is greatly enhanced, and Black's attack potential is somewhat decreased. Also, your pawn development is a little stronger, and the development of Black's pawns is somewhat weakened. Lastly, the pressure on Black's King is somewhat increased. NCO Test 3 Sicilian Defense 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Bc4 Nc6 7. Be3 Be7 8. Qe2 0-0 9. 0-0-0 a6 10. Bb3 Qc7 11. Rhg1 Nd7 12. g4 Nc5 13. Nf5 b5 14. Bd5 Bb7 15. g5 Rfc8 16. Rg3 Ne5 17. Rh3 Ng6 18. Qh5 Nf8. White to move. Solution: 19. Nxg7! CM8000 5'32". CM5000 49'34". Genius 2 6'21". Fritz 5 15'43". The Chessmaster recommends: Knight takes pawn at g7. Analysis: Your knight takes pawn at g7, which isolates Black's pawn at h7. Black answers with bishop captures bishop. You move your queen to h6, which protects your knight at g7 and blocks Black's pawn at h7. Black answers with bishop at e7 takes pawn, which partially pins your bishop, attacks your queen, and isolates your pawn at h2. Your bishop captures bishop, which removes the threat on your queen. Black answers with knight captures pawn, which removes the threat on Black's bishop, threatens your pawn at f2, and isolates your pawn at f2. You move your knight to f5, which threatens mate (queen to g7). Black answers with pawn captures knight. Your rook captures bishop, which attacks Black's pawn at f5 and blocks Black's pawn at d6. Black counters with the pawn to b4, which attacks your knight. As a result of this sequence of moves, Black's mobility is somewhat decreased. Additionally, Black's pawn formation is demolished.
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