his position comes from the game Matthew Lasley vs Jiri Kovats from the recently completed 2015 Colorado Correspondence Chess Championship.

 

   In the position on the right it is Black to move.

 

   Answer below.


   First off, a correction that I received from several people about the Clones tournament.

   Daniel Herman also played 3 boards at a time (which I left off).  In the first round he played two of Brian Wall's clones and beat one of them.  Sorry for the mistake!

   Also, Chris Peterson wrote a really great report about Attack of the Clones, which you can read here: https://www.denverchess.com/news/article/1038

   Onward...

   Today I want to recommend a free e-mail newsletter that I really enjoy called "Make Your Point".  It comes out once a day, and focuses on one word per day. 

   I find it very interesting and useful.

   If you have been reading my stuff for a while, you know I am a fan of taking small actions on a very consistent basis to see improvements over the long run. 

   This newsletter is a perfect example of that philosophy.  If you can learn and master one new word per day, you will slowly but surely grow a much stronger vocabulary.

   I also like the newsletter a lot, because it doesn't follow the "I already know that" philosophy, which is another thing I have talked about in the past.  (Basically what happens is that chess players will see an idea, like a "knight fork", say "I already know that", then not study it, because they "already know", then proceed to miss a knight fork in their games).

   Make Your Point takes words that many people might already "know", but are underused, and puts a spotlight on them.  So these are not words that are totally obscure, but ones that will add some spice to your everyday language.

   For example: After last year's Colorado vs New Mexico tournament Brian Wall called it "The Worst Debacle in Colorado History!"  I *loved* this word "debacle".  It was one I was aware of, but never used myself.  After Brian said this, I started to use this word myself on a regular basis.  It was one that Liesl (the newsletter author) spotlighted, so that made me smile.

   I highly recommend that you sign up (it's free) and check it out - http://www.hilotutor.com/myp.html and let me know if you love it as much as I do!


   Here is the complete game:

   You can play through this game here: http://www.viewchess.com/cbreader/2015/5/17/Game623311526.html

   Answer: 

   17...Qg5!! is a very beautiful and powerful move, and an example of a cross pin. 

   The white bishop on e3 cannot capture the queen, because it is pinned to the King.  And white cannot play 18. Bxc5, because black could capture the queen with 18...Qxd2, so the e3 bishop is pinned that way as well!

   If white defends the e3 bishop with 18. Nd1, black plays 18...Bh3 taking advantage of the pinned g2 pawn.  

   White actually resigned after 17...Qg5 because the threats start to really become unbearable.


   Happy Tactics!

 

   Your Friend,

 

   P.S. Here is the link again for Make Your Point - http://www.hilotutor.com/myp.html

   It's really great, and I think you will like it :)