Happy Easter, -- Here are a few chess tactics from the Easter Bunny!

The first is Black to move, from the game Henry Poston (1697) vs Gunnar Andersen (2198), Round 1, Colorado Springs Open, March 7, 2015.

This position appears on page 36 of the April 2015 issue of Chess Life Magazine, in Pal Benko's "April Fools" article.  I thought it was fun.  White to play and Mate in 4.  It is a "help mate" problem, meaning Black helps White to mate him (basically playing the worst moves possible).

This position comes from a recent 800+ point upset by third grader Egan Wong at the Portland Chess Club.  White to move.

Here is the complete game in PGN:

[Event "Colorado Springs Open"]

[Site "Manitou Springs, CO"]

[Date "2015.03.07"]

[Round "1"]

[White "Poston, Henry"]

[Black "Andersen, Gunnar"]

[Result "0-1"]

[ECO "A45"]

[WhiteElo "1697"]

[BlackElo "2198"]

[PlyCount "52"]

[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 Ne4 3. Bf4 c5 4. c3 d5 5. Nd2 Nxd2 6. Qxd2 cxd4 7. cxd4 Nc6 8.e3 e5 9. Bg5 Qxg5 10. Nf3 Qd8 11. Bb5 Qb6 12. Bxc6+ bxc6 13. a3 e4 14. Ng1 Rb815. b4 a5 16. bxa5 Qb2 17. Qd1 Ba6 18. Rc1 Bxa3 19. Ne2 Bxe2 20. Rc2 Bxd1 21.Rxb2 Rxb2 22. a6 Be2 23. f3 Bxa6 24. fxe4 Bb4+ 25. Kd1 Bd3 26. Kc1 Rb1# 0-1

You can play through the game here: http://www.viewchess.com/cbreader/2015/4/3/Game1997751096.html

8...e5! attacks the Bishop on f4, and threatens Bb4 pinning the White Queen to the King.

Here is the position in PGN format:

[Event "?"]

[Site "?"]

[Date "????.??.??"]

[Round "?"]

[White "New game"]

[Black "?"]

[Result "*"]

[SetUp "1"]

[FEN "r1bqkbnr/pppppppp/3n4/6K1/2P5/8/8/8 w kq - 0 1"]

[PlyCount "7"]

1. c5 g6 2. cxd6 Bg7 3. dxc7 Kf8 4. cxd8=Q# *

You can play through the position here: http://www.viewchess.com/cbreader/2015/4/3/Game1998579134.html

White helpmates with the ridiculous 1. c5 g6 2. cxd6 Bg7 3. dxc7 Kf8 4. cxd8=Q#

Here is the game in PGN:

[Event "Feb 2015 G60 Portland Chess Club"]

[Site "Portland, OR"]

[Date "2015.02.28"]

[Round "4"]

[White "Wong, Egan"]

[Black "Lin, Mu"]

[Result "1-0"]

[ECO "B21"]

[WhiteElo "902"]

[BlackElo "1778"]

[PlyCount "59"]

1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nxc3 Nc6 5. Nf3 d6 6. Bc4 Nf6 7. Qe2 a6 8.O-O Bg4 9. Rd1 e6 10. h3 Bxf3 11. Qxf3 Ne5 12. Qe2 Nxc4 13. Qxc4 Qb6 14. Be3Qc6 15. Qe2 Nxe4 16. Rac1 Nxc3 17. Rxc3 Qd7 18. Rdc1 b5 19. Qf3 Qd8 20. Qc6+Ke7 21. Qb7+ Kf6 22. Bd4+ e5 23. Rf3+ Kg6 24. Qxf7+ Kh6 25. Qe6+ Kh5 26. Qg4+Kh6 27. Be3+ g5 28. h4 Be7 29. Qe6+ Kh5 30. g4+ 1-0

You can play through the game here: http://www.viewchess.com/cbreader/2015/4/3/Game15137947.html

White has mate in 3 with 30.g4+ Kxh4 31.Qh6+ Kxg4 32.Qh3#

30.g4+ Kxh4 31.Kg2 (or 31. Kh2) h6 32.Rh3# is also mate in three.