his position comes from the game Alan Price vs FM Arslan Otchiyev, Fairfield County Chess Club Quads, Dec 13, 2014.
 

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

 

   Answer below.

   Like many Americans, I really enjoyed watching the U.S. Women's soccer team's victory this past weekend over Japan in the FIFA World Cup finals.

   I had spent the previous week in Duck, North Carolina at the beach on a big family vacation.  My niece Abigail is really into soccer, and we had watched the semi-final game against Germany together, which was a lot of fun.

   There have been a lot of great stories about the US Women's team, but one that I really enjoyed was this one: USA v. Japan: These Six U.S. Stars Were Rejected From Youth Teams. It Made Them Great.

   It contains some great lessons about perseverance.

   For example, years ago player Morgan Brian failed to make the Florida Olympic Development team. 

   Instead of crushing her it motivated her to work harder.

   She started fanatical training.  

   From the article: 
 

   After school, Brian insisted they go straight to the field and play until practice. Then they stayed long after practice ended. Brian made Anna work on technical skills—touches, volleys, chest traps. “I didn’t enjoy doing it—but Morgan loved it. She never wanted to stop,”

   The next year, Brian made the state team—and then the regional team, and then the youth national team. At 22, she is now the youngest member of the full U.S. national team. Playing as a holding midfielder in the semi-final against Germany, she was the connective glue that held the team together.

   There are some great stories in this article about players who didn't give up after setbacks, and continued to work harder to reach their goals, and be the best they could be.


   Here is the complete game:

   Answer: 
 
   This game appeared in the Spring 2015 issue of "Chess Horizons", the excellent chess magazine of the Massachusetts Chess Association.  Thanks to Stephen Dann who pointed out this game to me.

   You can read a fully annotated version of this game here:
http://www.masschess.org/chess_horizons/chess-horizons-article.aspx?ch_uid=193

   Here Price is right with 25. Qxf8+!! and Black resigned immediately due to the forced 25... Kxf8 26. Bh6+, Kg8 27. Re8#.


   Happy Tactics!

 

   Your Friend,

 

   P.S. What's the only thing that could make Carli Lloyd's amazing goal from midfield even better? This commentator yelling goooooooal several times. (Seriously, next time you accomplish something, listen to this...)