Stunning mating tactic secures drawn match

Derby League Division 3

A wonderful mating tactic from Albert Chacko was the highlight of a keenly fought 2-2 drawn match between Burton and Lichfield ‘D’ and Derby ‘D’.

Terry Knight on Board 3 was not happy with his performance (“Don’t mention my game”) as he fell behind on material and lost convincingly against the experienced André Cockburn. Mark Grubb was also defeated on Board 2.

Carlos Williams’ game on Board 4 was a tense affair, with both players new to league chess this year. Carlos successfully complicated the position in the middlegame to transition into an endgame where both players had two rooks, but Carlos an extra pawn. At one point, his opponent then incorrectly thought he had mated him and stopped the clocks. The clocks were restarted, but his opponent then forgot to press his clock on the following move … eventually, after further moves, his opponent ran out of time to give Carlos the win.

The highlight of the match, however, was the brilliant mate in four tactic spotted by Albert Chacko on Board 1. In a complex position where both kings were vulnerable to attack, he noticed a clever mating pattern in advance, playing Rc1+. When his opponent quickly played the natural Kh2 (instead of the correct Re1 to block the check), the game arrived at the position below:

Can you spot the mating tactic? Black to play and mate in 4 – answer at the bottom of the page *

Proof from Albert that intensive tactics training pays off and a creditable team performance in the very competitive Derby League Division 3. (Match played: 15th December)