A chess puzzle for American Chess Day
In the last few hours of September 1, 2022, I learned that the day was American Chess Day, apparently the first one ever. It seems to be something distinct from the National Chess Day that U. S. President Gerald Ford (R, 1974–1976) declared October 9, 1976 to be.
It’s somewhat of a puzzle whether Ford’s National Chess Day was supposed to be a one-time thing or he meant for it to recur yearly. And I have no idea who started American Chess Day.
Here’s another puzzle, one that you might have the answer to. Specifically, a chess puzzle.
There are several endgame puzzles in which you have to sacrifice your queen so that one of your rooks can corner the king. This is not one of those puzzles, though it does start out in a similar vein. White to play:
As in many queen sacrifice puzzles, the first move here is Qd7+, forcing Black’s king to dodge by playing Kf8. But don’t play Qd8+ next, because that would be a pointless sacrifice in this particular puzzle.
There’s a much better move here than Qd8+, leading to checkmate after another move. Can you figure out what that move is?
Sometimes with chess puzzles, I wonder if the opponent would really answer in the way that the puzzle says. At least in the context of this puzzle, after you play Qd7+, Black might respond with Kf7 instead of Kf8.
It actually doesn’t make much of a difference, other than that Qd8 looks like an even worse move. The next two moves that you should make are the same, just in a different order, and your opponent’s king is trapped in a slightly different spot.
If you know the answer to this puzzle, whether it goes Qd7+ Kf8 or Qd7+ Kf7, please drop it in the comments. And if you know who started American Chess Day, please also drop that in the comments.