A fork says to a spoon, “Who was that ladle I saw you with last night?”
Spoon replies, “That was no ladle, that was my knife.” In this week’s position, white eats a black piece with either a fork or spoon, so to speak. Please try to find the best utensil in this week’s position.
Here white can win black’s bishop with knight to d7 check, forking the enemy king and bishop. After black’s king moves, the knight captures black’s bishop. The problem with this capture is that black’s pawn on f4 advances to f3 and cannot be stopped from promoting on f1 (see next diagram).
White should not use the fork but rather the spoon and scoop up black’s pawn on f4 by capturing with its pawn on g3. From here, white has an edge with its passed pawn on b5.
The lesson this week is to watch out for racing pawns who may cut through the position like a knife
Reach Eric Morrow at ericmorrowlaw@gmail.com or (505) 327-7121.