2006 KCC Summer Tourney, Round Four

Minkov-Kernighan

Black to play.

Mazzillo-Cole
White to play.

Selling-Moldovan
White to play and gain the edge.

Camenares-Tomkovich
White to play.

Play in the fourth round of the 2006 KCC Summer Tournament was over early enough to allow us to analyze most of the games together. The most interesting of the night was Camenares-Tomkovich, where White's rather speculative piece sacrifice likely should have led to a win, though it gets quite complicated against best defense. We were all amused, however, by the way that the two players seemed locked in a struggle over the "Dragon Bishop": Black to preserve it and White to destroy it at any cost. For Camenares, the cost was too high and he ended up losing what should have been a won game.

The diagrams above, all taken from Round Four games, share something in common which should make them easier to solve as you go along....