Well, this one is pretty sweet. Watch carefully. It starts with 1 Qg5!,
threatening to queen the d-pawn and setting up some mate threats. The
obvious 1...Bxd7 fails to 2 Nf4! threatening 3 Bh5+, to which there is
really no good response. So Black must play 1...Ke6+ 2 Kg1 Kxd7, not
2...Bxd7 3 Bg4+ and now 3...Kd6 4 Qc5 mate or 3...Kf7 4 Ne5+ Ke8 5 Bh5+
winning.
So we have material equality and no pawns on the board. But there is a
win. White plays 3 Nc5+. Black has two real choices (3...Kc7 loses
immediately to 4 Ne6+). The less interesting one is 3...Kd6 4 Qg3+! and
now there are two more choices: 4...Ke7 5 Qe5+ Kf7 6 Bc4+ Kg6 7 Bd3+! will
win, as 7...Kf7 8 Qe6+ is mate in two, and 7...Kh6 8 Qh2+ and 9 Ne6+ wins
the queen. Or 4...Kd5 5 Bc4+ Kxc4 6 Qb3+ Kxc5 7 Qa3+ wins the queen,
although I confess I am not up on my endgame theory. (Is White supposed to
win the Q v B+N endgame? I can't find anything better.)
But we saved the best for last. After 1 Qg5 Ke6+ 2 Kg1 Kxd7 3 Nc5+, the
other choice is 3...Kc8, to which White replies 4 Ba6+ Kb8 5 Qg3+ Ka8 6
Bb7+! Bxb7 7 Nd7!! Two pieces totally dominate the board, and the finish
is magical. The only move that saves the queen and stops an immediate mate
is 7...Qd8, but 8 Qb8+! Qxb8 9 Nb6 mate is one of the most picturesque
smothered mates ever constructed. Looking back at the original position,
it seems hard to believe that everything would be jammed up in the top
left corner after nine moves.
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