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This newsletter is created for students who want to improve their Chess and for parents who want structured, meaningful chess learning for their children.
Every edition includes:
A clear topic explanation
Practice puzzles
A daily challenge puzzle
Our focus is on building thinking skills, confidence, and consistency at the board.
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— Kar & Kish
1️⃣ Semi-Smothered Mate
Explanation:
Semi- Smothered checkmate occurs when the enemy king is surrounded by its own pieces and one of your pieces deliver a checkmate.
Example Puzzle:
White to Play
Here, in the above puzzle, White can play Re8 forcing black queen to capture the rook and then white can deliver a checkmate by playing Qc7; If king captures, then Qc8 checkmate
Re8 Qe8 Qc7# or Re8 Ke8 Qc8#
2️⃣ Practice Puzzles
Instructions:
Try to solve the puzzles without moving the pieces.
Write down your solutions before checking the solution at the bottom
Puzzle Set:
Puzzle 1: Black to move and do a semi-smothered mate
Black to Play
Puzzle 2: Black to move and do a semi-smothered mate
Black to Play
Puzzle 3: Black to move and do a semi-smothered mate
Black to play
Puzzle 4: White to move and do a semi-smothered mate
White to Play
3️⃣ Solutions
1. Qa2 Na2 Nb3 Kb1 Be4 Rd3 Bd3#
2. Nd2 Rd2/Bd2 Qa2 Kc1 Qa1# or Nd2 Kc1 Nf3 wins the queen
3. Be3 Nc5 Rc5 Rf8 Ka7 Qg6 Rc1# or Be3 Qg6 Rc1# or Be3 Re3 Qg1 wins
4. D7 Rd7/Bd7 Qa8#
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👋 About US
Who’s Writing This?
Hi, Karthik and Kishore here —
Chess players with 20+ years of playing experience
FIDE Peak Rating: 2086 - Karthik, 1815 - Kishore
Focused on building strong fundamentals and thinking habits