4th Dole Open 2026 · 2026.07.23 · Elo 2581/2498 · defensive · ★★★
The daily position for Thursday 20 August 2026. It is still open to solve — the grader reads your whole line, sidelines and evaluation included, before anything here is shown. Cover the solution and solve it first →
Black to move. the model predicts 38% at this level.
The solution
25…♖︎xc4!(not25…♘︎xc2?26.♖︎xd8♖︎exd827.♕︎c3♘︎xe328.♕︎xe3+−)26.c3(26.♕︎f2is as good:26…♕︎c727.♗︎xd4exd4=)26…♖︎xc3(not26…♘︎c2?27.♖︎xd8♖︎xd828.♕︎f2♘︎xe329.♕︎xe3+−)27.♕︎f2(27.♕︎xc3is as good:27…♘︎e2+28.♔︎f2♘︎xc3=)27…♕︎c728.♗︎xd4exd429.♖︎xd4♖︎c2=
25…♖︎xc4 — the natural move
26…♖︎xc3 — almost nobody finds this · worth +1
27…♕︎c7 — almost nobody finds this · worth +1 · the fair stop: the line may end here
28…exd4 — routine — shown for completeness, never demanded
29…♖︎c2 — routine — shown for completeness, never demanded
“hard to find”, “the natural move” and the rest describe how often this move is played by Maia-2, weighted across the 1500/1900/2000 audience the difficulty model is fitted on — a model of human play, not a count of anyone who solved this position.
Members can take this away as a PGN — the diagram, the verified line and their own analysis in one file, for a database, Anki or Chessable.
What happened at the board
Rozen found it · ½-½
the game went on26.♗︎xd4exd427.♖︎xf7♖︎xc228.♕︎f1♕︎g529.♕︎f3♖︎c130.♖︎f1♖︎xf1+31.♕︎xf1♕︎e3+… on to move 35 · ½-½full game ↗
The field
100% of the 5 committed lines here found the key move — the model predicted 38% at this level.
Notes from the room
Martin · 2001 · 2026-08-20
on the position · while solvingThe Knight is pinned and White is threatening c3!25…♖︎xc426.c3♖︎xc3while solvingWe can do this, due to27.♕︎xc3♘︎e2+28.♔︎f2♘︎xc3=