Portuguese Top League · 2026.07.13 · Elo 2448/2438 · tactic · ★★★
The daily position for Sunday 30 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 →
White to move. the model predicts 32% at this level.
The solution
16.♗︎xe6!△♗︎xg8+(not16.♗︎xb5?fxe5∓)16…♗︎xe6(if16…fxe5then17.♕︎f7#)17.♕︎c6+♔︎f818.♖︎xe6(not18.♕︎xe6?fxe519.h4♕︎e820.♕︎xb6♖︎xa4−+)18…♖︎a7(18…♖︎c8is more resilient:19.♕︎e4♖︎c720.axb5+−)19.♕︎xb5♔︎g720.♖︎xb6±
16.♗︎xe6 — hard to find · the threat is ♗︎xg8+ — what it plays next if the defence does nothing
17.♕︎c6+ — almost nobody finds this · worth +1
18.♖︎xe6 — the natural move
19.♕︎xb5 — most players miss this · worth +1
20.♖︎xb6 — hard to find · worth +1
“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
Pereira found it · ½-½
the game went on18…♖︎xa419.♖︎xa4bxa420.♖︎d6♕︎e821.♕︎xe8+♔︎xe822.♖︎xb6♔︎f723.♖︎b8g524.♖︎d8… on to move 49 · ½-½full game ↗
The field
78% of the 18 committed lines here found the key move — the model predicted 32% at this level.
Notes from the room
Johncsimmons · 2026-08-30
I didn't think 17Rxe6ch worked at all after BxR maybe I missed something
Chrishyzz · 2026-08-30
I tried 17. rxe6+, expecting 17... kf7 (as 17... kd7 is met with qc6#). I briefly considered qc6 but didn't pursue it – a lesson for me! I struggled to see what rxe6 lacked; but Black's 18... qc8 forces a trade of queens, otherwise White loses a rook, and therefore White loses the advantage of their momentum and Black can develop.
Chrishyzz · 2026-08-30
I tried 17. rxe6+, expecting 17... kf7 (as 17... kd7 is met with qc6#). I briefly considered qc6 but didn't pursue it – a lesson for me! I struggled to see what rxe6 lacked; but Black's 18... qc8 forces a trade of queens, otherwise White loses a rook, and therefore White loses the advantage of their momentum and Black can develop.