Last month I wrote here that there were apparently going to be no games available from this year’s Gonzaga Masters. I’m delighted to report that the great majority of the games have now been made available, compiled by Ruth Redmond and Herbert Scarry; many thanks to Dylan Boland for forwarding them. They’ve now been compiled into a full tournament report.
There was much enterprising chess. One particularly interesting moment occurred in the last round clash between Alex Goss and Luke Scott.
In the diagrammed position, Black has just played the startling 22. … Rxb6!?, capturing an apparently protected pawn. Let’s pose this as a puzzle: can White safely recapture?
In lieu of an answer, see the full game.
[Note: updated March 30, 2016 to acknowledge Ruth Redmond’s work in compiling the games. Thanks to Herbert Scarry for the clarification.]