Rough Morning

Midway through my first cup of coffee this morning, I started solving some tactics problems on Tactics Trainer on my iPad. Or, rather, I started by failing three. Beginning from a tactics rating that is no source of pride, I managed to drop twenty Elo in three fails. Then, feeling empathy, the app handed me an easy one that lifted my rating 1.3 points.

White to move

I tried 1.Rxd4, expecting 1...Nxd4 2.Qxa1, but Black has 1...Qxd4. I failed to calculate.

White to move

I considered the correct move first, rejecting it in favor of 1.Rc8+ completely oblivious to 1...Qxc8. Maybe I needed that second cup of coffee.

White to move

I tried 1.g6, thinking that 1...Qxg6 2.Rh6+ was somehow winning the queen, but it does not.

White to move

Finally, I got one correct. I continued solving problems this morning getting eighteen correct and eight wrong. I managed to lift my rating five points. Time to take my wife out for a nice Sunday breakfast.