After a well-deserved vacation, NASA Astronaut Greg Chamitoff has made his intentions clear. Much like the thruster rockets on a Saturn space shot, Greg has placed his big guns on the b-file, ready to smash through the queenside, maybe to win back a pawn, snag a piece, or even threaten a back rank mate! (You can work out the variations for yourself, using the chess viewer link!)Our young wizards from Washington - on summer break from Stevenson Elementary School in Bellevue - are staying in touch through the www.chessmagnetschool.com web site, and are up to the task of guiding Earthlings to victory.
They've provided four courses of action for you to consider:
1) 28 ... h6 to provide "luft" in a luftless environment (pesky back rank mating threats);
2) 28 ... Rbc8 to perhaps create a back rank threat or two of their own;
3) 28 ... Qc6 and
4) 28 ... Qc5 both moves serving a number of purposes, even at the temporary cost of a pawn.
Again, work it out using the chess viewer and make your choice count. Log in your vote by 6 PM EDT on Tuesday, July 21 (3 PM PDT).
Greg Chamitoff vs. Earth (after 28.Rab1)
You can check out the current position in our Java viewer and try out the alternatives and see where they may lead - or you can see what you are voting on or the the entire game score by clicking on the links in the right column.
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