Young chess players this week have a challenging worksheet. The plan is for them to work through these eleven problems with a partner for no more than fifteen minutes. If need be, I give them the answer to the first problem. Number four is on the demonstration board for the purpose of going through it briefly at the end of the fifteen minutes.
A combination is a series of forcing moves that often begins with a sacrifice and that culminates in a gain of material or checkmate. These eleven problems all feature a knight fork that results in a decisive gain of material. In a few problems, the combination leads to simplification of a position where a material advantage is already present.
In most of these eleven, the player to move sacrifices a queen to fork the enemy's queen and king, while other pieces are gained in the process.
White to move (1-8)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Black to move (9-11)
9.
10.
11.
