[Event "2026 National Middle School (K-8) Champ"] [Site "Round Rock, Texas, United Sta"] [Date "2026.05.15"] [Round "2.9"] [White "Nalakonda, Anish"] [Black "Yang, Maxwell Z"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1711"] [WhiteTeam "USA"] [BlackElo "2173"] [Annotator "Foisor,Sabina"] [WhiteClock "0:15:04"] [BlackClock "0:00:07"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "?"] [Opening "?"] [StudyName "Tactics Tuesday 06/02/2026: National Middle School (K-8) Championship, Pt. 2"] [ChapterName "Nalakonda, Anish - Yang, Maxwell Z"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/WDUE2xGY/L3MYGkWr"] [FEN "8/8/5k2/2p2r2/8/8/6K1/1R6 w - - 0 53"] [SetUp "1"] [Orientation "white"] { This week's puzzles conclude our series from the 2026 National Middle School (K-8) Championship. Enjoy a dazzling array of endgame finesse and mating attacks. Our example is the former. White should have played the simplifying: } 53. Rf1! { leading to a draw. Instead, the game saw } (53. Rc1?? Ke6 54. Kg3 Kd5 55. Kg4 Rf2 { , when Black was winning. White's king is hopelessly cut off in Nalakonda – Yang. }) 53... Rxf1 (53... Ke6 { doesn't change anything: } 54. Rxf5 Kxf5 55. Kf1 { The long opposition saves the game! }) 54. Kxf1 Ke5 55. Ke1! { Long opposition! } 55... Kd5 56. Kd1 Kc4 57. Kc2 { White holds. } 0-1