Some of my favorite chess positions

 Position 1. White to play and win.

Solution: 1.Rb7 Rf8+ 2.Qxf8+ Kg6+ 3.Kg8 Rh8+ 4.Kxh8 Qh1+ 5.Qh6+!! Qxh6+ 6.Kg8

Position 2. White to play and win.

Gurgenidze D, Kalandadze V (19??).

Solution: 1.e8=N Rg1 2.Kh5 Re1 3.g5 Rg1 4.Kh6 Re1 5.g6 Rg1 6.Kh7 Re1 7.g7 Rg1 8.Kh8 Re1 9.g8=Q Rg1 10.Qg7 Re1 11.Kh7 Rg1 12.Qg6 Re1 13.Kh6 Rg1 14.Qg5 Re1 15.Kh5 Rg1 16.Qg4 Re1 17.Kh4 Rg1 18.Qg3 Re1 19.Nd6 Re4+ 20.Kh3 Rh4+ 21.Kg2

Position 3. White to play and checkmate in 20 moves.

Palevičius, Mečislavas (1984).

Solution: 1.Ke7 Kc5 2.Ke6+ Kb5 3.Bh6 Kc5 4.Be3+ Kb5 5.Bg5 Kc5 6.Be7+ Kb5 7.Bh4 Kc5 8.Bf2+ Kb5 9.e3 Kc5 10.e4+ Kb5 11.Bh4 Kc5 12.Be7+ Kb5 13.Bg5 Kc5 14.Be3+ Kb5 15.Bh6 Kc5 16.Bf8+ Kb5 17.Ke7 Kc5 18.Kd8+ Kb5 19.Nf3 Kc6 20.Nd4#

Position 4. White to play and win.

Solution: 1.Bd2+ b4 2.Bxb4+ Kb5 3.Nd6+ Kb6 4.Ba5+!! Kxa5 5.Nc4+ Kb5 6.Kf4!! c5 7.d5 f5 8.Kg5!! f4 9.f3

Position 5. White to play and ...?

Kubbel', Karl Artur Leonid Ivanovich (1916).

Solution: 1.f7 Rf8 2.e6 b6 3.Kb7 Kc5 4.e7!! Rxf7 5.Ka6 Rxe7 stalemate

Position 6. White to play and win.

Joseph, David - Sunday Express, 27 Dec 1921

Solution: 1.b6+ Kb8! 2.h4 a5 3.h5 a4 4.h6 a3 5.h7 a2 6.h8=Q a1=Q 7.Qf8! Qa3 8.Qe8 Qa4 9.Qe5+ Ka8 10.Qh8

Position 7. White to play and win.

Solution: 

Position 8. Another suicidal rook theme. White to play and win.

Solution: 1.e3 Rxe3+ 2.c3 Rxc3+ 3.Ka2 Ra3+ 4.Kb1 Ra1+ 5.Kc2 Rc1+ 6.Kd3 Rc3+ 7.Ke2 Re3+ 8.Kf1 Re1+ 9.Kg2 Rg1+ 10.Kf3 Rxg3+ 11.Ke2 Re3+ 12.Kd1 Re1+ 13.Kc2 Rc1+ 14.Kb3 Rc3+ 15.Ka2 Ra3+ 16.Rxa3# (actually the "best" line is 15...Rxc7 16.Rh8+ Rc8 17.Rxc8# since White needs one more move to checkmate).

Position 9. White to play and win.

Rigaer Tageblatt, 1909

Solution: 1.Bc5 Rc8 2.Bb6+ Ke8 3.Bc7!! or 1...Kc8 2.Ba7

Position 10. White to play and win.

Réti, Richard, 1st Prize - Шахматы, Apr 1928 (330)

Solution: 1.Kh6 Be5 2.Kg7 Bh2 3.c4 bxc4 4.e5!! Bxe5 5.bxc4