In many ways, this was easier than your last, given the disparity in the reach of kings vs. queens. I knew that the kings had to be lined up a square away from the edge in some conformation, and the queens had to be opposite them on the other side of the board. From that reasoning, I was able to work out this very aesthetically attractive solution and confirm it thanks to your minattack program.
From the position below, it's Black to move and mate in 9. This is an exercise in forcing checkmate with minimal pieces. The bare minimum pieces needed for checkmate against a lone king are a king and queen; king and rook; king and two bishops; or king, knight, and bishop. The previous puzzle I created, featuring a type of checkmate called Stamma's Mate, with a knight and king only worked because the pawn was there, and on the same file as the king.
American master Frederick Rhine discovered a stalemate trap in this position below, which is another reason why I'm posting it. If Black plays 1. ... Nb6+?? then White can play 2. Kd8!, threatening the bishop. If Black allows the capture, then it's a draw since Black will have insufficient material to force mate. If Black moves the bishop out of danger, the king will have no legal moves left and it will be a draw by stalemate.
Here's a two-fer, because I just came across this startling blunder.
In the 1981 Uzbekistan Championship, White (Dekhanov) resigned to Black (K. Yusupov) in a won position after Yusupov played Qa6. Dekhanov thought that the risk of Qf1+ meant an exchange of queens would be forced, leading to a loss in about another thirty moves.
However, he missed a forced mate in four, from the board position given below.
Another nice thing about this mate is that the loser gets to put his opponent in check for a little bit as part of the checkmate. That's not seen very often.
The FEN for this puzzle is:
8/pp6/q5pp/1Q2Np1k/5P2/P5PK/1Pr4P/8
If you paste it into Chessup, you can work through the problem there.
White to move and mate in ten from the position given below. This one is just for fun and not very realistic. However, it does continue the anti-stalemate theme.
And now for something completely different. It's...
Monty Python's Flying Circus
A Stalemate Problem!
While I dislike stalemates occuring in won positions, sometimes a draw by agreement, perpetual check, or stalemate can be the saving grace of a lost position. Knowledge of how to force a draw is a useful part of the serious chess player's arsenal. This puzzle is derived from Kasparov vs. McDonald, simultaneous exhibition, Great Britain, 1986. On the 54th move, Kasparov threw away his winning advantage with Bxe4?? and McDonald seized his opportunity to force a stalemate.
In the position given below, it's Black to move and draw.
Don't cheat!
Solution:
1. ... Rxg3+
2. Kxg3 Qe5+
3. Qxe5
Not taking the queen would be suicidal. Of White's two other legal first moves, Kh2?? loses instantly to Qg1# and Kh4!?, with its threat of Qh7#, would just be met with Rg4+ Kxg4 then Qd7+ and Qxd7 with a different stalemate position.
The FEN for the board position is:
8/4Q3/7k/2P5/3qB3/5rBK/8/8
If you take it to Chessup, you can work it out from there.
Last edited by Nullifidian; 02-29-2008 at 07:40 PM.
Here's yet another anti-stalemate problem of mine. White has an obvious material superiority, but has to play accurately to not lose pieces, cause a stalemate, nor checkmate inefficiently.
From the board position given, it's White to move and mate in two.
Don't cheat!
Solutions:
1. Kd3 Kb5
2. Kd4#
1. Kd3 Kd5
2. Qe5#
1. Kd3 Kd6
2. Kc4#
Practically every other first move that isn't a premature check is a stalemate move. Bc7, Ba5, Ke3, Ke5, Kf3, Kf5, Rd1, Rd4, Rd7, Qa6 Qd3, Qf1 all draw by stalemate.
The FEN for the board position is:
3B4/8/2p5/2k5/p3KP2/P7/3RQ3/8
If you copy and paste it at Chessup, you can work it out there.
Often the thing that makes checkmate puzzles so difficult is their counterintuitive nature. It's easy to make an inefficient mate in many cases, but the efficient solution often involves a move that looks plain wrong or unconstructive. The puzzle posted on the 29th is a good example of that. Here's another one that demonstrates the same principle.
From the position given below, it's Black to move and mate in three.
Don't cheat!
Solutions:
1. ... Rc4
2. Kh3 Rc2
3. Kh4 Rh2#
or
1. ... Rc4
2. Kh5 Rc6
3. Kh4 Rh6#
or
1. ... Rc4
2. dxc4 b1=Q
3. c5 Qh1#
or
3. Kh5 Qh7#
or
3. Kh3 Qh1#
The reason the efficient solution looks wrong is that Rc4 leaves the rook en prise. However, with a pawn about to promote, the capture of the rook is not a problem, because nothing White's king does can move him out of the danger zone.
The natural move with a passed pawn on the verge of promotion is to move that pawn to the opponent's back rank and promote. While starting with b1=Q checkmates the king eventually, it's mate in four, not three.
The FEN for this board position is:
8/8/1p6/8/r2p1k1K/3P4/1p6/8
If you copy and paste it at Chessup, you can work out the problem there.
An important element of playing chess is not to give up until the position is well and truly lost. The following looks like unpromising for White, but with the correct next move, White can swindle a win.
From the position below, it's White to move and mate in fourteen.
On January 22nd, the Palestinians blew up 2/3rds of a border wall on the Egyptian border, which made them into a convenient, starvable captive population. Consider this a commemorative puzzle.
The 'wall' of pawns can be breached at any point. The problem is finding the one move which will accomplish that breach.
From the board position below, it's White to move and mate in two.
Don't cheat!
Solutions:
1. Qc4 b1=Q/R/B/N
2. Rf2#
1. Qc4 c2
2. Rf3#
1. Qc4 d3
2. Be4#
1. Qc4 e4
2. Ra5#
1. Qc4 g5/6
2. Nh6#
The FEN for the puzzle is:
8/1B3Np1/Q2PNp2/4pk1P/3p4/R1p4K/Rp6/8
If you take it to Chessup, you can work out the problem there.
Well, I must have been on a strong hallucinogen, because there's obviously nothing to capture on f7.
But, given a position on f7, whether or not it was a capture that landed us there, the knight cannot occupy e7 on the next move. Even if it could, that position wouldn't be check for a king sitting on square d7, and Rxe7 takes care of the knight in any case. Now the only pieces that can move would be the pawns, and they're not capable of stopping the checkmate.
I've noted before how checkmate problems are frequently counterintuitive, because they sometimes involve leaving a piece en prise. They're important to study, because things like this can come up in real life. Here's a recent case in point, from a game of mine:
From the position below, it's White to move and mate in four:
Don't cheat!
Solution:
1. Qd7/e6+ Kb8
2. Qxc6 bxa6
3. Qd7 Rd8 (but any legal move Black makes ends the same way)
4. Rb1#
If Black captures the queen on the second move, the checkmate is actually shortened.
1. Qd7 Kb8
2. Qxc6 bxc6
3. Rb1#
The FEN for the puzzle is:
r1k4r/ppp2Qp1/B1n4p/8/8/2P2N2/P4PPP/3R2K1
If you copy and paste it at Chessup, you can work out the problem there.
Last edited by Nullifidian; 03-09-2008 at 09:01 AM.
Thanks for the chess puzzles
I love how they force you to think several moves ahead.
I used to just wing it but I think my game has improved as I've learned how to "see" ahead.
__________________
Why am I naked and sticky?... Did I miss something fun?
Last edited by Artemis Entreri; 03-10-2008 at 05:06 AM.
You're welcome! And congratulations on your own checkmate (I did see it, although the style of those glass pieces made it hard to distinguish what was what).
BTW, this thread has gotten me sort of interested in chess again. I picked up a cheap portable chess for the Nintendo DS, and I've established that I still utterly suck. I enjoy puzzle-like things, but I can't play actual chess competently, as my tunnel-vision makes it too hard for me to see what I'm overlooking.
Assuming that chessmaster's ELO ratings are any good, I am probably a nice solid 620 or so...
__________________ Hear me / and if I close my mind in fear / please pry it open See me / and if my face becomes sincere / beware Hold me / and when I start to come undone / stitch me together Save me / and when you see me strut / remind me of what left this outlaw torn
Here's an example of a double checkmate, two pieces attacking the king at the same time which allows the player to leave a piece en prise and still make the checkmate. This is from a game that is still ongoing, but effectively lost within 15 moves (13 if my opponent resigns in the current position). Unfortunately, there was some bad opening play which completely weakened the kingside and I took every advantage, including playing Nf2 to fork the queen at d1 and the rook at h1. However, it wouldn't have been lost until my opponent blundered by playing Qf1??. On looking at it again, as soon as I played Nf2, the game was lost. Qc2, which would have been the best continuation, would have lost to Bg4+, Kf1, Qf6, initiating a king hunt which would end in about a dozen more moves. Qf1?? just lost the game a bit faster.
From the position below, it's Black to move and mate in three:
Don't cheat!
Solution:
1. ... Bg4+
2. Nf3 Bxf3+
3. Ke1 Nd3#
Here's how it looks in the final position:
As you can see, either the White queen or White light-squared bishop could take the Black knight which is threatening the king, but the Black bishop is also threatening the king, and the rules of chess forbid you from ignoring any threats to the king, so the defenses are simply overwhelmed by the double threat of knight and bishop.
The FEN for the puzzle is:
r1bqk2r/ppp2ppp/2n5/8/2BPp2P/2P1P1b1/P2BKn2/RN3QNR
If you take it to Chessup, you can work out the problem there.
Last edited by Nullifidian; 03-24-2008 at 07:59 PM.
This puzzle was posted today at GameKnot, a correspondence chess site I play on, but not by me. It's a good example of a "king hunt" which is currently standing with seven votes each giving five stars, which means "very hard". I'm thinking Oh come on, it wasn't that difficult but I may be in the minority. Give it a try and see what you think.
White to move and mate in eight. Composed by Leonid Kubbel.