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General discussionBest. Chess. Problem. Ever.(63 posts)(63 posts)
(63 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted June 11, 2018
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Lifthrasil: Ou! I just noticed something! If castling is possible, neither King not Rook may have moved. So the only piece that moved for black is the pawn. But it took me some moments to realize, that the pawn could not have come from g6, but HAS to have come from g7.

I won't say why yet. Look at the board and turn it back one move. Then you will see.
We don't know whte's last move either. If the three pieces were already in place for black and his last move was literally anything to F-6 where the white bishop captures, or any piece to h5 and the pawn captures, then this is ALL MOOT.
Posted June 11, 2018
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Lifthrasil: Ou! I just noticed something! If castling is possible, neither King not Rook may have moved. So the only piece that moved for black is the pawn. But it took me some moments to realize, that the pawn could not have come from g6, but HAS to have come from g7.

I won't say why yet. Look at the board and turn it back one move. Then you will see.
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paladin181: We don't know whte's last move either. If the three pieces were already in place for black and his last move was literally anything to F-6 where the white bishop captures, or any piece to h5 and the pawn captures, then this is ALL MOOT.
Are you saying the black pawn could have moved from F6 to G5?
Posted June 11, 2018
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paladin181: We don't know whte's last move either. If the three pieces were already in place for black and his last move was literally anything to F-6 where the white bishop captures, or any piece to h5 and the pawn captures, then this is ALL MOOT.
It's white's move now. Therefore his last move couldn't have been anything to F6. How do you see it?

_ Black - anything to F6
_ White - captures F6
_ (now) White moves again???
Posted June 11, 2018
Ah. I didn't realize it was white's turn. Fair enough. Then yes, this is a pretty genius puzzle involving the almost never invoked rule of en passant.
Posted June 11, 2018
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paladin181: We don't know whte's last move either. If the three pieces were already in place for black and his last move was literally anything to F-6 where the white bishop captures, or any piece to h5 and the pawn captures, then this is ALL MOOT.
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ZFR: It's white's move now. Therefore his last move couldn't have been anything to F6. How do you see it?

_ Black - anything to F6
_ White - captures F6
_ (now) White moves again???
I think I get what he's saying. He means that pawn to g5 happened one or more turns before, but that would be impossible right?
Posted June 11, 2018
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greeklover: Are you saying the black pawn could have moved from F6 to G5?
Actually, that's not possible. I was mistaken on the turn. I didn't think it through clearly. After about 15 minutes beating my brain, I got both solutions. I think. a was simple. B involved some creative thinking. Never gotten mate with those two pieces before.
Posted June 11, 2018
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phaolo: I try these puzzles once in a while, but I'm often not sure (maybe not in this example):
- what are the black&white players' sides and so what's the allowed direction for pawns.
- who is moving first? If it says "White mates in 2" it always means that it's his turn, right?
- if special rules like the castling are still possible (e.g: is the king still in the its original place?)
- White is moving from 1 to 8. Black is moving from 8 to 1. In almost all cases this means white moves up and black moves down.

- Unless otherwise specified, if it says X mates in n then X moves first.

- Unless specified otherwise (like in this example) it's assumed castling is possible, unless you can prove it isn't.
Posted June 11, 2018
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greeklover: I think I get what he's saying. He means that pawn to g5 happened one or more turns before, but that would be impossible right?
Yeah. Because of the positions, the only solution is A or B. Either the pawn was the last piece moved (and if it was it would have to be pg7-g5 or the king or rook to their current positions, which eliminates the ability to castle.
Posted June 11, 2018
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Lifthrasil: Yep. That's the straightforward answer. The tricky part was to figure out what to do if castling is still allowed for black. Because then Ke6 doesn't work:
white: Ke6
black: castles
SPOILER
Well, if the black castles, white just needs to eat the pawn with the tower in G5 :P
SPOILER END
Posted June 11, 2018
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ZFR: It's white's move now. Therefore his last move couldn't have been anything to F6. How do you see it?

_ Black - anything to F6
_ White - captures F6
_ (now) White moves again???
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greeklover: I think I get what he's saying. He means that pawn to g5 happened one or more turns before, but that would be impossible right?
Yup, that would be impossible, unless white got 2 moves in a row, or black moved rook/king.
Posted June 11, 2018
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Lifthrasil: Yep. That's the straightforward answer. The tricky part was to figure out what to do if castling is still allowed for black. Because then Ke6 doesn't work:
white: Ke6
black: castles
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phaolo: SPOILER
Well, if the black castles, white just needs to eat the pawn with the tower in G5 :P
SPOILER END
That doesn't give a mate because black has a move to KH7
Posted June 11, 2018
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Lifthrasil: Yep. That's the straightforward answer. The tricky part was to figure out what to do if castling is still allowed for black. Because then Ke6 doesn't work:
white: Ke6
black: castles
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phaolo: SPOILER
Well, if the black castles, white just needs to eat the pawn with the tower in G5 :P
SPOILER END
Nope, no mate then. Black king can move to H7.
Posted June 11, 2018
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greeklover: That doesn't give a mate because black has a move to KH7
Ah, damn!
I can't even move the pawn, because the King would just eat it -_-
Post edited June 11, 2018 by phaolo
Posted June 11, 2018
When you think about all the possibilities and what led to this position, you realize that it's really a genius puzzle.
Posted June 11, 2018
Here is a hint:

You have to think outside the box.

Really, I wouldn't call it the best puzzle ever, if the solution was simple.
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionBest. Chess. Problem. Ever.(63 posts)(63 posts)
(63 posts)