So far we have had guys playing chess on icebergs and on glaciers,
pieces carved from snow and glowing green Knights photographed
down pot holes.
Shallow Blue has topped the lot.
He sent me a packet of chocolate chess biscuits!
Shallow Blue hails from Bunger Yakker in Southern India and for a living
spends 15 hours a day carving chess pieces onto chocolate biscuits.
He says he hates doing the King because it is “tricky.”
He can carve out 5 chocolate pawn biscuits a minute which is the factory record.
This feat that has made him a minor celebrity in Bunger Yakker.
And then this happened.
We have seen Assassin Pawns in action. How about a Suicide King.
crumblemouth - penpal33 RHP 2010
I like the name crumblemouth.
Sounds like he has been eating some chocolate chess biscuits.
Missed Mates.
Swindling a draw from a lost position by perpetual check is indeed an honourable escape.
But swindling oneself out of a win…..Oh Dear…..
Below are 10 positions. You task is to first try and spot the perpetual taken
by the player to move and then find the missed mate.
Black to play.
White to play.
Black to play.
White to play.
White to play.
White to play.
White to play.
White to play.
White to play.
White to play.
Solutions to Missed Mates.
Kamastar - agidux RHP 2007 Black to play
Black missed the mate 1…Qg2 three times as he merrily took the game to
a draw by playing Bg2+ and Bh3+ and Bg2+ and Bh3+ and Bg2+ and Bh3+….
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saffa73 - trash2402 RHP 2007. White to play
White two pieces down was very relieved to pull this game out of the fire
as he played 1.Rf6-f7+ and Rf6+ draw by perpetual check.
I’m thinking 1.Qxd6 checkmate may be a better move.
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jocsjunior - Indosmart RHP 2008 Black to play.
An easy one this. Black took the perpetual with 1…Nh3+ and Nf2+
1….Nh3+ 2.Kh1 Qg1+ 3.Rxg1 Nf2 mate. Philidor’s Legacy.
I’m afraid jocsjunior is not the only player on RHP to miss this famous mate.
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batjuchin - Coach David RHP 2007. White to play
Same theme as above. White played 1.Nf8+ and Ng6+ ½ - ½.
How about 1.Nf8+ Kh8 2.Qh7+ Nxh7 3.Ng6 mate.
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Macroman - jayo RHP 2006. White to play.
White took the perpetual check with 1.Rab7+ Ka5 2.Ra7+ Kb6 etc.
A lucky escape. He was a piece down and that Black pawn on g3 was
just a few moves from Queening. ½ - ½.
Sadly he missed the mate in two. 1.a5+ Kc6 and 2.either Rook to c7 mate.
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kal79 - derkrueppel RHP 2006 White to play.
White saw nothing better than Qf6+ and Qf8+ securing the draw.
He missed a common mating pattern. 1.Ng6+ hxg6 2.Qh6 mate.
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bling9er - EspenMA RHP 2007. White to play
The Hook Mate and the Unhooked King.
White went for Rd7+ and Rd8+ and agreed to a draw.
1.Rc8 Checkmate was sitting there just waiting to be played.
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arniepakilit - evertpot RHP 2007. White to play
White took the perpetual with Qd5+ and Qe4+.
Missing 1.Qg6+ Qf6 (only legal move) 2.Qxf6 mate.
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truthinpositions - hoededoe RHP 2008. White to play.
White failed to find the ‘Truth in the Position.’.
He settled for 1.Nh7+ and Nf6+ and a draw.
Apparently 1.Nd7+ Kg8 Qh8 Mate was not to his liking.
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Sci Fi West - Negascout RHP 2006. White to play.
White played 1.Bg8+ correct and then seeing nothing but a perpetual
agreed the draw. He should have played on.
1.Bg8+ Kh7 2.Bf7+ Kh7 3.Bg6 mate.
The 2012 RHP Championship starts soon.
So the next Blog will feature a few games from that event.
The thread that accompanies this blog is Thread 144879
It should be 2. .. Kh8 instead of 2. .. Kh7
Nice post as always!
As for the checkmates I found 7 as Greenpawn did.
for problem 5 I found Rfb7+ Kc5 b4+ Kc4 Rc7# The point is that b4 makes the difference between perpetual and checkmate.
Richard
about the biscuits is a lie..." 🙂
Me...Lie....
The package was post marked 'Bunger Yakker' addressed to
Greenpawn, Scotland. Inside was a newspaper cutting with a
picture of SB getting a medal from Toothless Rufus the mayor
of Bunger Yakker.
😉
I think sometimes what happens is that a player will be losing a game, then they come back, and are happy with a draw, when actually they could have got a win.
Sometimes when I am playing, if I screw up a winning position, and then find myself suddenly losing, I will offer a draw, and on occasion the player will take it, because it is hard to mentally shift gears from losing to winning.
If anyone else wants some, they're sold in the Netherlands by Jumbo supermarkets. They sell them under their own brand name, but the packet doesn't say where they're made. The most unfortunate thing is that they're sold in packets of twelve! So even if you buy one dark and one milk chocolate packet, you can never play Biscuit Chess with them. Such a shame...
Richard