Chess Mazes and the Red Pawn Demon

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24 Mar '17 16:23

greenpawn34
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24 Mar '17 16:23

Three Chess Mazes for you to try. If unfamiliar with the term
then the explanation of what a Chess Maze is provided.

An appearance of a new guy 'The RHP Demon'
He will ask me questions and I'll answer them.
(an experiment really but anybody got a question?)

Finishes as usual with the RHP 'Hall of Doom'

Blog Post 354
BigDogg
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24 Mar '17 18:402 edits
Originally posted by greenpawn34
[b]
Three Chess Mazes for you to try. If unfamiliar with the term
then the explanation of what a Chess Maze is provided.

An appearance of a new guy 'The RHP Demon'
He will ask me questions and I'll answer them.
(an experiment really but anybody got a question?)

Finishes as usual with the RHP 'Hall of Doom'

Blog Post 354
[/b]
I liked the Chess Mazes - they were fun solving; not too hard. Except for the Bishop one. That one is troubling me.

First, it seems something is missing in the stipulation; Bg7, Bxf8+ is too easy, so we must not be allowed to capture anything.

Second, it is impossible for e1 to be the target square. Where did the Bishop come from to reach that square? Obviously not from any squares that already checked the King. The only other square left is h4. So where did it come from to reach h4? The only unguarded square is e7, which attacks the King, and would have solved the problem already.

Edit: the Rook should be on f7. This also resolves the "capturing" issue.
DeepThought
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24 Mar '17 22:51
I particularly liked the lemondrop game and HEPKAT's swindle. There's a reasonable explanation of how a tree pruning algorithm works on Wikipedia, but essentially if the algorithm finds a move one of whose replies leads to checkmate, or at least a provably worse position than some other option, there isn't any point in evaluating the other replies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha-beta_pruning
greenpawn34
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25 Mar '17 04:011 edit
Hi Deep Thought,

I thought I'd stay away from the heavy techy side of things.
I'm up to my neck when I talk about ply. Any deeper and I drown.
(and I use to sell these things for a living - 1985-1992)

Hi Big Dog,

Thanks. I've corrected the Bishop one on the blog..

As a reward and you enjoy them here are three slightly harder ones (correct ones)

Recap for anyone just who just happened along.

In all three positions just check the Black King without being captured.
The Black pieces do not move unless they can take the piece.
You are not allowed ot take a Black piece.
BigDogg
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25 Mar '17 13:55
Originally posted by greenpawn34
Hi Deep Thought,

I thought I'd stay away from the heavy techy side of things.
I'm up to my neck when I talk about ply. Any deeper and I drown.
(and I use to sell these things for a living - 1985-1992)

Hi Big Dog,

Thanks. I've corrected the Bishop one on the blog..

As a reward and you enjoy them here are three slightly harder ones (correct ...[text shortened]... /2b3p1/4n2k/8/r7/4qb2/8/5R2 w - - 0 1[/fen]

[fen]4r3/6q1/8/3b4/3b4/6k1/5N1n/8 w - - 0 1[/fen]
Thanks, GP. Those are fun.

The Rook ones are the most interesting. It seems like they can be made to do more convoluted changes of direction, along with visits to out-of-the-way squares that offer a tiny bit of maneuvering space.
greenpawn34
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26 Mar '17 13:11
Hi Big Dog,

I think you are now ready for a King Maze.

The rules slightly differ.

Only the White King moves. Black never moves.
The White King CAN capture a piece or a pawn..

Usual rules apply, the King must never move into check.

Moving only the King checkmate Black. (5 moves)

Moving only the King checkmate Black. (7 moves)
BigDogg
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27 Mar '17 18:07
Originally posted by greenpawn34
Hi Big Dog,

I think you are now ready for a King Maze.

The rules slightly differ.

Only the White King moves. Black never moves.
The White King CAN capture a piece or a pawn..

Usual rules apply, the King must never move into check.

Moving only the King checkmate Black. (5 moves)

[fen]4K2B/6b1/8/8/8/2kP4/1R6/8 w - - 0 1[/fen]

Moving o ...[text shortened]... y the King checkmate Black. (7 moves)

[fen]5R1R/1B1pbbKp/8/3p4/8/6p1/6k1/6r1 w - - 0 1[/fen]
#1: Reveal Hidden Content
Kf7, xg7, f6, e5, e4

#2: Reveal Hidden Content
Kxh7, g7, xf7, xe7, d6, xd5, d6
BigDogg
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27 Mar '17 18:131 edit
Here's a King maze that I composed. In this one, BOTH Kings move. The other pieces threaten squares but do not move.

The goal is to get the white King to e1 without stalemating or checkmating black in the process.

Edit: the position is not legal, I know.
greenpawn34
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28 Mar '17 09:39
Before I start, Black is helping White to achieve this.
DeepThought
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28 Mar '17 11:004 edits
Originally posted by greenpawn34
Before I start, Black is helping White to achieve this.
Hi greenpawn,

Black does not help white, I think the answer is Reveal Hidden Content
that black is constrained to move between g7 and g8 provided white doesn't block the defence of h7. So white has to go all round the board to get to d6 to take the first pawn, the direct route takes 20 moves and so white triangulates by going to g5 first to make the journey take 21 moves. That way black is blocking the bishop at the right time. Then white has to go all the way back again to drop the move again and take the next pawn. Repeating this process white eventually eats all the pawns and gets to e1.

Hi BigDogg,
I liked that, nice theme.
greenpawn34
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28 Mar '17 14:47
Thanks deep thought, I saw the only King moves, I was just making sure.

Hi Big Dog,

This is actually an excellent composition and will blogged (with your permission.)
It's 100 moves. Perfect.. One could use to show how to visualise 100 moves ahead.
We are very lucky to have you.

FEN 4B1kb/2Pp3N/1Pb1p3/1P2p2K/1PPp1PN1/1RpQP1B1/3p1P2/R7 w - - 0 1
Invert Board PGN Headers Comments

[FEN "4B1kb/2Pp3N/1Pb1p3/1P2p2K/1PPp1PN1/1RpQP1B1/3p1P2/R7 w - - 0 1"]
1. Kg5 Kg7 {My key postion with White to move. I used this position with White to play to lose a tempo with either Kh4 or Kh5.} 2. Kh4 {I guessed here, It was was either h4 or h5. I'll find out when I get the King to d6} 2... Kg8 3. Kh3 Kg7 4. Kh2 Kg8 5. Kg1 Kg7 6. Kf1 Kg8 7. Ke2 Kg7 8. Kd1 Kg8 9. Kc2 Kg7 10. Kb1 Kg8 11. Ka2 Kg7 12. Ka3 Kg8 13. Ka4 Kg7 14. Ka5 Kg8 15. Ka6 Kg7 16. Ka7 Kg8 17. Kb8 Kg7 18. Kc8 Kg8 19. Kd8 Kg7 20. Ke7 Kg8 21. Kd6 {Lucky guess. I had gone 2.Kh5 it would now be White to play and I cannot nick the e5 pawn.} 21... Kg7 22. Kxe5 Kg8+ 23. Kd6 {Now back to my key postion lose another tempo.} 23... Kg7 24. Ke7 Kg8 25. Kd8 Kg7 26. Kc8 Kg8 27. Kb8 Kg7 28. Ka7 Kg8 29. Ka6 Kg7 30. Ka5 Kg8 31. Ka4 Kg7 32. Ka3 Kg8 33. Ka2 Kg7 34. Kb1 Kg8 35. Kc2 Kg7 36. Kd1 Kg8 37. Ke2 Kg7 38. Kf1 Kg8 39. Kg1 Kg7 40. Kh2 Kg8 41. Kh3 Kg7 42. Kh4 Kg8 43. Kg5 Kg7 {The key postion with White to play. If Kh4 worked last time then this time it mist be Kh5 .} 44. Kh5 Kg8 45. Kh4 Kg7 46. Kh3 Kg8 47. Kh2 Kg7 48. Kg1 Kg8 49. Kf1 Kg7 50. Ke2 Kg8 51. Kd1 Kg7 52. Kc2 Kg8 53. Kb1 Kg7 54. Ka2 Kg8 55. Ka3 Kg7 56. Ka4 Kg8 57. Ka5 Kg7 58. Ka6 Kg8 59. Ka7 Kg7 60. Kb8 Kg8 61. Kc8 Kg7 62. Kd8 Kg8 63. Ke7 Kg7 64. Kd6 Kg8 65. Kc5 {If I had not lost the tempo it would be White to play here.} 65... Kg7 66. Kxd4 Kg8+ 67. Kc5 {Back g5 to lose another tempo} 67... Kg7 68. Kd6 Kg8 69. Ke7 Kg7 70. Kd8 Kg8 71. Kc8 Kg7 72. Kb8 Kg8 73. Ka7 Kg7 74. Ka6 Kg8 75. Ka5 Kg7 76. Ka4 Kg8 77. Ka3 Kg7 78. Ka2 Kg8 79. Kb1 Kg7 80. Kc2 Kg8 81. Kd1 Kg7 82. Ke2 Kg8 83. Kf1 Kg7 84. Kg1 Kg8 85. Kh2 Kg7 86. Kh3 Kg8 87. Kh4 Kg7 88. Kh5 Kg8 89. Kg5 Kg7 {The key position with White to play, if Kh5 lost a temp last time then it must be Kh4 this time.} 90. Kh4 Kg8 91. Kh3 Kg7 92. Kh2 Kg8 93. Kg1 Kg7 94. Kf1 Kg8 95. Ke2 Kg7 96. Kd1 Kg8 97. Kc2 {If I had not lost a tempo then it would be White to play here.} 97... Kg7 98. Kxc3 Kg8+ 99. Kxd2 Kg7 100. Ke1
BigDogg
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28 Mar '17 18:52
Originally posted by greenpawn34
Thanks deep thought, I saw the only King moves, I was just making sure.

Hi Big Dog,

This is actually an excellent composition and will blogged (with your permission.)
It's 100 moves. Perfect.. One could use to show how to visualise 100 moves ahead.
We are very lucky to have you.

[pgn]
[FEN "4B1kb/2Pp3N/1Pb1p3/1P2p2K/1PPp1PN1/1RpQP1B1/3p1P2/R ...[text shortened]... tempo then it would be White to play here.} 97... Kg7 98. Kxc3 Kg8+ 99. Kxd2 Kg7 100. Ke1 [/pgn]
Glad you liked it ... feel free to use it in a blog.
greenpawn34
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28 Mar '17 20:36
Thanks Big Dog.

It's better there than hiding in a thread. (I'll say I did it 🙂)
Schlecter
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29 Mar '17 20:021 edit
Never hear about chess mazes before, just found another kind of chess mazes:

Mazelog http://www.mazelog.com/show?N2

But it seems chess mazes are mostly a single player game
~~vandervelde~~
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08 Apr '17 17:15
Originally posted by Schlecter
Never hear about chess mazes before, just found another kind of chess mazes:

Mazelog http://www.mazelog.com/show?N2

But it seems chess mazes are mostly a single player game
Yep, it is chessturbation.

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Chess Mazes and the Red Pawn Demon