My opponent informed me after this game that I had missed a mate in 4 "when the knights were lined up" but I can't find it. I even broke out the old chess playing software I have but that didn't help either (it's pretty old and cheap though). Can anyone enlighten me? Or is my opponent wrong.
Thanks.
P.s. If it's there then I suspect that 20. Nh5 might be the first move.
The intersting thing is - what was the mate your opponent thought
you had?
And then of course did 'you' actually look at the game or run it
thorugh a box. Because Fritz is notious for missing mates in two
if it involves a Knight. (well the pre 10 models are - I believe this
bug was fixed for Fritz 10...but there again who knows what it misses,
everyone trust it so much, nobody checks it).
Fritz's pre-10 fail to find the mate in two in this position.
Fritz 6 - Fritz 9 both give as best play;
1.Nxe4 Kxb6 2.bxa8Q Rxa8. Classing the position as equal.
After white plays 1 Nc8+ it states Black is winning
and only considers 1...Rxc8 2 bxc8=Q.
When you actually play 1...Rxc8 it then 'sees' 2 bc8=N mate.
So from the diagramed position the toy wonder misses mate in two.
Yes the final mating pattern in the game is quite unique.
I think it's Fritz 5 that I have, pretty old! Hence my distrust. I did have a good look at it myself as well. That's partly why I was puzzled when I said I'd missed something. I was looking at least 3 moves deep at that time of the game, since I had somewhat committed to that attack to say the least! Anyway, I feel better if noone else can find a missed chance to mate.
This reminds me of playing in coffee shops when playing blitz chess some kibitzers say something like you could have mated in 4.
Often they do predict a mate in 4 but usually the mate is avoidable at
least in a problem kinda way by losing material.
However they often do notice something nearly mating in 4 though not exactly this could be the case here for example.
15.Nhf5 Nh6 16.Bxh6 gxh6 17.Qg4+ Kh8 18.Qg7#
For example that`s a mate in 4 sorta though not truly.
I do think that 15.Nhf5 is winning though not mate in 4 however.
I can only guess but maybe that`s what the person meant.
Originally posted by heinzkatHi Heinz.
After white plays 1 Nc8+ it states Black is winning
and only considers 1...Rxc8 2 bxc8=Q.
'it states Black is winning....' not me. It.
I a few months I was putting together a #3 and had Fritz 6
checking the solution. It failed to find the mate which had me
re-jigging the thing around although, as I later found, it was sound.
It only does this when in 'normal' mode. If you set to it to look
for a specific mate in x number of moves it finds it.
I'll see if I can dig it out. it too invovled a Knight key move.
(I wonder how many books are carrying pre-Fritz 10 analysis
and still being accepted as gospel. Chess writers often re-hash
other writers work without checking. I dare say some of this junk
has made it's way into modern books.)
Originally posted by nickhawkerNice one, thanks
My opponent informed me after this game that I had missed a mate in 4 "when the knights were lined up" but I can't find it. I even broke out the old chess playing software I have but that didn't help either (it's pretty old and cheap though). Can anyone enlighten me? Or is my opponent wrong.
Thanks.
P.s. If it's there then I suspect that 20. Nh5 mig ...[text shortened]... g7 30. Rf1xf6 Qa2xb1 31. Rf6xa6 Qb1g1 32. Kg2f3 Nc2d4 0-1[/pgn]