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Originally posted by Silent PawnI like this sort of puzzle.
I don't understand the puzzle, makes no sense. Queen could have been captured anywhere. What happened to whites bishops? Did black prance down the board with his knights take the bishops then went back? I'd like to know the answer and lesson behind this puzzle.
Here's a hint for this one: Four of White's pieces have been taken. As you correctly surmised - the bishops were obviously chopped down where they stood, so where were the queen and knight captured?
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Originally posted by Silent Pawnnot anywhere, it must have been e6 or h6.
I don't understand the puzzle, makes no sense. Queen could have been captured anywhere. What happened to whites bishops? Did black prance down the board with his knights take the bishops then went back? I'd like to know the answer and lesson behind this puzzle.
EDIT: I go for h6
Originally posted by Silent Pawn
I don't understand the puzzle, makes no sense..
Its an example of Retrograde Analysis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrograde_analysis).
Thomaster and Fat Lady have the answer: the White Queen must have been captured on h6. White is missing his Queen, both Bishops and one Knight. The Bishops were captured on their "home squares" and Black has captured two pieces on e6 and h6.
The capture on e6 must have been a Knight - this capture is necessary to let the Black's bishop on c8 out to be captured on b3, thus freeing the White Queen to be captured on h6!
(from Raymond M. Smullyan's "The Chess Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes"😉