Crazy Bishop Mate in 2

wittywonka

Chocolate Expert

Posers and Puzzles

06 Dec 06

wittywonka

Chocolate Expert

Cocoa Mountains

Joined: 26 Nov 06
Moves: 19249

06 Dec 06

1 edit

-White to move, mating in two.
-There are four possibilities...can you find them all?

hypothetical

Indiana

Joined: 29 May 06
Moves: 1694

06 Dec 06

2 edits

Originally posted by wittywonka
-White to move, mating in two.
-There are four possibilities...can you find them all?

[fen]4K3/8/2B3B1/3pBp2/3BkB2/3pBp2/2B3B1/8[/fen]

EDIT: on second thought, I was wrong.
EDIT2 : on third thought, there is no mate in two. Whatever white does one of the bishops is going to be taken by one of the black pawns.

BigDogg

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06 Dec 06

Originally posted by wittywonka
-White to move, mating in two.
-There are four possibilities...can you find them all?

[fen]4K3/8/2B3B1/3pBp2/3BkB2/3pBp2/2B3B1/8[/fen]

Wow, that's a ton of Bishops for a fairly simple idea.

BigDogg

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06 Dec 06

Originally posted by hypothetical
1. Bb3 d2
2. Bc2#
or
1. Bd1 d2
2. Bc2#
or
1. Bf1 f2
2. Bg2#
or
1. Bh3 f2
2. Bg2#

People who come up with stupid problems like this must be either extremely bored or don't spend much time coming up with them...
(But then on the other hand I'm stupid for posting on this topic. 🙄 😛 🙄)

Two of these are not solutions. Can you tell why?

wittywonka

Chocolate Expert

Cocoa Mountains

Joined: 26 Nov 06
Moves: 19249

06 Dec 06

hey...a puzzle is a puzzle is a puzzle...i know it may seem easy to some but those of us who have played for a while do not make up all of the chess gaming population 🙂

BigDogg

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06 Dec 06

2 edits

Originally posted by wittywonka
-White to move, mating in two.
-There are four possibilities...can you find them all?

[fen]4K3/8/2B3B1/3pBp2/3BkB2/3pBp2/2B3B1/8[/fen]

White mates in 2

This achieves the same idea as your problem without all the useless Bishops, and with tons less pieces on the board, and it's actually sound (there really is only one solution). In general, a composer ought to strive for economy.

wittywonka

Chocolate Expert

Cocoa Mountains

Joined: 26 Nov 06
Moves: 19249

06 Dec 06

ok...i never said it had to be a perfect puzzle...it was a brainteaser...plus, some more amateur players, for whom the puzzle was designed, would be distracted by all the extra pieces...perhaps your puzzle appeals to the more experienced players (happy medium?) 🙂

BigDogg

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06 Dec 06

Originally posted by wittywonka
(happy medium?) 🙂

Agreed. I'll grant you four Bishops. 😛

aging blitzer

Joined: 28 Nov 05
Moves: 24334

06 Dec 06

Originally posted by BigDoggProblem
This achieves the same idea as your problem without all the useless Bishops, and with tons less pieces on the board

What would your version look like if the Black King has to be on e4 ?

BigDogg

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06 Dec 06

Originally posted by aging blitzer
What would your version look like if the Black King has to be on e4 ?

It would have more pieces to contain the King's extra flight squares. That is why I moved him to the edge. There's no reason that he has to be on e4.

crazyblue

Joined: 29 Apr 05
Moves: 827

06 Dec 06

Since the topic is bishops, here is my contribution. White to move and win (by P. Heuäcker):

David113

Joined: 25 Aug 06
Moves: 0

06 Dec 06

Originally posted by crazyblue
Since the topic is bishops, here is my contribution. White to move and win (by P. Heuäcker):

[fen]1B6/8/7P/4p3/3b3k/8/8/1K6 w - - 0 1[/fen]

I think in the original problem the white king is on c1. This makes the solution a little bit longer.

aging blitzer

Joined: 28 Nov 05
Moves: 24334

06 Dec 06

Originally posted by BigDoggProblem
It would have more pieces to contain the King's extra flight squares. That is why I moved him to the edge. There's no reason that he has to be on e4.

but it is. there's no reason for it to be on the edge either

BigDogg

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06 Dec 06

Originally posted by aging blitzer
but it is. there's no reason for it to be on the edge either

Yes, there is. The convention of economy dictates that needless pieces should not be added.

Alethia

Joined: 25 Nov 06
Moves: 1434

06 Dec 06

1 edit

Originally posted by BigDoggProblem
[fen]2K5/kB6/1p6/8/8/8/8/6B1[/fen]
White mates in 2

This achieves the same idea as your problem without all the useless Bishops, and with tons less pieces on the board, and it's actually sound (there really is only one solution). In general, a composer ought to strive for economy.

Bh2 b6
Bg1#
Obvious solution. I haven't checked it for a while, but I think ilywrin's profile puzzle has the same sort of theory...