dancing knights

Can u get in this position in 4 legal moves?

Yes, I pm'd you a solution, allowing others to enjoy the puzzle.

Originally posted by Mephisto2
Yes, I pm'd you a solution, allowing others to enjoy the puzzle.

Odd. I'm convinced there's no solution.

I'm awful at these but I'll give it a go.

White's first move must be either Na3 or Nc3.
White must capture black's b knight with his b knight before being captured himself by either the f bishop or the queen. The bishop seems more likely.

So far we have black with 3 required moves (e5, Bx, Bf8) and white with 2 (Na/c3 and Nx).
Now black obviously has to move his b knight from its starting square, to either a6 or c6. So all black's moves are accounted for.

Since black can only spend one move on his knight white must capture it on a6 or c6. Knights always alternate colours when moving so from a3/c3 it must go to a white square (but can't reach a6/c6). c3->e4->c5->a6 appears to be the shortest but this is too many moves.

Therefore I can't see how the position is possible after 4 moves. Assuming no trickery of course.

Originally posted by BigDoggProblem
Odd. I'm convinced there's no solution.

hmm.. heat the pan, i too smell sth fishy..

Evidently the white knight killed the black one, and then got killed by a black piece.

Now, there are two possiblities..
1) all the four of white's moves were made by only one knight.
This is impossible, because some black piece had to kill the white knight and then get back into original position. This would make the number of moves for black > 4

2) the b knight made 2 moves and the g knight made two.
The g knight just went back and forth, while the b knight did the actual kill..

but i cant see how it culd kill in two moves

I need 5 moves

Originally posted by MetalPig
I need 5 moves

Because your knights don't know the dance ....

Closest I can get is:

1.Nc3 e5 2.Nd5 Ne7 3.Nxe7 Nc6 4.Nf3 Nxe7 5.Ng1 Ng8

Still 5 moves but it seems like it is close to the answer.

Got it 🙂

1. Nc3 e5
2. Nd5 Nc6
3. Nf6 Ne7
4. Nxg8 Nxg8

Blacks first two moves are interchangeable.

As has been said above, I couldn't find a way for the white knight to capture the black b knight. So it didn't. The g8 space is four moves away though, and b8 to g8 is three moves (if the e pawn moves out the way).

Originally posted by Peakite
Got it 🙂

1. Nc3 e5
2. Nd5 Nc6
3. Nf6 Ne7
4. Nxg8 Nxg8

3. Nf6 puts black in check. Therefore 3. ... Ne7 (either knight) isn't valid.

Not spotting little things like that is why I lose too much :o

Originally posted by XanthosNZ
Closest I can get is:

1.Nc3 e5 2.Nd5 Ne7 3.Nxe7 Nc6 4.Nf3 Nxe7 5.Ng1 Ng8

Still 5 moves but it seems like it is close to the answer.

Interesting, I found this puzzle much easier than most puzzles that are posted here. Maybe the thinking is not chess related on this one...

Originally posted by Palynka
Interesting, I found this puzzle much easier than most puzzles that are posted here. Maybe the thinking is not chess related on this one...

I've tried everything I can think of. I even tried black moving first but that still didn't help.

Originally posted by XanthosNZ
I've tried everything I can think of. I even tried black moving first but that still didn't help.

Maybe I'm doing something wrong, if you want I can PM you and you can confirm it or tell me what's wrong with it...

Edit: I was doing something wrong. Predictable...

Originally posted by XanthosNZ
3. Nf6 puts black in check. Therefore 3. ... Ne7 (either knight) isn't valid.

I'll wager the starter of this thread and the first responder both missed this check.