Posers and Puzzles
30 Jul 08
31 Jul 08
Originally posted by forkedknightI'd imagine that whoever moves first here would almost always win.
[fen]rnbqkbnr/8/8/8/8/8/8/RNBQKBNR[/fen]
I'm not sure if this has come up on this forum before, but is there a solution to this setup, a la "white to mate in n"? Or has it been solved at all?
31 Jul 08
Doesn't look like there is any quick mate here, owing to the fact black can mirror most moves, and it looks as if most of the non-mirroring moves don't do a lot to hem in the king effectively.
The knights are woefully difficult to get involved as well, and aside from mirroring white, black also has the option of responding with other threats as well, provided his king is free from hassle.
02 Aug 08
1 edit
Originally posted by doodinthemoodMy thinking also. B-b5+ seems the only forcing move on the board that doesn't lose the queen followed up by RxR on a8 I suppose black would go RxR in response, and white is hoping to get the rook to take the knight on g1 to allow the queen check on h5 or is it h4, if that happens I think a series of checks will quickly win. Taking a second look I would take the rook at H8 instead, that allows the check on H5 without interference. Also, because of the first move, B-b5+, if the H8 rook takes the knight at g1 it would be with check and the cycle may start on blacks side with a series of checks so to prevent that, take the h8 rook first, next move would be Q-h5+ and maybe Q-e5 check, that looks deadly.
I looked at this a few months ago. As far as I'm aware, there's no forced mate, but Bb5+ and Rxa8 shortly after is very much won.