Mate in 7 (Popov)

White mates in 7

can't find any forced mate in 7. 😕

Originally posted by crazyblue
can't find any forced mate in 7. 😕

How about in 8?

Originally posted by BigDoggProblem
[fen]8/5p1p/kpNN4/1r6/8/2n5/8/4KB2 w - - 0 1[/fen]
White mates in 7

The first move would be Bd3, then black would make a pawn move, then Kf2, Nd1, Ke2, Nc3, Ke3, Nd1, Kd2, Nc3, Kxc3 (I think the x denotes a piece capture; I'm still not sure about proper chess notation), another black pawn move, then Bxb5 mate.

Edit: Egh, I think I missed something here. Probably Bc4 as the starting move would give the white king a better advantage as it tries to move up to force the knight off the c3 square.

that one was tricky. first i didnt see anything at all, then i found mate in 6 and didnt see how black could last longer, but now it seems to be mate in 8 indeed. here's my line:
1. Bc4 h5 2. Kf1 h4 3. Kg2 h3+ 4. Kxh3 f6 5. Kg4 f5+ 6. Kf3 f4 7. Be6 any 8. Bc8#

Originally posted by Ramiri15
The first move would be Bd3, then black would make a pawn move, then Kf2, Nd1, Ke2, Nc3, Ke3, Nd1, Kd2, Nc3, Kxc3 (I think the x denotes a piece capture; I'm still not sure about proper chess notation), another black pawn move, then Bxb5 mate.

Edit: Egh, I think I missed something here. Probably Bc4 as the starting move would give the white king a better advantage as it tries to move up to force the knight off the c3 square.

1.Bd3 h6 2.Kf2?? runs into 2...Ne4+! disrupting the white N on d6 and snapping the mating net.

BTW, the standard for chess notation is 1.White_move Black_move 2.White_move Black_move etc. If you start notation with Black to move, it's customary to write the move number followed by three dots to indicate that you're not giving White's move for that move number.

Originally posted by crazyblue
that one was tricky. first i didnt see anything at all, then i found mate in 6 and didnt see how black could last longer, but now it seems to be mate in 8 indeed. here's my line:
1. Bc4 h5 2. Kf1 h4 3. Kg2 h3+ 4. Kxh3 f6 5. Kg4 f5+ 6. Kf3 f4 7. Be6 any 8. Bc8#

This idea can be made to work faster. There is a forced mate in 7.

okay found the waiting move that saves 2 moves later 😀

1.Bd3!
1...h5 2.Kf1 h4 3.Kg2 h3+ 4.Kxh3 f6
4...f5 5.Kg2! f4 6.Kf3 N~ 7.Bxb5#
5.Bc4! f5 6.Be6 R~ 7.Bc8#

Try: 1.Bc4? h5! 2.Kf1 h4 3.Kg2 h3+ 4.Kxh3 f6! and the White King lacks shelter, making 5.Be6 impossible. White can't lose a tempo to play 6.Be6 either.