Originally posted by perihelionJens Hohmeister - Tena Frank, 1993
Anyone know if its possible to reach stalemate without either side loosing any pieces?
I think it should be possible, but it's hard to find. I keep comming up with arrangements that are almost stalemate, but theres always one legal move left that sneaks in somewhere.
1.d4 d5
2.Qd2 e4
3.Qf4 f5
4.h3 Bb4+
5.Nd2 d6
6.Qh2 Be6
7.a4 Qh4
8.Ra3 c5
9.Rg3 f4
10.f3 Bb3
11.d5 Ba5
12.c4 e3
1/2-1/2
1 edit
Even allowing for the typo and the game having played beforehand - is there any story behind any of the games played like this? Surely even as late as blacks last move there are more preferable options available (fxg3 looks like leading to mate), and whites movement looks like it'd be from a retro problem.
Originally posted by perihelionSam Loyd composed both of these examples. They're both really well known (except to Bowmann, who has no idea who Sam Loyd is 😛), so I'm not surprised that tournament players have used them for pre-arranged draws.
Since it's only 12 moves, you could use a computer to check that and see if it really is the fastest way to a no loss stalemate. Pretty impressive.
I wonder if a computer was used to find that in the first place...
Originally posted by BigDoggProblemYou are right, it looked familiar to me but didn't pay attention. Strange that the note about that game didn't mention it.
Sam Loyd composed both of these examples. They're both really well known (except to Bowmann, who has no idea who Sam Loyd is 😛), so I'm not surprised that tournament players have used them for pre-arranged draws.
Sam Loyd is known for all sorts of puzzles, not just chess. The 15/16 game is probably the best known (15 little squares arranged in a 4x4 square, and you have to shift squares to put them in given sequence). Who hasn't played with that, probably more popular thanRubik's cube.