Wandering King

Which squares must have been occupied by the White King?

Have you ever found anyone on this forum who can do these ridiculously hard puzzles?

Originally posted by Bifrost
Have you ever found anyone on this forum who can do these ridiculously hard puzzles?

Yes, there are several good solvers here. Guys like Jirakon, Mephisto2, ilywrin, peakite, and heinzkat just to name a few.

Originally posted by Bifrost
Have you ever found anyone on this forum who can do these ridiculously hard puzzles?

Actually, this one isn't terribly difficult, for a retro problem.

Could you tell me the number of squares on which it can be proven the white king stood?

Originally posted by Jirakon
Could you tell me the number of squares on which it can be proven the white king stood?

6, including his starting square [e1].

OK, it's time to break this problem down step by step.

What is the minimum number of pawn captures needed to get this pawn structure?

WAIT!!! I'm still working on it. I haven't had much time to concetrate on this for more than a few minutes at a time, and I've made some progress. But I'm free for a while now.

And the pawn captures were, of course, the first things I considered.

I'm working on this one also 🙂

Ok, I'm at my work now, and can't try it on a real board, but I think the white King must have been on e1, d1, g4, h3, g2 and f1 where it is now.

I think I can prove it, but I'll wait to see if I'm correct, and in case I am, I don't want to spoil the fun for Jirakon or any other.

Originally posted by ElFantasma
Ok, I'm at my work now, and can't try it on a real board, but I think the white King must have been on e1, d1, g4, h3, g2 and f1 where it is now.

I think I can prove it, but I'll wait to see if I'm correct, and in case I am, I don't want to spoil the fun for Jirakon or any other.

If you PM me with your proof, I can tell you whether it's correct or not without spoiling things for others.

Originally posted by SwissGambit
If you PM me with your proof, I can tell you whether it's correct or not without spoiling things for others.

Ok. But it'll take me a while to write down. I'll send you a PM with some general tips, to see if I'm ok, and maybe tomorrow I'll try to write the whole proof.

Originally posted by ElFantasma
Ok. But it'll take me a while to write down. I'll send you a PM with some general tips, to see if I'm ok, and maybe tomorrow I'll try to write the whole proof.

I received a PM, but there was nothing in it.

Originally posted by SwissGambit
I received a PM, but there was nothing in it.

Yes, sorry, now I'm writing the good one 🙂

Well, I'm still working on this one. I'm not so sure about my previous answer now. Specificaly, White king could have been on d1 or not, since it could have castled queenside avoiding that square. Also not sure again about g4.

Still thinking, though... I have another issue to avoid giving Mate to black king. Except for that, I can create a whole game to this final position.

Great puzzle, anyway.