White to move.......

....and mate in two against any defence.

Came across some very old chess literature which contained these classic mate in two puzzles.



skeeter

fen string edit

Originally posted by skeeter
....and mate in two against any defence.

Came across some very old chess literature which contained these classic mate in two puzzles.

[fen]4K3/3Q4/8/p3k2N/r7/R2B4/5P2/7b w - - 0 1[/fen]

skeeter

fen string edit

1.Be4!! (2.Qd5# )

1...Bxe4 2.f4#
1...Rxe4 2.Rxa5#
1...Kxe4 2.Re3#
1...Rd4 2.Qe7#

Spiffy interference motif.

Originally posted by BigDoggProblem
[b]1.Be4!! (2.Qd5# )

1...Bxe4 2.f4#
1...Rxe4 2.Rxa5#
1...Kxe4 2.Re3#
1...Rd4 2.Qe7#

Spiffy interference motif.

[/b]

Too good BigDogg. Give me a minute and I'll post another.

skeeter

Same again - white to move and mate in two:




skeeter

another fen edit

Originally posted by skeeter
Same again - white to move and mate in two:

[fen]b4b2/3r4/3pr3/8/1K5N/2PR4/Q3p3/5kBR w - - 0 1[/fen]


Skeeter

1.Qa6 (2.Rd1# )

Unfortunately for Black, all of his checks cut off Ba8's attack on Rh1, allowing the Rh1/Bg1 battery to fire.

1...Rb7+ 2.Bb6#
1...d5+ 2.Bc5#
1...Re4+ 2.Bd4#

And finally
1...e1N/Q/R/B 2.Rf3#
1...Ke1 2.Qa1#

Tries: 1.Rd1+? exd1N! and 1.Qxa8? e1N!

Yep. Correct. Next one:



skeeter

By the looks of it 1.Rcc7! (2.Nc3# )
1...Ne2 2.Qxh5#; 1...Nb5 (1...Rxa4) 2.Rc5# ; 1...Bxb3 2.Bxb3#; 1...Nc6 2.Rcd7#;
EDIT: missed this 1...Ne6 2.Rec7#; 1...Nf5 2.Re5 #
EDIT2: EDIT2: missed this variants
1...Nf3 2.Qe4 #; 1...Nc2 2.b4 #; 1...Nxb3 2.Qd3 #

Yes. All the knight moves vacating d4 after the key Rc-c7 leads to a different mate. They do get harder.

skeeter

....and yet another:



The perfect zugzwang position ?

skeeter

Originally posted by skeeter
....and yet another:

[fen]8/qQ5p/3pN2K/3pp1R1/4k3/7N/1b1PP3/8[/fen]

The perfect zugzwang position ?

skeeter

1.Nd4 threatens 2.Rf5#
1. ...Kd4: Qb4#
1. ...ed: 2. Qd5:#
1. ...Qd4: 2.Qh7:
1. ...Bd4: 2.Qb1#
Sorry, couldn't find a Zugzwang here:'(

Nope . Sorry. ..Qxd4. Rf5 is not mate.

skeeter

Originally posted by skeeter
....and yet another:

[fen]8/qQ5p/3pN2K/3pp1R1/4k3/7N/1b1PP3/8[/fen]

The perfect zugzwang position ?

skeeter

Very nice!

When black is on the move, 20 possibilities each leading to checkmate in 1.

When white is on the move, Nd4! creates another zugzwang position with checkmate in 1 after all black's moves.

Originally posted by skeeter
Nope . Sorry. ..Qxd4. Rf5 is not mate.

skeeter

NO, but 1.Nd4 Qxd4 2.Qxh7#does

Originally posted by Mephisto2
NO, but 1.Nd4 Qxd4 2.Qxh7#does

That's exactly what I said. I'm sure you read my post, skeeter.

I meant that after 1.Nd4 White threatens 2.Rg4#(not Rf5,sorry).

Zugzwang means, it's a problem that it's your turn, but since white threatens mate (Rg4🙄, after 1.Nd4 white wins regardless whose turn it is. Therefore, if it's white to move (as the thread title indicates) there is no zugzwang.

Originally posted by jfkjmh
That's exactly what I said. I'm sure you read my post, skeeter.

I meant that after 1.Nd4 White threatens 2.Rg4#(not Rf5,sorry).

Zugzwang means, it's a problem that it's your turn, but since white threatens mate (Rg4🙄, after 1.Nd4 ...[text shortened]... hite to move (as the thread title indicates) there is no zugzwang.

I agree that this problem isn't about zugzwang. After 1.Nd4, a move like 1...Ba1 does not change anything. If it were a true zugzwang, all of Black's moves would damage his position in some way.