Jump to content

User:Gnorthup/Chess problem

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Problem 1
abcdefgh
8
f8 black queen
e7 black knight
e6 black king
a5 white pawn
d5 black pawn
f5 black bishop
b4 white knight
c3 white king
b2 white bishop
c1 white rook
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
White's move: Both sides vulnerable and tight. Checkmate in fewest.

This month's chess buff problem.

For help on notation, see my VDN.

It is white's turn, and both sides are vulnerable to attack. Notice also that black and white are clearly segmented and packed their own corners. Black has retained its queen (a major asset), but white has its foundations (a rook and a bishop), coincidentally so close together). Both sides have pawns (notice black pawn@d5 is attacked by white's knight and defended by black's knight). What is the strategy for checkmating in the least amount of moves (from either side)?