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In this selfmate puzzle is there more than one solution? I think I found one but I was curious to know if there is more than one.

4N2k/5P2/3p1rP1/2pP4/2p1K1R1/2B1P1N1/6Pp/8 w - - 0 0

Credit: J. C. J. Wainwright, first published in Alain C. White's Theory of Pawn Promotion, 1912

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I'm assuming you did not know the name of its author.

When you post problems that aren't your own, you owe it to the composers to acknowledge their work. This is a problem by J. C. J. Wainwright, and is in two moves. (It was first published in Alain C. White's Theory of Pawn Promotion, 1912.)

And, no, it has only one solution. (Added explanation: In the problem world, a 'solution' is the first move (the key move), and all subsequent variations that meet the limits of the stipulation, which in this case is 'self-mate in two moves'. Problems that have solutions with more than one key move are considered to be faulty, unless there are good reasons for the number of key moves.)

If you want to double check, try the on-line chess problem database YACPDB (https://www.yacpdb.org/), where a lot of chess problems have been recorded by users. Here is the link directly to it: https://www.yacpdb.org/#262458

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  • Sorry. I didn't know who's puzzle is it. I'll be more carefull next time. Thank you. As i've seen in the solutions posted, i think only 2 are classic definition of self-mates, no? The rest are not self mates
    – dr.vlad lup
    Dec 8, 2020 at 10:34
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    Not a problem -- if you didn't know, there's nothing to do but to post as it stands.
    – user24765
    Dec 8, 2020 at 10:41
  • I'm guessing I'm just missing something, but doesn't the link show multiple possibilities? (depending on which piece black selects) Why do you say there is only one? Is that under the assumption black takes a queen on promotion?
    – TCooper
    Dec 8, 2020 at 20:31
  • It's a puzzle form 1912. I don't think anyone would bother anymore
    – David
    Dec 8, 2020 at 23:07
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    @dr.vladlup: Black has a choice of first moves, but for every one of them, there will be one move by White where Black will have no legal moves that do not checkmate White (in the case where Black promotes to a knight, black will have two legal moves, but both will checkmate White).
    – supercat
    Dec 8, 2020 at 23:38

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