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Found this construction problem from '83 and liked it. I don't know the best solution (yet), and maybe you can top it anyway.

Consider the (help) "game" 1.e4 a6 2.Bc4 a5 3.Qh5 a4. Now White can mate in two ways (and I doubt this value can be increased having 6 preceding half-moves). Maximize the number of possible White mates after 12 half-moves (which you choose).

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3
  • 5
    The count for 6 preceding half-moves can be increased! 1.e4 f5 2.Bc4 fxe4 3.Qf3 g5, followed by 4.Qh5#, 4.Qf7# or 4.Bf7#
    – James Martin
    Commented Jan 23 at 0:33
  • THX. If I had had formulated as a question, the post might have been closed due to one question too many :-)))
    – Hauke Reddmann
    Commented Jan 23 at 7:29
  • 1
    I can confirm by brute force that 1. e4 f5 2. Bc4 fxe4 3. Qf3 g5 is the only position with 3 different mates after 6 half-moves. There are also 5 other transpositions of those moves that yield the same position.
    – LegionMammal978
    Commented Jan 23 at 18:04

4 Answers 4

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3

15:

[FEN ""]
1. e3 f6 2. a4 Kf7 3. a5 Kg6 4. Ra4 Kf5 5. Bc4 Ke4 6. Qh5 Qe8

There are 11. discovered check mates plus 7. Qd5# 7. d3# 7. f3# and 7. Nc3#

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2
  • 1
    I moved the "accepted" to this. Funny, a position like that was I instinctively strived for initially.
    – Hauke Reddmann
    Commented Jan 28 at 16:15
  • I wonder whether there is a way to improve this considering that black has a semi-move spare.
    – Albert.Lang
    Commented Jan 28 at 17:25
11

11 without discovered checks:

[FEN ""]
[startply "12"]

1. e3 e6 2. d4 Ke7 3. Bc4 Kf6 4. Nh3 Kf5 5. Bxe6+ Ke4 6. Qh5 Qe8
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2
  • I count 12, 3 knight, 1 pawn, 2 bishop, 6 queen
    – Charles Roddie
    Commented Jan 23 at 22:59
  • 6
    @CharlesRoddie only 1 bishop mate because alas Bf5+ Kd5
    – Noam D. Elkies
    Commented Jan 23 at 23:40
8

5.5 moves to 14 fool's mates:

[FEN ""]
[startply "11"]

1. b4 e6 2. Bb2 Qh4 3. Bxg7 Ne7 4. Bb2 Rg8 5. g3 Rxg3 6. f4

For 6.0 moves, start with something like 1. a3 and then reverse the colors (1. a3 b5 2. e3 Bb7 3. Qh5 Bxg2 etc.).

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5
  • This raises the old adage of if unique or not and such is wanted.
    – Rewan Demontay
    Commented Jan 22 at 22:23
  • 1
    @RewanDemontay Usually in such tasks different discoveries do count as different mates; I note that you accepted such an answer yourself <chess.stackexchange.com/questions/24061>.
    – Noam D. Elkies
    Commented Jan 22 at 22:45
  • Very true; I raised the point as Hauke did not specify, and you can never quite know with him.
    – Rewan Demontay
    Commented Jan 22 at 23:45
  • 1
    Hauke says that in this setting, discovered checks are perfectly OK and he already tried in vain to set up such a battery (to his defense, 6 o'clock in the morning half asleep in his head :-)
    – Hauke Reddmann
    Commented Jan 23 at 7:27
  • Accepted; I lack the imagination how a full rook cross shall be beaten.
    – Hauke Reddmann
    Commented Jan 25 at 22:04
3

I bid 7.

[FEN ""]
[startply "12"]

1. e4 f6 2. Qf3 Kf7 3. Be2 Kg6 4. e5 Kg5 5. d4+ Kh4 6. d5 e6
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