Questions tagged [problems]
A chess problem consists of a board position and a task. Most often the problem asks to find a line of play that mates black in a given number of moves, or to find a combination that guarantees a winning position. There are many other kinds of problems, some far removed from standard chess play. Tournaments and championships exist for both the composition of original problems and for speed-solving.
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Arrange 5 non-attacking knights on a 5x5 toroidal board
The celebrated British mathematician and lover of public transport, Simon Norton, was one of those who passed in 2019. He was the subject of a wonderful biography and one of my favourite human beings: ...
7
votes
3answers
266 views
Useful solving composed mate-in-2 problems?
I'm solving mate-in-2 puzzles from the Polgar 5334 problems book.
Many of these are composed problems, and are hard (for me) to solve. Often I have to spend 10-15 minutes before finding the solution....
0
votes
2answers
189 views
List of famous, but incorrect, chess problems
Surely it has happened, that a famous chess problem turned out to be incorrect because some move was overlooked. Maybe a chess engine found out that a classic problem was bad! Is there a collection of ...
7
votes
1answer
242 views
Pal Benko's final problem
EDIT: Link added
One of my chess heroes, Hungarian GM Pal Benko, is no longer with us. He overcame many difficulties in his early life to live one which was rich and full, and reached the age of 91 ...
4
votes
2answers
202 views
Does anyone have a version of the 50x50 article by Nikita Plaksin?
In 1979, Nikita M. Plaksin published a reportedly fascinating article containing 50 problems all related to the 50 moves rule. Unfortunately I can't find it anywhere, the only links that I could find ...
9
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2answers
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Identify a problem where a potentially winning move draws because of the 50 move rule
I'm trying to recall a particular chess problem. It's related to retrograde analysis. All what I can remember is this: it's an endgame where there is only one way to reach the position, and during ...
0
votes
2answers
574 views
Most possible movement by the losing side in a zugzwang position
Usually, in a zugzwang, the idea is to limit the number of moves that the opponent can make so that they will have to make a bad move. But what if we decided to give them lots of freedom, given that ...
4
votes
3answers
295 views
Maximum number of ways to get out of check
What is the maximum number of legal moves in a legal position, given that the player is in check?
It's easy to see that 43 is an upper bound. Let's suppose the white K is in check along a diagonal by ...
6
votes
2answers
186 views
Looking for an iPhone app for working out chess problems
I'm looking for an iPhone app that will allow me to set up a chess problem and work out its solution. I've seen apps that present me with a battery of chess problems but don't allow me to set up my ...
0
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2answers
236 views
Regarding The Horse Concoction-A Retrograde Analysis Question
Long ago in 2000, Tim Krabbe presented Harry Goldsteen’s “The Horse Concoction,” presented here on the Internet, which some of us know about.
Take an empty board. Put white pawns on b3, b6, h4 and ...
1
vote
1answer
97 views
What is a “dual” in chess problems, such as the Babson task?
I’ve read up on Babson tasks, and they mention that all known tasks are not perfect because they are duals. I’m not sure what this means exactly. Does it mean that the problem takes place in two parts ...
2
votes
2answers
282 views
Longest series of mutual “!” moves
Normally I'd pester the/a computer chess forum, but I couldn't register yet...
On the Matplus chess forum, the following construction task came up.
Both White and Black are on the brink of ...
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vote
2answers
402 views
An Interesting Idea: Pinned Pieces Stalemate
I had an idea for a type of stalemate: One side is stalemated with 8 pins in a legal position.
I wondered how many units. for both sides, could be “nessecary” in such a position. I define this as ...
3
votes
1answer
107 views
Is there a chess AI that can force checkmate on a specified square?
I'm looking for a program that can force a lone king into checkmate on a specific square. Are there any programs out there that can do this?
2
votes
1answer
416 views
Searching for a “where is the black king” puzzle?
Sometimes ago, a friend showed me a position where he had the black king removed. The goal was to find where is the black king using some pretty weird reasoning.
I tried to remember the puzzle but I ...
11
votes
2answers
622 views
Benko's three-mover that stumped Fischer
In Christian Hesse's book The Joy of Chess one reads about a mate-in-3 problem composed by Pál Benkö that stumped Bobby Fischer. Hesse gives the following diagram:
[FEN "8/8/8/4k3/8/8/8/2BQKB2 w - - ...
10
votes
3answers
638 views
Using the king to prevent castling
What is a more difficult problem which involves using the king to prevent castling than the following problem?
White to play and win:
[FEN "r3k3/5p2/2K2P1P/b1N1P2P/8/8/4n3/8 w q - 0 1"]
4
votes
2answers
177 views
How does white mate in two?
In this problem, it’s White to move and mate in two. What is the solution?
1
vote
1answer
223 views
White gives checkmate in two moves
It’s White to move and checkmate Black in two moves. Can anyone find the solution?
4
votes
2answers
242 views
Is this selfmate solvable or fixable?
This is a kind of a repost of a fascinating chess problem that appeared yesterday. The original poster got shy or something, and bafflingly deleted his own post, which was beginning to attract some ...
8
votes
4answers
483 views
Can you mate with each of your 16 pieces on its original square?
An opinion poll conducted by problem composer Roberto Osorio over 10 master-level chess players in the Argentine Chess Club produced 100% wrong answers! :-)
When the right answer is posted here, I ...
9
votes
2answers
309 views
E.Umnov's chess problem, 1944. Checkmate in two moves
White to play and checkmate in two moves.
[title "E.Umnov's chess problem, 1944"]
[FEN "k7/5QK1/3n1pb1/1R1p1r2/5p2/8/1p6/4R3 w KQkq - 0 1"]
15
votes
3answers
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Beautiful retrograde analysis problem by Alexsey A. Troitsky
I saw this beautiful, subtle & accessible problem a couple of days ago, and wanted to share it with you folks. (It's by the ground-breaking endgame theorist who e.g. invented the "Troitsky line" ...
3
votes
3answers
284 views
What was Black's last move?
White to move. What was Black's last move? And what could have happened before that?
6
votes
1answer
296 views
Prove color of pawn and position of knight
I was recently given a retrograde type of puzzle to solve, even though I've managed to at least intuitively get close to an answer, I don't know how to put it in the form of an acceptable proof. For ...
41
votes
4answers
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Win the game by just moving king?
How short can a game be in which (after the first move) one player moves only his King, and yet checkmates their opponent?
(Assume that the players co-operate: i.e. this is a kind of "helpmate". This ...
10
votes
3answers
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Euwe-Aljechin Amsterdam 1935 problem
I came across this puzzle that I couldn't solve and after looking at the solution I am still not sure what is going on here.
[FEN "5k2/p5pp/r7/2pB2p1/b1P5/6P1/4PP1P/R5K1 w - - 0 1"]
The best move ...
11
votes
3answers
764 views
Mutual Stalemate
You are required to find position such that:
1) Any move made by White or Black leads to stalemate for both sides immediately.
2) The position can be reached from the starting position of a chess ...
5
votes
2answers
345 views
Biggest Possible Material Advantage But Still Losing
Assuming: Queen=9, Rook=5, Bishop=3, Knight=3, Pawn=1
The below position is evaluated at +411 for White but he still loses by force (mate in 9, pawn promotes to a bishop just for the fun of it)
Is ...
5
votes
5answers
608 views
How can I control my nerves during chess tournaments?
I always get nervous during a chess match and that really affects my performance. I can easily beat a 1400-1500 in a friendly match but when it comes to a tournament, I can't even win against 1300s. I ...
7
votes
3answers
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“Knight rebus”. Decipher an encoded chess position
Here is a rebus:
Each letter represents a different type of piece.
Uppercase is one colour, lowercase is the other.
Determine the position.
If possible, also determine the last moves
...
3
votes
3answers
446 views
Where to find specific endgame practice exercises/puzzles/practice bots?
I'm looking for a set of exercises (contained in a book, website, or chess engine) where I can practice what I know in regards to rook and pawn vs. rook endgames. I could find a friend to randomly ...
2
votes
2answers
148 views
Where to find Tactical Exercises on the Decoy
A decoy tactic is forcing an enemy piece to move to a square that prevents it from guarding an original square.
For example, if the black queen is at c7 and the f7 square is being attacked, getting ...
3
votes
2answers
552 views
Checkmate in 6 moves
Can somebody tell me the right six moves, what has to be done?
[FEN "n1N3br/2p1Bpkr/1pP2R1b/pP1p1PpR/Pp4P1/1P6/1K1P4/8 w - - 0 1"]
2
votes
2answers
192 views
“chess problem” software (free/paid) to download for PC?
I tried one a while back but it was quite elementary, it had a few thousand problems but did not give detailed answers, just one single move as correct and that's it!
I do play Chesstempo sometimes ...
4
votes
1answer
382 views
Generate Simple Mate In 1 From Tablebases (for kids)
I was trying to find a kid's app for chess that has some incredibly simple problems. However, all the apps I found had rather tricky problems. So I thought I would download 3 piece table bases and use ...
3
votes
1answer
164 views
A chess problem (need help with analysis)
my question is about the position below.
This is, if I copied it correctly, from a book called "How Good Is Your Chess" by Evans. I'm an amateur so pretty much every single problem is difficult and ...
3
votes
1answer
823 views
Is there a master list of FEN chess positions for advanced beginner/intermediate?
I'm an advanced beginner. I don't have internet access as much as I like to, so I'd much rather have a series of chess position FENs that I can put into some free chess engine and then try to play ...
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votes
5answers
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What is the longest known stalemate your opponent in x-moves problem?
What is the longest known stalemate your opponent in x-moves problem where the given stalemate is the fastest one from the initial position? A win is not possible, but stalemating your opponent so ...
4
votes
1answer
495 views
Where can I find collections of chess problems (ideally direct mate) with solutions?
I'm working on a chess program that gives the user various compositions for them to solve. So far I'm only including mate in n problems where 1 < n < 5, and I'd prefer to only deal with this ...
15
votes
4answers
619 views
Is the chess problem a dead form?
Or, to ask the question a bit less opinionatedly, "what new ideas have been introduced in chess problems over the last 20 years?" I imagine many problems have been composed in that time, but it seems ...
8
votes
3answers
420 views
Problems: record for most mates-in-2
Does anyone know what the record for most mates-in-2 is for a composed problem?
Example: this one has 58 different moves that mate in 2.
[FEN "6R1/8/8/8/3Q3B/5K2/7k/1R6 w - - 0 1"]
15
votes
2answers
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Prove that white is not allowed to castle here
A friend recently gave me the following weird chess problem to solve, and I'm afraid I'm struggling to see the key ideas, that would ultimately count as proof. From the position, intuitively speaking ...
5
votes
1answer
383 views
How is this retrograde analysis position legal?
On his page on Harry Goldsteen's "horse concoction", Tim Krabbé gives this position by "N. Höeg, 1935":
With the stipulation "add 10 white rooks; black mates in 1". He then claims that "Retrograde-...
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2answers
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Standalone chess problem solver for Android
Which android app can:
Solve chess problems without internet connection as well.
Support manually edit board according to the problem.
Ideally this app should allow a person to step back on any ...
10
votes
2answers
269 views
Source of this chess problem?
[FEN "8/8/8/6pp/6pk/R7/6KP/8 w - - 0 1"]
1. Rh3+ gxh3+ 2. Kf3 g4+ 3. Kf4 g3 4. hxg3# 1-0
What is the source of this simple chess problem (White to mate in four) which somebody showed me at a chess ...
2
votes
2answers
205 views
Does FIDE give titles to chess composers?
If so, do share more insight about the how-tos and other links to read. Thanks!
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6answers
1k views
Creative chess puzzles! [closed]
What are some of the creative chess problems that can never be solved by computers? Question changed to Creative chess puzzles!
What are some of the creative chess problems that computers can never ...
11
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1answer
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White to force the end of the game in two moves
I found this hilarious problem and hope people will have fun solving it:
Niels Hoeg, Skakbladet 1907
[FEN "8/8/6p1/5pP1/5P1K/5PpP/4p2p/2Q2Bkr w - - 0 1"]
White to end the game in two moves.
In ...
4
votes
1answer
253 views
Chess challenge #10: A beautiful knightmare
This time I bring you a beautiful composition. White is down material but is about to queen the d7 pawn. The only problem is the knight fork on f7 and if he doesn't act very quickly Black is going to ...
