New answers tagged checkmate
3
Very difficult is relative and given enough time players of most strength should be able to find a mate in one.
I don't have a concrete example, but in my view the following features would make it more difficult (some of these exclude each other):
a large number of possible moves (i.e. lots of pieces on the board and an open position)
the mating move is ...
4
Three moves is probably in the realm where you could manually brute-force it, although it may take some effort.
Pick a move, a reply, a second move, and a second reply. Then start looking at whether White has a checkmate from that position. If not, then White's second move was incorrect, so change it. If you eliminate all possible White second moves this ...
4
The only way to prove it with 100% accuracy is to use a special engine. Since you do not want to see the solution yourself, then you could ask someone you trust to use it for you. Having a friend sit there and attempt to solve it will not really prove anything since he is human, and may not be strong enough to guarantee a correct answer.
You are almost ...
3
I did some further searching and found an article about an endgame tablebase that takes into account the 50-move rule that was created by Galen Huntington, which is an interesting concept. The article gives a position that is mate in 154 that accounts for the 50-move rule-a new length record!
However, I am not taking into account the other positions that ...
2
Here's an easy mate in 20 with a unique solution
(which becomes a very easy mate in 19 after the first move):
[Title "Noam D. Elkies, Chess Stack Exchange 2020"]
[FEN "6bn/p4p1k/p4Ppp/p7/p3K1P1/P4N2/1P6/7n w - - 0 1"]
2
Looking at the descriptions of patterns from wikipedia, this exactly fits "Mayet's mate". The section on Andersen's mate suggests opinion is divided as to whether Mayet's is a form of Andersen's or a distinct pattern.
14
Because he is losing the Rh8, and at that level, that is an EASY win. It is also worse than that as mate is coming in a few moves. Even without the almost immediate mate, being down a pawn and an exchange is a lot of material.
By the way, although black did not take it, white did offer a queen sac on move 24.Qg7, but had it been taken, a new queen would ...
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