Fastest checkmate
In the position below, how can White give the fastest checkmate? (Assume both players are moving optimally.)
The target square of the first move can be represented as a coordinate , where the bottom left corner is at . Input the product of and as your answer.
The answer is 16.
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Note that as of now the white king is restricting the escape of black king by preventing it from going into the shaded squares. However, the king can escape in exactly two moves if it were to move in either one direction. If we move our king from our initial position, we allow it to simply mirror our moves and force threefold repetition leading to a draw, or an infinitely long game. As the black pawns cannot move, the black king must certainly move from it's position. If Qe5 is played, it brings the queen on the perfect diagonal to prevent the black king from escaping in the second move.
Possibilities
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