Impossible Starting Checkmate?

Logic Level 3

It's White's turn. Assuming optimal play, is it possible for White to checkmate Black, or will it be a draw?

The game is a draw Checkmate is possible

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Michael Huang by Michael Huang , 29, USA

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1 solution

Michael Huang
Jan 9, 2017

This is not the complete solution since there is no strong reason why the moves are minimized.

The least number of moves to make is as follow:

White Black
1. Bdf6 a5
2. Ba1 a4
3. B4f6 a3
4. Kc3 Kb1
5. Kb3 a2
6. Kc3 Kxa1
7. Kc2#

Another setup (but not the fastest) to win the game is:

White Black
1. Bdf6 a5
2. Ba1 a4
3. B4f6 a3
4. Kc3 Kxa1
5. Kb3+ Kb1
6. Ba1 a2
7. Kc3 Kxa1
8. Kc2#

The point of both moves is to trap the Black king to the bottom-left hand corner of the board. Two bishops are formed to control the same-colored cells.

In case you are curious, here is the reference to the elegant chess puzzle .

3 Helpful 0 Interesting 0 Brilliant 0 Confused

I think asking for a numerical answer would be better, unless you think 7 is easily guessed. We can say "Enter answer of -1 if you think white cannot checkmate".

I'm intrigued by the first checkmate, with how the black pawn is used to pin the black king.

Calvin Lin Staff - 4 years, 5 months ago

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Yes, I believe this could have worked very well. :)

That is not the easy guess by the way. It is the part of the solution: https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-most-difficult-chess-puzzle

Michael Huang - 4 years, 5 months ago

4: After Kc3, Kb1 is not a forced response. Line continues ... Kxa1 5. Kb3+ Kb1 6. Ba1 a2 7. Kc3 Kxa1 8. Kc2#.

Jason Dyer Staff - 4 years, 5 months ago

This is obviously wrong, because Black can delay the mate by at least one move by starting with 1... a6 instead of 1... a5.

Ivan Koswara - 4 years, 4 months ago

After some discussion, I think the best modification would be to reduce the question to "is white able to checkmate or is this a draw" without reference to number of moves in the question. I don't think the exact number of moves is an interesting or relevant part of the problem.

Jason Dyer Staff - 4 years, 4 months ago

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Sure thing. With the engine, it assume optimality for both players. However, some players are lost to how the checkmate is easily executed. :)

Michael Huang - 4 years, 4 months ago

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