Chess 3 - Puzzle Prime

Mystery Mate

Section: Brain Teasers Category: Chess

Difficulty: Advanced

White plays and mates Black in one move. However, there is a mystery in this position that has to be revealed first.

SOLUTION

The mystery is that someone has just placed one extra black pawn on the board – there are 9 in total. Also, no matter which one is the added pawn, there always exists a mate in one move.

If the extra pawn was a7 – Qb6
If the extra pawn was b7 – Kc6
If the extra pawn was c4 – Qb4
If the extra pawn was d3 – Qe4
If the extra pawn was e3 – Bxf2
If the extra pawn was f7 – Ke6
If the extra pawn was g6 – Rg4
If the extra pawn was h3 – Rh4

Unknown Author December 28, 2019

0 Comments

Do Not Mate!

Section: Brain Teasers Category: Chess

Difficulty: Medium

Find a move for White, which does not result in a mate.

SOLUTION

The move is Rc6+. Then Black can play Rxh7.

Karl Febel November 22, 2019

2 Comments

Mate in 1

Section: Brain Teasers Category: Chess

Difficulty: Medium

White to move and mate in 1.

Remark: There is only one correct answer.

SOLUTION

The answer is Qa3#.

Unknown Author September 1, 2019

8 Comments

Invisible King

Section: Brain Teasers Category: Chess

Difficulty: Expert

The white king has made himself invisible. Where is he?

SOLUTION

The white king is on c3. Since he cannot be currently on b3 (he will be in double check from the black rook and the black bishop), Black must be currently in check from the white bishop. That’s possible only if White has given a discovered check with his king. That’s possible only if on the previous move, the white king was on b3 and was in double check. The only possible way for this to happen is if Black gave two discovered checks at the same time. The one way to do this is if a black pawn on b4 captured a white pawn on c3 using en passant. Thus after b4xc3, the white king has just captured the black pawn on c3, and that is where he is currently hiding.

Raymond Smullyan August 19, 2019

0 Comments

35 Moves

Section: Brain Teasers Category: Chess

Difficulty: Expert

Design a game that takes less than 35 moves to get to the position below.

SOLUTION

One possible solution is:

1.d3 h6 2.Bxh6 f5 3.Qd2 f4 4.Qxf4 a5 5.Qxc7 Kf7 6.g3 Kg6 7.Bg2 Kh5 8.Bxb7 Kg4 9.Nf3 Kh3 10.Bxc8 e5 11.Bxg7 e4 12.Kd2 e3+ 13.Kxe3 Kg2 14.Ng1 Kf1 15.Kf3 Ke1 16.Qxa5+ Bb4 17.Nc3+ Kd2 18.Rf1 Rh3 19.Bxd7 Nh6 20.Nd1 Kc1 21.Bxh6+ Kb1 22.Bc1 Na6 23.Kg2 Rc8 24.Bxh3 Rc3 25.Nxc3+ Ka1 26.Nb1 Nc5 27.Rd1 Be1 28.Qxe1 Ne4 29.Kf1 Nd2+ 30.Rxd2 Qd5 31.Qd1 Qg2+ 32.Ke1 Qf1+ 33.Bxf1

Bader Al-Jahiri July 22, 2019

2 Comments

Tight Spot

Section: Brain Teasers Category: Chess

Difficulty: Medium

White starts and mates in 2 moves.

SOLUTION

White plays Rh6. If Black moves the bishop, Rxh7 is a mate. If Black takes the rook, g7 is a mate.

Paul Morphy June 17, 2019

0 Comments

The Last Move

Section: Brain Teasers Category: Chess

Difficulty: Medium

What was the last move made in this game?

SOLUTION

The last move was white king takes black knight on c1.

Karl Febel May 22, 2019

2 Comments

How many moves?

Section: Brain Teasers Category: Chess

Difficulty: Advanced

If Black just made a move in this game, what is the minimum amount of moves that have been played?

SOLUTION

8 moves example:

1. f3 Nf6
2. Kf2 Ng8
3. Ke3 Nf6
4. Kd3 Ng8
5. Ke4 Nf6
6. Ke3 NNg8
7. Kf2 Nf6
8. Ke1 Ng8

In order to see that 8 is the minimum number of moves, notice that Black could only move rooks and knights, and therefore he has made an even number of moves. This implies that White has made an odd number of moves, excluding the pawn on f3. This is possible only if he has placed his king on a white cell at some point and then returned it back to e1, which would take at least 8 moves.