Find a legal move for white that does NOT mate in one.
Source: by Karl Fabel & was reprinted in Martin Gardner's New Mathematical Diversions from Scientific American (pub. Simon & Schuster), ch.19, p.223
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1I like to accept >12-18 hours after posting, because then you get attention to your puzzle but don't forget about the accepting altogether – boboquack May 26 '17 at 00:15
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11It would be nice to add the proper reference for this puzzle, which was invented by puzzle master Sam Loyd. – Yrodro May 26 '17 at 04:46
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3@Yrodro It would indeed be nice to add the proper reference. I regret that I don't have it (the problem appears to not be in PDB or YACPDB), but I can say that it's by Karl Fabel & was reprinted in Martin Gardner's New Mathematical Diversions from Scientific American (pub. Simon & Schuster), ch.19, p.223. – Rosie F May 26 '17 at 06:36
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have you looked at the solution? – Quintec May 26 '17 at 18:50
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1This is not a unique puzzle! – user64742 May 27 '17 at 01:54
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@TheGreatDuck how, exactly? – Quintec May 27 '17 at 22:51
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1@RosieF thanks for the source, I added it! – Quintec May 28 '17 at 00:36
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@thecoder16 you didn't create the password. Therefore, it is not unique. – user64742 May 28 '17 at 01:46
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@TheGreatDuck I think you misunderstand the definition of unique. I never said I created it. I just thought it was an unique puzzle. – Quintec May 28 '17 at 01:56
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@thecoder16 I know that. My definition of unique is that there is only one in existence. It was mostly a joke. You took it far too seriously. :p – user64742 May 28 '17 at 02:17
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@TheGreatDuck well yeah, hehe https://cdn.someecards.com/someecards/usercards/1339697486028_3996655.png – Quintec May 28 '17 at 13:49
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@thecoder16 sarcasm is a bad choice of words there. I was mostly making an ironic joke about your title and the need for a reference. – user64742 May 28 '17 at 19:29
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Quite confused now. – bleh May 29 '17 at 17:47
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Is there a way to rule out / be sure of the board orientation? How can one be sure that the white pawns attack northwards? – Alfie J. Palmer May 30 '17 at 13:05
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@AlfieJ.Palmer because I say so :) admittedly, i should've included rank and file labels in the picture. – Quintec May 30 '17 at 13:10
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Now also on Chess Stack Exchange: Uniquely Satisfying Puzzle – Glorfindel Jan 13 '20 at 07:55
3 Answers
40
I've found the actual answer:
1. Rc6
Then:
1... Rxh7
Because:
The rook isn't pinned any more
Picture:
boboquack
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1You could extend this puzzle to "White to play and stalemate", with 2. Rxc5+ Rb7 3. Kf8 1/2-1/2 – Vitruvie May 27 '17 at 00:36
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Another commonly seen solution to this sort of problem:
White can legally resign.
ais523
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6also not the intended answer, but true, i guess :) I think they need to make a meta post about chess loopholes now! xD – Quintec May 26 '17 at 00:07
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12The puzzle explicitly asks for a legal move. Resignation isn't a move. – David Richerby May 26 '17 at 19:20
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1There's an unwritten convention that players can't resign or agree a draw. That would just break so many problems. If you have commonly seen it, then please show me an example: I would really appreciate it. – Laska Nov 03 '17 at 14:22
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I suspect the trick is, as with so many chess puzzles, that:
we are looking at the board the wrong way.
In this case, there are several possible moves:
Actually, I think there's no move that can force mate, if this is the case, because now the pawns are 'blocking' the wrong squares.
boboquack
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1nice try, but this is not the case for this puzzle. the rank on the bottom is indeed the first rank. – Quintec May 25 '17 at 23:59
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1It's true that sometimes the board is upside down. That is probably the most common unofficial joke. But you need to exhaust other options first. (The official joke, enshrined in the legendary Codex of Chess Problem Conventions, is that it may be the unexpected side to move, if you can prove that the expected side couldn't have moved last.) – Laska Nov 03 '17 at 14:24