# A Stranger (Chess Sliding Puzzle)

A suspicious stranger lurks in the village. Deal with him before escorting the King to the luxurious safety of h8.

White is first to move. Only legal chess moves are allowed. Pawns are not promoted on the final rank, nor are they removed.

Use as few moves as possible.

You can post your solutions in quasi-algebraic notation. For example, moving the pawn from b4 to c5 could be notated as Pb4c5 or b4c5 or just b4. You could also post your solutions as animations.

(Click on the image for a virtual board.)

• The problem seems equivalent to the two chess sliding puzzles of the past week after the first move. The only legal moves for the initial state are taking with b4, d4 or e4. – Arthelais Nov 29 '16 at 18:38
• In this puzzle, the option to take with b4, d4, or e4 allows the puzzler to choose which blank square he gets to start with—that dynamic is new to this puzzle. But other than that, it's just like the others. – GoldenGremlin Nov 29 '16 at 18:49
• Puzzle does not explicitly state that we can't let the stranger move first. Just that we have to deal with him before moving the king. Letting the stranger go first could free up several spaces, potentially making the puzzle much easier. – user3294068 Nov 29 '16 at 20:53
• @user3294068, good point, I'll correct this to point out that white must move first. – GoldenGremlin Nov 29 '16 at 20:54

• Very elegant solution, but I think instead of Rh8g7 you mean Rh8h7 for move 59. – GoldenGremlin Nov 29 '16 at 21:20