# 4x4 chessboard, bishops and knights are removed, 4 moves to checkmate

Four-by-four chessboard
Bishops and knights are removed
Four moves to checkmate

Minor spoiler:

Many ways to win
I counted nine solutions
But one is special

Source: Me, I think this website needs more haiku :)

• there's not enough room for 8 pawns aside. can i assume 4 pawns a side are missing too? – SteveV Jan 10 '19 at 0:22
• No further comment / Time for explaining is past / Death of the author :-) – deep thought Jan 10 '19 at 3:23

I'm going to assume this is the intended puzzle:

Mate in 4.

Here's one solution (or four, depending on how you count), I think:

Take twice on b3.
B-pawn takes; discovered check.
Queen to a2, mate.


Or in a more common notation:

 1. axb3+  Qxb3
2. cxb3+  Kxb3
3. bxa3+  Kc4
4. Qa2# 
If 2. - Kb4? instead, then 3. bxc3#

After ruling out pretty much everything else, here are four more solutions: (found the special one before these, but saving it for last in order to maintain dramatic tension..)

Start just like before.
Queen to A2 on move three,
then mate with a pawn


 1. axb3+  Qxb3   (again, white can reorder the first two moves)
2. cxb3+  Kxb3
3. Qa2+   Kb4
4. bxc3# (or dxc3#)

And finally, the special one:

Sac queen on d3:
Exclamation marks galore.
Easy mate in two.


 1. cxd3+!  Rxd3
2. Qxd3+!! Kxd3
3. dxc3+   Kc4
4. Rd4# 

• Correct, that's one. Actually, that's two. The original notation can be translated into common notation two ways. – deep thought Jan 10 '19 at 1:44
• Changing the second line to "b-pawn takes: discovered check" brings that up to four, even :-) – Bass Jan 10 '19 at 1:50
• That's right, plus the nice one makes five, so you've got most of them! – deep thought Jan 10 '19 at 2:06
• ... And now nine. Well done! And extra exclamation points for your notation!! – deep thought Jan 10 '19 at 2:44