Questions tagged [chess]
A puzzle related to chess, a two-player board game with white and black pieces of varying ranks.
505
questions
3
votes
0answers
39 views
Gentrification in Chessshire
You can skip the back story and directly jump to the question.
Capitalism has arrived in suburban Chesster the community most famed for The Game, and with a vengeance. Rents have trebled in less than ...
9
votes
0answers
145 views
Chess A Knight's Journey
You'll need to know about:
A game that has existed for over 1500 years
A game that doesn't exist
♞ → I → II → III → ...
Answer = Xxxxxxxxx
1
vote
2answers
99 views
Checkmate Puzzle [closed]
I had a chess position today, in which my last position had 5 possible moves to checkmate. This seemed like a lot to me, and I immediately thought of the puzzle: Which position would yield the maximum ...
3
votes
0answers
168 views
One vs many. Can white force a draw?
On an infinite chessboard there's a single white king and N black kings. The nearest black king must be K moves away from the white king. Given N, white dictates the value of (finite) K, then black ...
2
votes
1answer
137 views
Chess-based escape room
You go in a room, the door closes. Some sign says:
You must find a forced checkmate on the black king in two moves. The key for the Vigenere is ONLY your moves. In other words, if you played Qc3 ...
11
votes
3answers
1k views
Swapping 3 knights in a 4x4 grid
Can you swap black and white knights in this 4x4 grid? There is one important constraint: at no point can a knight be under attack by an opponent knight. Knights move using standard chess moves (L ...
9
votes
1answer
145 views
Interchanging knights and rooks… again!
Is it possible to interchange the positions of the the two black knights and two black rooks with those of the two white knights and two white rooks? Movements allowed are those of the corresponding ...
24
votes
2answers
1k views
The Knight's Romp
Recently I was messing around with a singular knight on a chess board, and I came up with an interesting dilemma.
Can you move a knight, from starting on any square, such that its path covers every ...
10
votes
2answers
643 views
Never kill your king … without first seeking proper legal advice!
This is a follow-up to (Almost) all hands on check by @loopy walt.
The task (mate in one with as many essential pieces as possible) stays the same, but you are to go about it more cunningly.
Recap of ...
8
votes
3answers
959 views
(Almost) all hands on check
Historical note (skip if you like):
In this interesting puzzle @TSLF asks for the "maximum number of black and white pieces that are involved in a checkmate position".
Originally, they left ...
2
votes
5answers
360 views
Checkmate in Last Move
What is the maximum number of black and white pieces that are involved in a checkmate position? That is, if any piece were removed from the board, the position would not be checkmate because that ...
6
votes
3answers
446 views
Only kings and horses
This is the fourth entry in my decentralised or "Swiss" chess mini series. See bottom for a recap of the modified rules of Swiss chess.
Enough warm up! It is time for a proper Swiss chess ...
4
votes
2answers
217 views
Fools in Switzerland
This is the third question of my mini series on decentralised chess, or Swiss chess.
In Swiss chess, the advantage in terms of mobility of a centrally placed piece over a piece in the corner is ...
1
vote
2answers
200 views
Four pacifist queens
Earlier, I introduced the beautiful game of Swiss chess.
These are animated gifs. You may have to click on them to make them move.
Unlike the peace-loving Swiss, we are interested in "domination&...
5
votes
1answer
255 views
Four queens on public transport
The enlightened but, sadly, fictional country of Switzerland has it all: A strong democracy that resists centralism, a reliable public transport network and its own version of chess.
Swiss chess ...
5
votes
1answer
485 views
Chess - Knight Mate
What is the fastest, in terms of moves, for a legal game to come to a checkmate, either black or white with a Knight and such that both all other cases of the checkmated King are attacked by an ...
12
votes
1answer
206 views
Three white queens, two white knights, and one rook on a chess board
On an 8 x 8 chessboard, place three white queens, two white knights, and one white rook so that every cell of the board is under attack by at least one piece not standing on it.
Source: https://www....
4
votes
1answer
339 views
Two knight tours on a 4x4 grid
Two knights are placed on opposite corners of a 4x4 grid. Can you move* each knight 7 times, such that each cell of the grid is visited exactly once by exactly one of the knights?
*Note that a knight ...
1
vote
2answers
231 views
Minimize the longest King chain on a 6x6 ternary grid
This puzzle is an extension of this one: Minimize the longest King chain on a 5x5 binary board
Given a grid filled with numbers, we define a King chain to be a path on the grid such that:
The path ...
0
votes
1answer
127 views
Minimize the longest King chain on a 7x7 binary grid
This puzzle is an extension of this one: Minimize the longest King chain on a 5x5 binary board
Given a grid filled with numbers, we define a King chain to be a path on the grid such that:
The path ...
4
votes
1answer
141 views
Chess - I will eat!
Suppose that you are playing White, and your aim is to eat a black piece (pawns qualitfy) in the fewest moves as possible and Black are not cooperating at all, and, even more, Black's aim is to ...
1
vote
1answer
89 views
Reverse Engineer Chess Software Calculations
TLDR Just the Puzzle
Given a number n and a weight w the function f will result in a weighted number r as follows.
f(n, w) = r
n can be a number from 0 to 200
w can be a number from -100 to 100 (...
2
votes
0answers
97 views
Selfmate In How Few? #3-Unknown Limits
I dug up the below old position when going through a Google Docs document today. I know that it's supposed to be a somewhat winding, clearly dualed, selfmate. To be honest, I genuinely don't know the ...
13
votes
7answers
841 views
Minimize the longest King chain on a 5x5 binary board
Given a grid filled with numbers, let's define a King chain to be a path on the grid such that
the path can be traversed with chess King's moves (moving to one of 8 adjacent cells at a time),
the ...
5
votes
1answer
211 views
Chessdoku Level 1 (beginner)
I just tested out a new type of puzzle here (sorry if there's any confusion with the titling) called Chessdoku! Welcome to level 1. Here's the grid:
Your goal is to get one black and one white piece ...
12
votes
1answer
398 views
Chessdoku Level 0 (trial)
Welcome to Chessdoku! It's like Sudoku but chess! This is level 0, so it's a trial run and will be fairly simple to solve (level 1 has been posted here). This puzzle is just for the concept. Here you ...
10
votes
1answer
840 views
How many queens so every unthreatened vacant square traps a knight?
How many queens does it take at minimum to occupy an empty chess board, so that whichever vacant and non-threatened square you put a knight on, the knight won't have a square to go to that is not ...
10
votes
2answers
460 views
Sixteen chess pieces on a square board
It is well known that the eight main chess pieces cannot cover a chess board.
Suppose I have two sets of the eight main pieces. What is the size of the largest chess-like square board all of whose ...
48
votes
4answers
4k views
What was I supposed to do?
An entry in Fortnightly Topic Challenge #49: Pub Quiz Camouflage
I've had the strangest day. Today I was invited to play in a chess tournament (or so I thought). As a keen (and pretty good) chess ...
5
votes
1answer
172 views
Anti-Chess Squares
Playing regular rules for both white and black try to eliminate all the square formations by black and/or white. From the above starting setup all rooks form a square. Also white's queen rook pawn, ...
4
votes
1answer
99 views
How many queens are needed to attack all white squares?
This question: How can 3 queens control the white squares? got me thinking...
What is the fewest number of queens needed to attack every white square?
Rules:
Only queens allowed
Every white square is ...
14
votes
2answers
2k views
Three queens and two rooks covering the chess board… again!
Three queens and two rooks can be placed on a chess board so that all empty squares are under attack, as has been shown here: 3 queens and 2 rooks covering a 8x8 chess board.
What if we require that ...
7
votes
2answers
902 views
21 knights covering a 11x11 chess board
Can you place 21 knights on a 11x11 chess board, such that every empty cell is under attack? Good luck!
Here is a similar question for 10x10: Knights covering a 10x10 chess board
5
votes
1answer
830 views
3 queens and 2 rooks covering a 8x8 chess board
Can you place 3 queens and 2 rooks on a 8x8 chess board, such that every empty cell is under attack? Good luck!
6
votes
2answers
442 views
May White Castle?
Quite simply, may White castle in the below position? There is much more than what meets the eye! For the record, White pawns move up and Black pawns move down.
Nikita M. Plaksin & Michel Caillaud,...
2
votes
1answer
182 views
Piercing Bullets
Under 30-secs. bullet time control the above position results after n moves. What is the fewest number of moves possible?
30
votes
5answers
5k views
How can 3 queens control the white squares?
It is well known that there is no way of arranging 4 queens on a checker board in such a way that every square is occupied or threatened.
Now consider a slight variation where we only need to cover ...
16
votes
9answers
3k views
A fun lateral-thinking Chess puzzle [closed]
Which famous movie is suggested by the following chess position (by Trevor Tao)?
4
votes
3answers
174 views
Experts at failure
Construction challenge:
Find a position with the longest sequence of unique losing moves, i.e. white to move has one and only one move that will lead to a lost (for white) position. White makes this ...
9
votes
1answer
266 views
Chess Endgame Study
I came across this puzzle-like endgame study. Usually, opposite color bishops are draw-ish. Here's an absolutely extraordinary counter-example. Enjoy!
White to play and mate in 8.
Source: Winning ...
8
votes
1answer
516 views
Doubly Pure Checkmate
A pure checkmate is a checkmate where for each square the king might go to, there’s exactly one reason it can’t. The famous Légal mate is one example, so is a KR vs K checkmate.
What’s the minimum ...
1
vote
1answer
117 views
Mirror Mirror On The Board
Mirror mirror in the board
Decipher the riddle of this horde
How many moves to it, please?
To put my brain at ease!
Both sides help, follow their paths
The solution you must craft
Oh, and there is but ...
7
votes
2answers
278 views
Black board attack
How should Black move as to attack all the squares that have no piece on them with only ten legal moves for black? Any unoccupied squares must be attacked. Start from the position above as shown.
4
votes
2answers
173 views
Maximum number of kings that can exit
N kings are placed on a chessboard, with at most one king on any square. Following standard rules of movement (one square in any direction), every king must be able to reach some edge of the board ...
0
votes
0answers
46 views
Most checkmate moves from a single position [duplicate]
What is the most number of ways to checkmate in one move from a single chess position?
6
votes
1answer
246 views
An intriguing game construction
I found that the book "Amusements In Chess," by Henry Ernest Dudney, has been put onto the web in the form of a website. In the section "Various Chess Puzzles, I came across this ...
3
votes
3answers
155 views
Footmen and Friends #4: Double Iced
It's time for Episode 4 after a long time off air! This, it's another unusual dazzle. It's a short, but succulent, sweet New Year's treat.
In the stating position, with no pieces other than the kings, ...
10
votes
1answer
211 views
Chess Construction Challenge #5: Can't pass-ant up the chance!
For the end of the year, here is a random challenge to boggle your brains!
Given that:
White has their king, a queen, two rooks, a knight, and seven pawns
Black has their king and seven pawns
...
5
votes
1answer
184 views
Running Out of Time
You are playing with the black pieces and you know you have about a second before you run out of time and lose the game.
There is no time added to the clock and white has plenty of time left. What ...
4
votes
1answer
144 views
Find the fastest stalemate for Black!
In the below position, how many moves will it take for Black to be stalemated? Black moves first, and both sides are working together. Black's pawns are moving down. Have fun solving!
Zdravko Maslar, ...
