Questions tagged [construction]
A puzzle that requires an example to be built that fits certain criteria.
98
questions
9
votes
2answers
430 views
Clash of the Robinsons
"Ridiculous!" you think "What can be the odds? Either I'm hallucinating or the amateur writing this story plunged to new depths of incompetence." Both being equally likely you don'...
3
votes
2answers
392 views
Longest chain of checks and captures
On a standard size chessboard, with white to move, make a configuration of chess pieces and moves, so that with every move by white the black king repeatedly becomes checked. With every move black ...
6
votes
0answers
179 views
Doubling the cube with rational Meccano strips
In three monographs published in 2006, 2008 and 2014 Gerard 't Hooft considered "Meccano mathematics": how to construct specified distances and regular polygons by a rigid system of ideal ...
3
votes
3answers
314 views
Chess Construction Challenge #9: Two Eggs & A Flood
I have an odd idea for this challenge. It involves a very specific proof game construction. So pay attention!
Given that:
White and Black cannot move more than one pawn each throughout the entire ...
3
votes
2answers
176 views
Chess Construction Challenge #D: 8 moves
Since I "burnt" the complete question elsewhere, let's start with "D" (I counted up in hex) and 8 moves. The position in the answer there can be improved by far!
OK, to ...
3
votes
1answer
131 views
Chess Construction Challenge #8: Three Times The Charm
On a chessboard, a piece has a set number of legal moves. It can range from 0 to 27. However, this amount can also restricted. My previous questions have covered n=1 and n=2, it is time for n=3!
Given ...
5
votes
1answer
575 views
Flat share share
This is a sequel to Gentrification in Chessshire.
Due to the febrile state of the Chesster housing market you and your flat mates are forced to rent out half your place to another group of sharers.
...
7
votes
3answers
508 views
Chess Construction Challenge #7: Double The Fun
Many thanks goes to @Retudin in a comment on my last question for this idea.
In a chess position, pieces can be restricted as to how many moves they can legally make in theory. Since my previous ...
9
votes
5answers
1k views
Chess Construction Challenge #6: The One Move Royale
In chess, it is possible for a piece to have only one legal move. For example, in this position, the Black king can move only to h2.
Given that:
All 32 pieces are available for use.
Construct:
A ...
9
votes
2answers
344 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 ...
0
votes
1answer
90 views
Self-indulgent numbers
Let's call a positive integer N self-indulgent of degree K>2 if for every positive integer k<K the following is true:
More than half of the first k multiples N,2N,...,kN of N contain with ...
3
votes
1answer
204 views
Infinite beauty
This is a follow-up to Puzzle about 6 infinite cylinders in space
Question:
Given six identical infinite (no caps) cylinders is there a beautiful arrangement in space such that each touches each ...
11
votes
2answers
713 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
989 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 ...
1
vote
2answers
213 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
280 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 ...
3
votes
1answer
177 views
Universal bisectors
A bisector is something that cuts some other thing into two equal pieces. More concretely, assume we are given a reasonably well-behaved (for example, compact) 3D object and we are looking for planes ...
5
votes
1answer
205 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, ...
0
votes
1answer
39 views
A rectangle with non-integer side lengths [duplicate]
Is it possible to build a gapless rectangle with non-integer side lengths using rectangles each with two integer side length and two non-integer side length?
The rectangles are not required to be the ...
2
votes
1answer
200 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 ...
5
votes
1answer
295 views
Triangles, rectangles, nonagons
Which is the nonagon with the least area and which fulfills the following conditions.
The nonagon has to be made from 7 triangles and 3 rectangles, all having side-lengths that are integer numbers.
...
4
votes
3answers
184 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 ...
8
votes
1answer
529 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
votes
1answer
113 views
10X10 Sudoku with a specific requirement
Let's have a 10x10 grid. We want to create a Sudoku in which, in each row, the pairs (a+b), (c+d), (e+f), (g+h), (i+j) add to one of the following numbers: 7, 9, 11, 13, or 15. Can you construct a ...
8
votes
2answers
289 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.
3
votes
3answers
186 views
Footmen and Friends #4: Double Iced
It's time for Episode 4 after a long time off air! This time, it's another unusual dazzle. It's a short, but succulent, sweet New Year's treat.
In the starting position, with no pieces other than the ...
10
votes
1answer
238 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
...
11
votes
4answers
946 views
Consecutive captures on the same square
What is the most number of consecutive captures that you can have on the same square in a standard game of chess? Assume that black and white alternate in taking turns. Good luck!
11
votes
2answers
610 views
Advantage, Black!
In chess, the white player makes the first move. It is generally understood that this gives white a minor advantage, with a win rate of 52-56%.
In this initial position, white actually has checkmate ...
5
votes
4answers
450 views
Most Captures Chess
In Most Captures Chess puzzle, you will need to provide a legal game where it is Blacks to play and where they have the most different ways to capture a White piece.
For instance, the next game allows ...
4
votes
1answer
157 views
Day-in-the-sun chess
Inspired by this puzzle: Doubled Knights redux
Let's make the following change to the rules of chess. Every piece can once per game (on its day in the sun) make a double move.
Clarifications:
Things ...
5
votes
3answers
275 views
A tribute to "Most ways to uncheck the king"
Today, we had the great privilege to see @Paul Panzer's answer being ticked at @thesilican's absorbing puzzle.
I here propose a variant of his puzzle where it's not mandatory to use a legal chess game....
18
votes
4answers
2k views
Most ways to uncheck the king
Here's my attempt at a chess puzzle
Your task is to construct a legal chess position where:
It is black's turn to move
Black is in check
Black has the greatest number of different legal moves ...
12
votes
2answers
663 views
Chain Puzzle: Tabletop Games #7 - Maze
This is the seventh Chain Puzzle in the Tabletop Games series, in which all puzzles are themed around board games, card games, tile games, and the like. The answer to this puzzle is a thematic word or ...
19
votes
1answer
1k views
Ernie and the Lock-down Puzzle
During lock-down I was feeling a bit lost for something to do, so one one day I sent Ernie a text reading "Bored".
He responded with a text-less message and an attached image (see below).
I ...
5
votes
2answers
226 views
Escape the Plane
One Sunday morning, you awake to find yourself completely alone on an infinite, flat plane. You don't remember much about the night before, other than that you may have pissed off a wizard. Next to ...
9
votes
3answers
525 views
The Existence of Total False Sudoku
Is it possible to construct a valid 9x9 puzzle of Total False Sudoku?
Total False Sudoku is a regular Sudoku puzzle where all given clue numbers are wrong. A valid puzzle is a puzzle that has only a ...
3
votes
2answers
499 views
A Puzzle about "Codeforces Subsequences"
I'm quite intrigued by an "easy" problem in recent Codeforces contest: Codeforces Subsequences.
In this problem, you have to create a string $T$ as shortest as possible such that $S = $ &...
23
votes
2answers
4k views
What if I told you that guessing in Sudoku is very bad and might give you a bad karma?
Yesterday, I tried to solve a regular Sudoku puzzle. Of course, the Sudoku puzzle had a unique solution. But, I was feeling a little lazy, so, rather than solve the puzzle properly, I made guesses! At ...
4
votes
2answers
226 views
Chess Construction Challenge #4-Excelsior!
It’s been awhile since the last one, so cheers for round four!
Given that:
It’s White to selfmate themselves in exactly 5 moves, i.e. after White’s fifth move, Black’s only legal move(s) will ...
10
votes
2answers
203 views
Mark Two Points Which Have a Distance of $\sqrt{3.6}$
Here is a grid graph with $7$ horizontal and $7$ vertical lines which are $1$ unit apart. It is trivial to mark two points which have a distance of $\sqrt{36}$.
Drawing at most two extra lines as ...
19
votes
1answer
1k views
Your Task Is to Create the World's Hardest Irregular Sudoku!
Ahem, let's formalize your task...
A Sudoku is a puzzle consisting of a grid to be filled with symbols, such that each constraining unit contains each symbol exactly once. The regular Sudoku is a $9 \...
8
votes
1answer
342 views
Constructing an island according to rules in Smullyan's "What is the Name of this Book"
I've recently finished dropping my jaw at Raymond Smullyan's "What is the Name of this Book," and the section on Gödel's incompleteness theorem, involving islands of knights (truthers) and knaves (...
5
votes
1answer
181 views
Symetrical, locked Othello game
This is an unusual ask, but bear with me...
One night back in the 1970's. I was playing Othello with a friend when I realised that, not only were there no more moves with four empty spaces remaining ...
9
votes
1answer
541 views
Connect the wires without setting off the bomb
You just saw a planted time bomb! Just 5 minutes are remaining until it explodes and as you are in currently in a rural area (no bomb disposal squad) and you know how bombs usually work it is up to ...
6
votes
1answer
560 views
Chess Construction Challenge #2-Check!
It’s time for round two!
Given that:
Black has 6 pawns and a king
White has three pieces of any kind you to deduce the identity of and a king
Construct:
A legal position in which both sides help ...
4
votes
2answers
250 views
Chess Construction Challenge #1-Read First Please!
I'm starting a new series in which I set a very specific goal with a unique (to be more specifically defined here in a bit) answer in which the solver must construct a chess position, sometimes a game,...
7
votes
2answers
295 views
A pyramid from a square
Given a square piece of paper. Cut it into 4 pieces that could be used to create a right angle pyramid - the 4 pieces are the faces of the pyramid.
5
votes
1answer
419 views
Something Large From Something Small
I have created a miniature chess puzzle that takes advantage of a piece of chess semantics that has some debate to it.
This is the puzzle:
Construct a legal (meaning that two opposite colored Kings ...