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Chess Puzzles
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Knight Mate
       What is the shortest legal chess game ending in checkmate by a knight? The game must be rational in the sense that a player will take an unprotected piece.


Mate in 2 (contributed by Vitaly Astistov)

       White to move and mate in two.

Solved by:   Arijit Bhattacharyya, Gerald Harrison



Minimum Mate (contributed by David V. Murray)

       White to move and mate in the fewest possible moves.

Solved by:   Pete Wiedman, Arijit Bhattacharyya



Mate in 3 (contributed by Vitaly Astistov)

       White to move and mate in 3.

Solved by:   Pete Wiedman, Gerald Harrison, Arijit Bhattacharyya



4 Mates In One
       Construct a position, using the fewest possible pieces, where white has exactly one mating move with a queen, a rook, a bishop and a knight. [If the white king does not participate, then it is not counted.] [Do not count the white king if it does not participate.]

Solved by:   Gerald Harrison


5 Mates In One
       Construct a position, using the fewest possible pieces, where white has exactly one mating move with a queen, a rook, a bishop, a knight and a pawn. The pawn itself must mate; it cannot promote and then mate. [Do not count the white king if it does not participate.]

Solved by:   Gerald Harrison


Double Discovered Check (contributed by Pete Wiedman)
       Construct a position, using no more than 7 pieces altogether, in which white's next move results in a double discovered check (that is, discovered check from 2 different white pieces) and checkmate.

Solved by:   Josiah K., David Smith


Bishop Promotion (contributed by Pete Wiedman)
       Construct a position, using no more than 5 pieces altogether, in which white's only winning move is to promote a pawn to a bishop.

Solved by:   Matt Wright, David Smith


Rook Covers
       What is the smallest number of rooks needed so that every unoccupied square on an M×N chessboard, M<N, is covered, that is, under attack? How many different ways can this be done?

Solved by:   Nick McGrath, Toby Gottfried, Gaurav Agrawal


Rook Covers #2
       What is the smallest number of white and black rooks needed on an M×N chessboard, M<N so that no rook attacks a rook of the opposite color, and every unoccupied square is under attack by rooks of both colors?

Solved by:   Lee Morgenstern


Rook Covers #3
       What is the total number of different ways that white and black rooks can be placed on an M×N chessboard, M<N so that no rook attacks a rook of the opposite color, every unoccupied square is under attack by rooks of both colors, and the minimum number of rooks are used?

Solved by:   Lee Morgenstern


Bishop Covers
       What is the smallest total number of white and black bishops needed on an M×N chessboard, M<N so that no bishop attacks a bishop of the opposite color, and every unoccupied square is under attack by bishops of both colors?

Solved by:   Lee Morgenstern


Attack (contributed by Sudipta Das)
       Place 1 king, 2 queens, and 5 knights on a standard chessboard so that every square is under attack.

Solved by:   Jean-Charles Meyrignac, Lee Morgenstern, Gerald Harrison


Attack #2 (contributed by Sudipta Das)
Place 2 queens, 2 white bishops and 2 black bishops on this chessboard so that every square is under attack. One king has already been placed.


Solved by:   Gerald Harrison, Andreas Abraham, Rik Sheldon, Lee Morgenstern


Chess Knights
       What is the smallest number of knights of one color that you can place on a standard chessboard so that every square is either occupied or under attack?

Solved by:   John DeClerck, Lee Morgenstern, Shaun Mills, Daniel Thomason


Chess Knights #2
       What is the smallest number of knights that you can place on a chessboard so that (1) no knight attacks a knight of the opposite color, and (2) every unoccupied square is under attack by both black and white knights?

Solved by:   Lee Morgenstern, Shaun Mills


Move and Win (contributed by Gilles Ravat)

       White to move and win.

[This problem was originally created in 1865 by Max Lange.]


Solved by:   Tim Browne, Hareendra Yalamanchili, Lee Morgenstern, Shaun Mills, Joshua Woodard, Arijit Bhattacharyya .


Move and Win #2
White to move and win.
                WK  
                   
BB   BQ             BK
                   
  WR                
    BB             WN
                   
      WB            


Solved by:   Lee Morgenstern, Kelly Burner, Shaun Mills, Pete Wiedman, Arijit Bhattacharyya .



Click here for BISHOP COVERINGS
Click here for KNIGHT COVERINGS

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