The Contest Center - Chess Puzzles

Chess puzzles

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Chess Puzzles
The Contest Center
59 DeGarmo Hills Road
Wappingers Falls, NY 12590

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We will post the names of anyone who solves
any of these puzzles.

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. [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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