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BigDogg

Secret RHP coder

Only Chess

29 Jun 06

BigDogg

Secret RHP coder

on the payroll

Joined: 26 Nov 04
Moves: 155080

29 Jun 06

Black has just made his 8th move. Give the gamescore that led to the position.

cmsMaster

Joined: 02 Feb 06
Moves: 8557

29 Jun 06

Originally posted by BigDoggProblem
[fen]rnbqkb1r/2ppp1pp/p7/p7/8/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 9[/fen]

Black has just made his 8th move. Give the gamescore that led to the position.

It's impossible.

leisurelysloth

Man of Steel

rushing to and fro

Joined: 13 Aug 05
Moves: 5930

30 Jun 06

is it something like

1.e4 a5
2.e5 Nc6
3.e6 Nb8
4.exf7 Nc6
5.fxg8=B Nb8
6.Ba6 bxa6
7.Bc4 Nc6
8.Bf1 Nb8

meyekal

Joined: 29 Aug 05
Moves: 18315

30 Jun 06

1 edit

Hmm.....

ETR

Joined: 10 Apr 06
Moves: 2265

30 Jun 06

Originally posted by leisurelysloth
is it something like

1.e4 a5
2.e5 Nc6
3.e6 Nb8
4.exf7 Nc6
5.fxg8=B Nb8
6.Ba6 bxa6
7.Bc4 Nc6
8.Bf1 Nb8

exf7 puts black in check.

How does the white bishop move from g8 to a6?

Coconut

Earth Prime

Joined: 16 Mar 05
Moves: 35265

30 Jun 06

yay I can do it in 11...

CrawlIce

Joined: 03 Mar 05
Moves: 48311

30 Jun 06

Originally posted by leisurelysloth
is it something like

1.e4 a5
2.e5 Nc6
3.e6 Nb8
4.exf7 Nc6
5.fxg8=B Nb8
6.Ba6 bxa6
7.Bc4 Nc6
8.Bf1 Nb8

But wouldn't 4. exf7 be exf7+, requiring Kxf? How about:

1. e4 a5
2. e5 f6
3. exf Kf7
4. Ba6 Kg6
5. f7 bxB
6. fxN=B Kf6
7. Bc4 Kf7 puts K into check! Arg!
8. Bf1 Ke8

I can do it a couple of different ways in 9 moves, but not in 8!

ngkabra

Navin

Pune, India

Joined: 24 Apr 06
Moves: 13690

30 Jun 06

Got it! Nice problem. Thanks.

Answer:
1. e4 a5
2. Ba6 bxa6
3. e5 Bb7
4. e6 Qc8
5. exf7+ Kd8
6. fxg8=B Ke8
7. Bc4 Qd8
8. Bf1 Bc8

BigDogg

Secret RHP coder

on the payroll

Joined: 26 Nov 04
Moves: 155080

30 Jun 06

Originally posted by ngkabra
Got it! Nice problem. Thanks.

Answer:
1. e4 a5
2. Ba6 bxa6
3. e5 Bb7
4. e6 Qc8
5. exf7+ Kd8
6. fxg8=B Ke8
7. Bc4 Qd8
8. Bf1 Bc8

Very good. Paradoxically, the bK must step aside to d8, and not f7 as it appears from the diagram.

David Tebb

Joined: 26 May 02
Moves: 72546

30 Jun 06

Excellent problem, BigDogg. Who composed it and where did you find it?

Please post a few more like that.

BigDogg

Secret RHP coder

on the payroll

Joined: 26 Nov 04
Moves: 155080

30 Jun 06

Originally posted by David Tebb
Excellent problem, BigDogg. Who composed it and where did you find it?

Please post a few more like that.

The problem was composed by Joost de Heer and used in the Messigny 2006 solving tournament.

I'll put a couple more problems from that event up in seperate threads.

c guy1

Seattle

Joined: 30 Jan 06
Moves: 26370

02 Jul 06

Originally posted by ngkabra
Got it! Nice problem. Thanks.

Answer:
1. e4 a5
2. Ba6 bxa6
3. e5 Bb7
4. e6 Qc8
5. exf7+ Kd8
6. fxg8=B Ke8
7. Bc4 Qd8
8. Bf1 Bc8

one problem with Ba6 bxa6, white still has his bishop

Mephisto2

Joined: 12 Mar 03
Moves: 44411

02 Jul 06

Originally posted by c guy1
one problem with Ba6 bxa6, white still has his bishop

What are you saying? 2.Ba6 bxa6 and the bishopis gone, no?

aging blitzer

Joined: 28 Nov 05
Moves: 24334

02 Jul 06

Originally posted by c guy1
one problem with Ba6 bxa6, white still has his bishop

now look at move 6

Silent Knight

Joined: 30 Jan 05
Moves: 23310

02 Jul 06

This beautiful problem reminds me of a book by Raymond Smullyan, "The chess mysteries of Sherlock Holmes". I haven't seen it mentioned before on RHP. In it the great detective solves several mysteries using what he calls "retrograde analysis". Here's a fairly easy example:

"As you see, Watson, neither side is mated-not even in check. And we are given that your side is White. The question now is this: Given that Black moved last, what was his last move, and White's last move?"

Even Watson gets it fairly quickly. Other problems are trickier.