Friday, October 26, 2018

Stumped by Sam Loyd

White to Mate in two moves:


White can only mate on two squares e7 and h8, but if 1.Qa3 black has 1...c5 or 2...O-O-O. If 1.Qa1 then 1...O-O-O. At least that's what I thought, but after 1.Qa1 black can't castle because he made the last move and it must have been with either the King or Rook, so castling is not legal.

Saturday, April 28, 2018

Solution to Retrograde Problem

Black to move

1... Bxd5+
This only draws, but that is not the task. After  1... Rxd5 2.Kxb4 Rd4+ 3.c4+ Kd2 4.Ka5 Bxc4 white has a B vs. R and B and will lose in 15 moves at most.
2. c4 bxc3+