Via the Guardians online chess column (by Leonard Barden), come the following problem. It is a Helpmate in 2, which means Black and White co-operate to reach a checkmate position in 2 moves. In Helpmate problems it is Black who moves first, with White mating on the final move.
It took me about 15 minutes to solve, although I handicapped myself by looking for 'sensible' replies in the different variations. If you realise that 'anything goes' then it becomes an easier problem.
6 comments:
uh-oh...I wonder what this says about the way my brain works. It took me about five seconds, partly because I "saw" the final pattern quickly and then realised there were two moves to get there, so I got lucky.
nice little problem !
cheers
Garrett.
When I first saw it I realised what the final pattern 'should' be, but then it took me ages to work out how to achieve it!
I think (hope) I've got it. Didn't take too long, but that's just weird. Why bother with 'helpmates'? Our opponents aren't out to help, they're out to take us down!
That was ez
Like Shaun, I found it tricky. 1...h1R+ 2.Qf1 Rxh7 3.Qf8 mate. I got confused by thinking white had to play Nf6 at some point--the red herring.
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