Tweet
Glad to see Hans Jung presenting chess problems, even if it is just recycling. The neat thing about chess problems is that many of the positions would never occur in real games, in fact might not even be POSSIBLE to occur in any real game .... although proving that is in many instances not feasible.
Well anyway .... I'd like to present a different class of chess problem.
Instead of the usual "White to move and mate in ..." I'd like to present a problem class of "White to move and find the ONLY MOVE for White that leads to an eval of at least a minor piece advantage for White, all other moves leading to eval of a draw or a Black advantage."
So in this class of problem, there are usually many pieces on the board and the position is really complicated ... many pieces are en prise simultaneously. This again is a type of position not likely to occur in any real game, maybe not even possible to occur in any real game.
But the key aspect is that there is ONLY 1 MOVE for White that leads to a significant advantage ... at least a minor piece advantage. All other moves either lead to a draw eval or a Black advantage eval.
So here's my example, and yes it's a crazy one with extra Queens for both sides and even an extra Knight for Black....
You can always plug this into Stockfish or any other respectable chess engine and find the one good move for White, but try and work it out for yourself. I used Stockfish 15 to prove that only 1 move exists in this position for White that meets the criteria.
Solution posted on Saturday before my trip to Europe.....
I think creating this class of problem is maybe as difficult if not more so than the usual kind of chess problem.
EDIT: I should add that the material in the position is equal according to the 9-5-3-3-1 Q-R-B-N-P point system. In this position, each side has 38 material points. All problems of this new class of problem should begin with equal material points or even Black having more material points.
Normally White having first move would give many options of moves that lead to advantage or even win or checkmate. The difficulty in creating this class of problem is in finding positions where there is ONLY ONE such move for White! I really must stress this because it is the key point of the idea. Who cares about positions where White has many ways to win?
When I return from my trip after March 10, I will attempt to create more problems of this class for CT readers to enjoy.
P.S. Hans, I hope you will try your hand at solving this manually, without using chess engine.
Well anyway .... I'd like to present a different class of chess problem.
Instead of the usual "White to move and mate in ..." I'd like to present a problem class of "White to move and find the ONLY MOVE for White that leads to an eval of at least a minor piece advantage for White, all other moves leading to eval of a draw or a Black advantage."
So in this class of problem, there are usually many pieces on the board and the position is really complicated ... many pieces are en prise simultaneously. This again is a type of position not likely to occur in any real game, maybe not even possible to occur in any real game.
But the key aspect is that there is ONLY 1 MOVE for White that leads to a significant advantage ... at least a minor piece advantage. All other moves either lead to a draw eval or a Black advantage eval.
So here's my example, and yes it's a crazy one with extra Queens for both sides and even an extra Knight for Black....
You can always plug this into Stockfish or any other respectable chess engine and find the one good move for White, but try and work it out for yourself. I used Stockfish 15 to prove that only 1 move exists in this position for White that meets the criteria.
Solution posted on Saturday before my trip to Europe.....
I think creating this class of problem is maybe as difficult if not more so than the usual kind of chess problem.
EDIT: I should add that the material in the position is equal according to the 9-5-3-3-1 Q-R-B-N-P point system. In this position, each side has 38 material points. All problems of this new class of problem should begin with equal material points or even Black having more material points.
Normally White having first move would give many options of moves that lead to advantage or even win or checkmate. The difficulty in creating this class of problem is in finding positions where there is ONLY ONE such move for White! I really must stress this because it is the key point of the idea. Who cares about positions where White has many ways to win?
When I return from my trip after March 10, I will attempt to create more problems of this class for CT readers to enjoy.
P.S. Hans, I hope you will try your hand at solving this manually, without using chess engine.