Having a difference of opinion over a chess puzzle isn't something that troubles me as a rule but 'hyperal' states his obvious disdain for Deltaquad's posted puzzle so emphatically that I feel I have to respond to it.

First of all I'm not sure whether or not you understood it because you suggest black can drag out the mate beyond two moves but that isn't true - every solution gives mate in two moves. I thought my  diagram on post #114 made that clear.

One of my criticisms of the daily puzzles on this site is that too many of them involve forced mates in which all moves are checks, with no variation whatsoever. Ok, you get some satisfaction from having solved them but in the end they're not very interesting & usually have the shortest threads. If you search back through this forum, you'll soon notice that the best & liveliest threads are those in which the puzzle offered some defensive alternative moves for (usually) black because not every move is forced. It's only then that you can start to have a real discussion & isn't that the whole point of coming to a website !

This is why I take issue with you describing Deltaquad's puzzle as 'bad'. It's a good deal more difficult to understand than most but for me that's what makes it so much more elegant. You also state that a puzzle should have only one solution - who invented that rule ?
The fact is, many of them on this forum have multiple solutions but perhaps you havn't been solving them for long enough to know this.

Furthermore, claiming anyone can devise such a puzzle - have you tried ? If you can compile a puzzle  equal to Deltaquad's in sophistication & message it to me then I'll certainly look at it.

In the end it comes down to a matter of taste but that doesn't mean one type is better than the other - they're just different.

Jacob30 wrote:

stephen_33 wrote

hyperal wrote:

Deltaquad wrote:

Mate in two

Not really valid because the first move isn't forced. Black has too many options to increase the number of moves before he gets mated. The idea of a Mate in 2 puzzle is that it's forced checkmate without any possibility of more than two moves.

&

I think it's a bad puzzle if it has more than one solution. It's too messy, defeating the purpose of a puzzle. Puzzles should have one answer. Anyone can come up with a fancy checkmate with a bunch of different variables. It's much more elegant to create a situation with only one way to defend and one way to mate.

Having a difference of opinion over a chess puzzle isn't something that troubles me as a rule but 'hyperal' states his obvious disdain for Deltaquad's posted puzzle so emphatically that I feel I have to respond to it.

First of all I'm not sure whether or not you understood it because you suggest black can drag out the mate beyond two moves but that isn't true - every solution gives mate in two moves. I thought my  diagram on post #114 made that clear.

One of my criticisms of the daily puzzles on this site is that too many of them involve forced mates in which all moves are checks, with no variation whatsoever. Ok, you get some satisfaction from having solved them but in the end they're not very interesting & usually have the shortest threads. If you search back through this forum, you'll soon notice that the best & liveliest threads are those in which the puzzle offered some defensive alternative moves for (usually) black because not every move is forced. It's only then that you can start to have a real discussion & isn't that the whole point of coming to a website !

This is why I take issue with you describing Deltaquad's puzzle as 'bad'. It's a good deal more difficult to understand than most but for me that's what makes it so much more elegant. You also state that a puzzle should have only one solution - who invented that rule ? The fact is, many of them on this forum have multiple solutions but perhaps you havn't been solving them for long enough to know this.

Furthermore, claiming anyone can devise such a puzzle - have you tried ? If you can compile a puzzle  equal to Deltaquad's in sophistication & message it to me then I'll certainly look at it.

In the end it comes down to a matter of taste but that doesn't mean one type is better than the other - they're just different.

What's a real discussion?

Please keep it up