A Democratic Mate

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30th December 2008, 10:48am
#1
by nimzovich
United States
Member Since: Jun 2008
Member Points: 531

The following puzzle comes from H.E. Dudney's "Amusements in Mathematics", a Christmas book present I received which contains a handful of chess problems.

The conditions given: white is to mate moving each of his three pieces once, and only once (how democratic!). The problem is said by the author to purportedly be of Chinese origin, many hundreds of years old.

No, not your standard problem, but hopefully amusing for some...

(Yes, I know there are a pair of mate in twos available, which do not meet the conditions of the problem.)

30th December 2008, 10:59am
#2
by purcellneil
New Jersey United States
Member Since: Oct 2008
Member Points: 93

An odd little problem - but fun to solve.  Thanks for posting it!

30th December 2008, 11:40am
#3
by Ripper89
Arad & Timisoara Romania
Member Since: Dec 2008
Member Points: 1233

I liked this one

30th December 2008, 11:49am
#4
by xMenace
Rothesay, NB Canada
Member Since: Aug 2008
Member Points: 846
nimzovich wrote: The problem is said by the author to purportedly be of Chinese origin, many hundreds of years old.

 The author was hundreds of years old and still playing chess? There's hope!

30th December 2008, 11:53am
#5
by ADK
Santa Clarita, CA United States
Member Since: Aug 2007
Member Points: 16244
ADK wrote:

I see a mate in 2

1. Ra8 1... Kxa8 2. Rc8#.

ADK


I didn't see that you had to move each piece once...

ADK

31st January 2009, 07:09pm
#6
by Tiger-13
Sydney Australia
Member Since: Dec 2008
Member Points: 1277

u were right, there was a quicker mate:


1. Rd6 ... Kc8

2. Ra8#

31st January 2009, 08:41pm
#7
by nimzovich
United States
Member Since: Jun 2008
Member Points: 531
Tiger-13 wrote:

u were right, there was a quicker mate:

 


1. Rd6 ... Kc8

2. Ra8#


yes, which is a fun sideline for students trying out the problem!

31st January 2009, 08:54pm
#8
by Lance4635946
Smyrna United States
Member Since: Dec 2008
Member Points: 308

Very impressive :)

 

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