Attempts at Composition

Sort:
Avatar of bangalore2
Remellion wrote:

1...Nc5 2. c8=Q Nxd7 3. Qxc3! (not 3. Qxd7? Ne4) is death for black. So there might be a problem there.

Yeah, that is a tougher variation. In retrospect, that should have been the actual puzzle!

Avatar of Zigwurst

Wow, I was actually wrong, 2...Nxd7 doesn't work due to 3.Qxc3! and there is no fortress for Black.

Avatar of Zigwurst

4.Qxe6

Avatar of bangalore2

Oops...

Avatar of bangalore2

Ok, I have got it. Black Knight on b3 to a3, White king to g7.

Avatar of AKAL1

This is a geometrical oddity..sacking the queen for two knights doesn't work because the pawn promotes on the same color of the bishop!

Avatar of bangalore2

No, it is just foresight!

Avatar of Remellion

Another question: For the new version, 1...Nc4 2. d8=Q Ne4 3. c8=N. I have no idea what the outcome is here.

Avatar of bangalore2

Amazing, Remellion! You certainly have something against my compositions! :) If anyone has the Lomonsonov tablebases, they can check! That would be much appreciated, thanks!

Avatar of bangalore2

Inspired by Frankwho's thread, I will post a proof game in 4.0 moves.

Avatar of AKAL1

Not too deep...

Avatar of bangalore2

I know, I'm working on a deeper one.

Avatar of Remellion

Unfortunately not unique, since 2...Bh6 and 3...g4 can be played in either order. I find PGs to be very hard to compose, even short ones. Getting a PG to be unique, let alone interesting, is very difficult.

Then again, I only compose very basic retros, so what do I know...

Avatar of bangalore2

More than me ....😃

Avatar of chaotic_iak
bangalore2 wrote:

Inspired by Frankwho's thread, I will post a proof game in 4.0 moves.

Thank you for the inspiration. (Post #75)

Avatar of bangalore2

Give the last move, and solve the problem.

 
 
Sorry if this is easy. I'm new to this genre.
Avatar of Remellion

The "last move" stipulation doesn't work. For the first it's -1...f7x~g6 or -1...Kg8xNh8; for the second it's -1...g7-g6 or -1...f7x~g6. 5 possibilities in either case (uncapture N, B, R or Q.)

Also for the second one 1. Bf7 h5 (1...h6 2. Bxg6) 2. Be8 Kh7 3. Bxg6+ wins too.

It's pretty hard to compose endgame studies, and pretty hard to do retros. And more than 4 times as hard to combine the 2 genres usually, since less material typically increases the retro possibilities, and more material means it isn't an endgame. Also retros tend to require extremely abnormal unit positioning relative to a sensible game, which makes it hard to compose forward play around it.

Lastly, I apologise for again pointing out a set of cooks.

Avatar of bangalore2

Seeking the last move, and the best move for White.

Avatar of bangalore2

Whoops! I noticed a cook...Place White pawns on b5 and c3, so, is this cooked too, Remellion?

Avatar of Remellion

Best move for white: literally anything wins.

Last move: Cooked again. -1...Kg8-h8 -2. c4x~b5, or -1...Kg8xNh8 -2. Nf7-h8 or -2. c4x~b5.

Recommended reading for introduction to retros: http://www.chess.com/forum/view/fun-with-chess/retros-for-dummies. The ability to see retractions as easily as forward moves is a huge help in composing and solving.

Avatar of Guest4168981158
Please Sign Up to comment.

If you need help, please contact our Help and Support team.