Posts #33-35 has a mate in five. It is mate in two. Do not move the king.
As is this one I created in 2004.
EASY ENDGAMES??
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Apr 15, 2022
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#42
Apr 15, 2022
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#43
Ziryab wrote:
Black to move. Mate in seven. This is from a rapid game that ended in stalemate. Black's rating was a mere 1889.
Curiously I got the last two moves at the first go.
Apr 15, 2022
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#44
Ziryab wrote:
Post #35 has a mate in five. It is mate in two.
...
Or mate in 1
Apr 15, 2022
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#45
MARattigan wrote:
Ziryab wrote:
Post #35 has a mate in five. It is mate in two.
...
Or mate in 1
Yes. Hahaha
Apr 15, 2022
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#46
MARattigan wrote:
Ziryab wrote:
Black to move. Mate in seven. This is from a rapid game that ended in stalemate. Black's rating was a mere 1889.
Curiously I got the last two moves at the first go.
The last two moves are the art. Before that, ruthless efficiency.
Apr 15, 2022
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#47
Arisktotle wrote:
MARattigan wrote:
... Btw, I found the position using an engine, don't feel guilty for doing the same when solving. You get a point for every square you didn't feed the beast before finding the answer!
Last resort, but probably will. I'm still trying to get my original position down below 7.
Apr 16, 2022
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#50
@Arisktotle
Potential problem (apart from terminal boredom) with getting an engine to check out all the squares for the Black king.
I did eventually get my original position down to #6, I think
But when I tried checking with SF14, this was all it managed after about 10 minutes ruminating
I think I might stick to looking for a logical solution.
@MARattigan: The only starting moves against Ke8 are: 1. e4! Ke7/Kf7/Kd7 2. Qg4!
The SF14.1 version online in chess.com finds these moves in mere seconds. What have you been messing with? Btw - for logical reasoning - inspect this variation and a few others if you need them and the correct answer is screaming in your face! 
Apr 16, 2022
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#53
@Arisktotle
So it does.
I just downloaded a new version of Tarrasch and somehow finished up with a 32MB hash size. At 1024MB my SF14 now also finds #6 in seconds. (But also at a lower search depth - not sure how that happens.)
I trust it will be a massive relief to see your #2 puzzles solved in 5 seconds rather than the 2 hours you experienced lately! 
Apr 17, 2022
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#55
But it does depend on the engine.
If you try SF12 instead of SF14 you're back to my picture (with the hash size set anywhere up to 2048MB and, so far as I know, beyond.)
My versions of Houdini (1.5a) and Komodo (12.1.1) also take seconds, But SF8 and particularly SF11 take a lot longer.
LC0 (wih no programmable graphics card) doesn't find a mate at all in finite time.
Apr 18, 2022
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#57
@Arisktotle
Ok; I think the answer has to be e4.
I discounted that early on because I managed #7 for that and also for e8 initially. But e8 should have been #6.
Yep! The logic of my GM friend was that 1.e4 provided white with the fastest opportunity to develop Queen plus Bishops. So he placed the king to prevent it, hoping it could stay out of reach of the claws of the white army! The critical moves are 1.e3 Kd5 2.Qh5+ and the king reaches the 6th rank where it proves safe (enough). Of course, it is just luck that this placement turns out to save the one move which makes it stand out amongst all the alternatives!
I am now doing 2 rooks and king vs king
I also got #7 if you flip my original about the crease - but that could be wrong too.
I gave it to a GM solver. He solved it in a minute using logic. That's pretty good! Btw, I found the position using an engine, don't feel guilty for doing the same when solving. You get a point for every square you didn't feed the beast before finding the answer!