Illegal Position Contest!

Was in the category.

Btw, "Nf2" is necessary!

Wrong squares that time, sorry.

If the h7 pawn is removed, #7680 is legal. Can you make it legal by adding one unit?

Interestingly, #7680 with Be6 on h7 is still illegal. Except in chess960

I wish in chess960 the pieces didn't have to mirror each other.

I agree! Random setups for black and white. One player can choose the side he prefers, the other player gets the privilege to play the first move!

@linorder

The rook can't get to g7 with the king at h8. Believe me, I tried.

That only means the rook must have reached g7 before the king reached h8 for the last time. To show the position is illegal you really need to mention also that the king can't get to h8 with the rook at g7. Presumably you tried that too.

I think the claims that there are some positions with immediate tactical wins are unsubstantiated. All the pieces are behind pawns on the 1st rank. I have yet to see an example of such an imbalanced non-mirrored positions.

Not an immediate tactical win, but for what it's worth (i.e. ?)

Don't know if that happens with FRC too.

For comparison. (Of course, SF thinks neither side can castle in the one above. That doesn't seem to make much difference with the standard diagram.)

With castling rights.

Without castling rights

I'm a little surprised not to see an answer posted yet to my easy question at #7701. Was it too easy, like the one just posted by Kyobir?

Is that an Indonesian flag or a Red Indian flag?

Adding any piece to block the white bishop allows for the rook to have come from the back rank by capturing a black shield on g8.

See, it was almost too easy.

Sorry man!

Whenever I try to change the position to look more legal, I end up actually making it legal. Here's my original idea:

Yes, I did. This is the closest I can get: