AMAZING puzzle, incredibly difficult.

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Avatar of TPman

White to move and mate in two.

I'm not going to try to claim the glory for this one, it was composed by T. Taverner in 1881. I'll be very impressed if anyone sees the solution.

See move list for all 19 variations...


Avatar of Zolaweed
Got it in 3 goes!! Think i blundered into it to tell the truth! Certainly a stinker!!
Avatar of TPman
Bloody hard isn't it! - I've added the variations to the move list now - sit back and drool
Avatar of Shammyvamp
I guess Nd5 would work, right?  First one I saw.
Avatar of Decoy321
Any other move and black escapes from the trap?
Avatar of matt_robertson
Nd5 wouldn't work. d5 covered by Bg8. I tried taking Bg8 with my Bh7 and THEN moving Nd5 (mate) but my Nc7 could have first taken Nc7 with Bd8. Good puzzle though.
Avatar of Shammyvamp
Wait...are we playin' black or white here?  I'm confused.
Avatar of Coe
Solving it in more than 2 is easy. Solving it in 2 is nearly impossible to see. Sorry, that's no accomplishment, Gerjay.
Avatar of qwerer
i solved it with a few educated guesses
Avatar of Dash3000
I've already seen this puzzle.  I got it in just an instant.  Where did you get it?  Is it from the chessmaster program?
Avatar of Dash3000

Now, I remember!  That's the puzzle I solved when I was learning about the "tempo."


Avatar of vijaykulkarni
Great puzzle I just saw solution How impatient of me!!
Avatar of jreyes33
19 posibilities and still he gets killed, what a puzzle!
Avatar of Stormline

Rh1 wins in 2.  Creates a zugzwang.  Any move black makes interferes with the defense from another piece.

Avatar of E_Check

This is from Chessmaster X or XI, Grandmaster edition. Still fun nonetheless

Avatar of kingattack999

why couldn't the rook just move two squares up and say #?

Avatar of -waller-

Bishop on d8 takes it off

Avatar of Sean_The_Pawn

ive seen this puzzle in Chessmaster. It is one of John Nunn's 50 favorite puzzles. I really like this one

Avatar of Hyannis

I have seen this puzzle on Chestmaster9000. Checkmate in 2 no matter what black does - very good.

Avatar of orangehonda

Because you said it has so many variations it seemed obvious the first move wasn't a check and would be a quiet move -- still I didn't get it :)