Don't mate in one

I recently came across this puzzle by Karl Fabel. It had me foxed - see if you can work it out.

White to move and NOT checkmate!

I apologize for being blind.

It seems that he can't put that rook any where, only on that location on the sixth rank. so that bishop check is blocked when the rook move to take.

Very good

No, if he moves the rook anywhere else, black's rook is pinned by the bishop on a8.

Cute.

What !?

That's funny. I posted this same puzzle here several hours before you did. Rook c6

How bizarre. I promise I didn't copy it from your posting but I admit I didn't check the forums before posting it.

Having checked now, it's been posted at least twice before.

Great minds think alike, obviously .

:) I'm not offended. It's just odd. I "discovered" that puzzle in a book last night

Curiouser and curiouser. It wasn't a book of articles by Martin Gardner was it ?

This has 3 answers really, other than Rc6 you could also Resign, or offer a draw, and not checkmate them, and if it is timed, u could let your clock run out for a 4th way to not win.

I've seen this puzzle several times before, but am curious about helpmate possibilities. I wonder, what's the fewest number of moves in which the White king can be checkmated? The best I can do is 5 moves (see "analysis" below), but 4-movers may exist :)

Why yes it was. An annoyingly hard and improbably solvable book!

Why did the rook have to be in the c file? I put it in the d file, and got it wrong.

The rook has to move to c6 in order that the black rook on b7b is no longer pinned by white's a8-bishop. Otherwise black cannot move it to capture the h7-bishop.

 Leave it to me to miss the obvious.

white has two light squared bishops..

pawn promotion

ah, good point :)

Not true.  The problem statement is "White TO MOVE and not mate Black".  If you don't make a move, then you haven't followed the instructions.