Shortest-proof-game challenge

It's nowhere near optimal, and I can't manage the king and rook the other way around yet.

As you said, the king and rook are reversed in your final position. But I hope you haven't given up.

I can provide a hint that may help with #478. The position is a variation given by Ryan McCracken to the problem R0156 - Nikolai I. Beluhov , StrateGems 49, Jan-Mar 2010. Having the reference didn't help too much, since only a few beginning retro-moves were listed. But here is the hint I got from the reference. It may help someone find a proof game shorter than mine.

Retract -1.Qh3xNg3+ Nh1-f2 -2.Nc1xNe2 Nc3-e2 -3.Re2-g2+ Nf2-h1, then Bg2, Bh1, Qf1, h3, Nh5, Kg3 etc.

No-one has answered the task I posted recently (#472), so here's the solution. Black's c-pawn can mate in 4 moves.

That's a good one. What can you do with #478? (RewanDemontay is also working on it, so you would have some competition.)

@n9531l1. That one looks headache-inducing.

Well, finding a proof game did tire me out to the extent that I didn't try to optimize it. You should be able to improve on my solution.

There haven't been any more tries on #478 and I'm thinking about showing my proof game. Let me know if you're still working on it and I'll hold off.

I posted this one in the Illegal Games thread but it really belongs here since it's legal. How fast can you get there?

I haven't been able to solve #478 for my life.

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/14697401827

Enjoy 65.0 moves so far.

That's an excellent result.

I'll show you my proof game and you can work on shortening it.

Thank you! Now here is what I believe to be optimal-60.0 moves!

That is fewer than I thought possible. Very impressive.

It is surely optimal because every all pawn/bishop paths are minimized, and each captured piece moves only once.

what if you have them move 0 times?

I don't think you have thought this through. A white pawn that starts on a light square will have to make a capture so it can promote on a dark square. If you make that capture be of a black piece on its home square, the black pawn on the white pawn's file, which is already on the right file to promote on a dark square, will have to make two captures, to let the white pawn pass and return to its file. So every move saved by capturing a black piece on its home square will cost two extra moves for the captures made by the blocking black pawn, resulting in a longer game, not a shorter one.

ok