White to move and mate in 6. No computer analysis please 🙂
8/p1NR2p1/1p3p2/k1p5/2P4r/PP5p/K4P2/7n w – – 0 1
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Saturday chess challenge
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1. Nb5 a6
2. Nd6 b5
3. Nb7+ Kb6
4. Nd8 bxc4
5. Rb7+ Ka5
6. Nc6# 1-0
hmm
How about…
1. Rd1, Re4
2. Ra8, Re2+ … now the mate on Rxa7 or a6 is inevitable
3. Kb1, Re1+
4. Kc2, Re2+
5. Kc3, Re3+
6. fxe3, Nxf2
7. Rxa7#
Not quite 6 moves, but something like that is all I can see…
1. Nb5 a6; 2. Ra7 Rc4; 3. bc4 any: 4. Ra6 mate – Ariel Tinio
1. Nb5 a6
2. Na7 b5
3. Rb7 and
4. Nc6#
So black should give his rook at c4 to stall the mate which is a silly line.
After 1.Nb5 a6 2.Ra7 I think White mates in less then 6 moves!
1. Nb5 a6
2. Ra7 Rxc4
3. Nc7 Rc2+
4. Kb1 Rc1+
5. Kxc1 and
6. Rxa6#
No correct solution so far.
Best wishes,
Susan
1.b4+ cxb4
2. Rd5+ b5
3. Rb5+ Ka4
4. Rxb4+ Ka5
5. Kb3 maybe ?
1.Nb5 a6
2.Nd6 b5
3.Nb7+ Kb6
4.Nd8 Ka5
5.Rb7 bxc4
6.Nd8-c6+
Susan… This is my idea:
1.Nb5 a6
2.Na7 b5
3.Rb7 bxc4
4.Nc6#
– High skills of MR KO (Malaysian)
The first move just has to be either Nb5 or Nd5 to threaten Ra7#:
1. Nb5
So, now, to prevent mate with 2.Ra7, black must play either a6 or Rc4- there are no other options. Let’s take them in order:
1. …..a6
Now, what can white do? White can pin the a-pawn to protect the knight, but after that, I simply don’t see a mate that is quick enough. However, if you play Nd6, you can threaten to mate with Nb7. Let’s see where this leads:
2. Nd6
So, again, black seems to have 2 moves- b5 and Rc4 again. Everything else is mate on the next move. Continuing:
2. …..b5
Here, Rc4 is met by Nc4, of course: [2. …Rc4 3.Nc4 Kb5 4.Rd6 and 5.Rb6# is unstoppable]. Now, it gets messy. White could play cb5 here, but after black plays Rd4, I don’t see any way to mate black by move 6. If white plays b4, black just exchanges, and again I can’t see any chance to mate by move 6. Same with a4. So, to keep the black rook from getting into position to start checking white and costing moves, white seems to have to play the check from b7 anyway:
3. Nb7 Kb6
4. Nd8
I can see it now. Nd8 threatens Rb7+ followed by Nc6#. Continuing:
4. …..a5
Nothing but mates here, but let’s go through the important alternatives to be sure: [4. …Ka5 5.Rb7 and 6.Nc6# is unstoppable]; or [4. …bc4 5.Rb7 Ka5 6.Nc6#]; or [4. …Rc4 5.Rb7 Ka5 6.Nc6#]. Clearly, there is no way to make a hole for the black king to stop this mate. Continuing:
5. Rb7 Ka6
6. cb5#
So, we are left only with the loose thread at move 1 where black could have taken at c4. From the top:
1. Nb5 Rc4
2. bc4 a6 (only move)
Now, I had planned to just follow the previous plan and play Nd6, but then I noticed that without a b-pawn, white can’t keep the black king out of a4 on the ultimate plan of playing Nc6, and black can just play a move like b5 again, and at least prevent a mate in 6 total, though I can’t say for sure if white mates in a longer line by bringing his king to b3. So, I had to look a bit to find the right plan, but it was a plan I had already sort of worked out earlier, but had to dismiss because it was too long:
3. Ra7
Pins the a-pawn is threatening the maneuver of Nc7 followed by Ra6#. Continuing:
3. …..Nf2 (Ka4 4.Ra6#)
Here, other moves are irrelevant. Continuing:
4. Nc7 and there is no preventing Ra6# on the next move.
Nb5 a6
Ra7 Rxc4
bxc4 Nxf2
Nc7 h7
Rxa6++
1. Nb5 a6 2. Ra7 Rxc4 3. bxc4 Nxc2 4. Nc7 h2 5. Rxa6+ mate
1.b4!+…(1…Ka4 2.Nb5 /+-/) 1…cxb4 2.Kb3!…(2…Rxc4 ( or bxa3 ) 3.Rd5+ /+-/) 2…b5 3.Rd6! bxc4+ 4.Kb2…
a)4…bxa3+ 5.Kc3
b)4…b3 5.Kc3
c)4…c3+ 5.Kb3
6./whatever/ Ra6#
Thanks !
1. Nd5 a6 2. Ra7 Rxc4 3. Nc7 Rc2+ 4. Kg1 Rc1+ 5. Kxc1 any 6. Rxa6+ mate or if 2. .. Re4 3. b4+ cxb4 4. Ka4 Rxa6+ mate
Cool…
The knight, without him it would mate in one.
First I thought 1. Nd5 but 1… Ka6 and I did not see anything.
1. Nb5 (threatens mate with Rxa7)
Black can avoid mate with only two moves I think
a6 and Rxc4
If
1. Nb5 Rxc4
2. bxc4 a6
3. Ra7! h2
4. Nc7 any move
5. Rxa6#
If
1. Nb5 a6
2. Nd6 (threatens mate with Nb7) b5
3. Nb7+ Kb6
4. Nd8 Ka5 (or 4. … Rxc4)
5. Rb7 bxc4
6. Nc6#
Stef
1)Nb5 Rc4 2)bc a6 3)Kb3 any 4)Ra7 any 5)Nc7 any 6)Ra7#
@Anon
“After 1.Nb5 a6 2.Ra7 I think White mates in less then 6 moves!”
I even thought about it but after 2…Rf4
The moves to checkmate are 8 🙂
Position very nice, Susan.
Stef
Knight time:
1. Nb5 (threat: Rxa7#)
1. … a6
[1. … Rxc4 2. bxc4 a6 3. Ra7 any (except 3. … Ka4? Rxa6#) 4. Nc7 b5 5. Rxa6#]
2. Nd6 (threat: Nb7#)
2. … b5 [2. … Rxc4 3. Nxc4+ Kb5 4. Rd6 with 5. Rb6#]
3. Nb7+ Kb6
4. Nd8 (threat: Rb7# Ka5; Nc6#)
4. … Ka5
[4. … a5 5. Rb7+ Ka6 6. cxb5#]
5. Rb7 any
6. Nc6#
Hi Susan Polgar,
White wins the game,Mate in 4 moves,variations exist.
1.Nb5 a6
2.Ra7 Nf2
3.Nc7 b5
4.Ra6++ Mate
Please note : I never use any computer analysis.
By
Venky [ India – Chennai ]
1. Nb5 a6
2. Ra7 …any variable white wins.