# Chess positions wanted... **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 22, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chess-positions-wanted/707930 "2014-12-22T17:50:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chess-positions-wanted/707930/1 "2014-12-22T17:50:38Z")
I’m a retired chess teacher, now just helping a few friends enjoy chess. I like to use positions with literally just a few pieces on the board (as they are easier to analyse.) Below is what I’ve already got with 4 pieces or less (all White to move.) Have you got a minature position you could share with me? Thanks! White: Kh5 pf7 Black: Kh7 1. f8=R White: Kg6 ph5 Black: Kf8 drawn White: Kb5 Ba7 pb6 Black: Kb7 drawn White: Kd6 Bc6 pa7 Black: Kb6 1. a8=N White: Kc5 Nb5 pa7 Black: Kb7 drawn White: Kd6 Bc6 pa7 Black: Kb6 1. a8=N White: Kg4 Bc4 ph4 Black: Kf8 drawn White: Kc4 pe4 Black: Ke8 pe6 1. e5 (N.B. Without pe6 = draw) White: Kb6 pc6 Black: Ka1 Rd5 1. c7 White: Kc3 Bh3 ph2 Black: Kf2 1. Bd7 ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chess-positions-wanted/707930/2 "2014-12-22T22:26:55Z")
Disclaimer: These are from the newspaper, probably the SF Chronicle, from around 1991. Author is given as Koltanowski. I had them stuffed in a chess book. I have three others as well, but with many pieces. White: Ba4 Black: Kd1, Rb5, Bd5 The white king fell off the board. What square had it been on? White: Ke6, BE7, Bg6 Black: Ke8 Is this mate legal? Why or why not? No answers given for either. Still working on the first one myself. (I’m sure I solved it before, but I need to re-solve it.) ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2014, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chess-positions-wanted/707930/3 "2014-12-23T11:49:32Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > White: Ba4 > Black: Kd1, Rb5, Bd5 > > The white king fell off the board. What square had it been on? > White: Ke6, BE7, Bg6 > Black: Ke8 > > Is this mate legal? Why or why not? > > No answers given for either. Still working on the first one myself. (I’m sure I solved it before, but I need to re-solve it.) Thanks for those. 🙂 The answer to the first one is: [spoiler]K on c3 (after Black makes an en passant capture). The position was White: Kb3, Ba4, pc2 Black: Kd1, Rb5, Bd5, pb4 White played c2-c4, then b4xc3 e.p. Kxc3 [/spoiler] The second one baffles me (i.e. why it’s a problem. :smack:) White’s last move could have been a capture on g6, or the Black King could have come from d8 or f8 (before that White played Be7+) ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2014, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chess-positions-wanted/707930/4 "2014-12-23T13:12:14Z")
I don’t quite understand your penultimate position - is it White to play and draw, I can’t see how White wins? If 1. c7 then 1. …Rb5+ or 1. …Rc5 both seem to secure the draw by sacrificing the Rook in order to prevent the promotion. I would like to suggest the Lucena position - beginners (or even intermediate players) are highly unlikely to be able to solve it, but as an intermediate player myself I could understand and appreciate the beauty of the solution. ---
**Author:** ![Kimble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimble/32/19185_2.png) [@Kimble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimble)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2014, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chess-positions-wanted/707930/5 "2014-12-23T14:13:47Z")
> [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > I don’t quite understand your penultimate position - is it White to play and draw, I can’t see how White wins? If 1. c7 then 1. …Rb5+ or 1. …Rc5 both seem to secure the draw by sacrificing the Rook in order to prevent the promotion. The Black king is at a1, not a8. Either of your moves are met by 2. KxR and 3. c8=Q. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2014, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chess-positions-wanted/707930/6 "2014-12-23T14:29:29Z")
> [@Kimble](#): > > The Black king is at a1, not a8. Either of your moves are met by 2. KxR and 3. c8=Q. 🙂 Ah, that would explain it, yes! I was trying to do them all in my head rather than get out a board. I have also just remembered that the Lucena postion (and its cousin the Philidor position) has 5 pieces, not 4, so I’m not doing too well today. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2014, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chess-positions-wanted/707930/7 "2014-12-23T18:57:23Z")
I’ll be moving on to 5 piece positions next, so both the Lucena and Philidor positions are worth consideration - thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chess-positions-wanted/707930/8 "2014-12-25T07:41:30Z")
Black has removed his King from the board when he should not have done so. He volunteers to make his next move as White shall direct. White mates in three. (empty board) [spoiler]White was castling Queenside when Black picked up his King from b3, hence all three pieces were off the board simultaneously leaving it empty. White accepts Black’s offer and Black replaces his King on b3. Mate in 3: 1. 0-0-0, Ka2 (as instructed); 2. Rd3, Ka1; 3. Ra3#[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chess-positions-wanted/707930/9 "2014-12-25T13:05:07Z")
Perhaps not germane to the thread, but interesting, I think: https://www.youtube.com/embed/BEQsg7kXmYU?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=PLQsLDm9Rq9bHvcSe573ZzdNjLkwyPoMP2 https://www.youtube.com/embed/iyL5Ll3qZTQ?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=PLQsLDm9Rq9bHvcSe573ZzdNjLkwyPoMP2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSKtG-8TwI0 Try to solve these before watching. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2014, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chess-positions-wanted/707930/10 "2014-12-26T10:53:44Z")
> [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](#): > > Black has removed his King from the board when he should not have done so. He volunteers to make his next move as White shall direct. White mates in three. > > (empty board) > > [spoiler]White was castling Queenside when Black picked up his King from b3, hence all three pieces were off the board simultaneously leaving it empty. White accepts Black’s offer and Black replaces his King on b3. Mate in 3: > > 1. 0-0-0, Ka2 (as instructed); 2. Rd3, Ka1; 3. Ra3#[/spoiler] It’s hard to beat that starting position - thanks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2014, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chess-positions-wanted/707930/11 "2014-12-26T10:58:06Z")
> [@Mince](#): > > Perhaps not germane to the thread, but interesting, I think: > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEQsg7kXmYU&index=1&list=PLQsLDm9Rq9bHvcSe573ZzdNjLkwyPoMP2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEQsg7kXmYU&index=1&list=PLQsLDm9Rq9bHvcSe573ZzdNjLkwyPoMP2) > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyL5Ll3qZTQ&list=PLQsLDm9Rq9bHvcSe573ZzdNjLkwyPoMP2&index=2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyL5Ll3qZTQ&list=PLQsLDm9Rq9bHvcSe573ZzdNjLkwyPoMP2&index=2) > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSKtG-8TwI0 > > Try to solve these before watching. That’s an eclectic selection all right - much appreciated. 🆒