Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Missing a mate in 92























Yesterday I mist another mate in a clogged up position. Can you find the mate in 92?

12 comments:

  1. Are you kidding? This is not from a real game, is it?

    ReplyDelete
  2. No, it's a problem from Trotsky. My engines can't find it within 2 hours. But my computer isn't very fast, and the engines not very good. I wonder if there is any engine that can find it within a night.

    ReplyDelete
  3. lol, i don't have the guts to put my computer to this one. It could fry.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I believe there is no chance for a program to calculate 184ply and find the forced mate even if you left it to work on the position for a week.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Finding the technique to get to the mate seems to be not as hard as finding the defense that makes it take 92 moves. When I went through the line, I only took 90 moves. I must have messed up the order of something early on to miss the extra two moves.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The first move Be1 is quite obvious. Now Black is in zugzwang. The rook on h5 is lost. Pawn moves expire. Then, finally, the knight e4 must move, and the bishop gives mate on f2. Seems to be a reasonable plan, but does it really take 92 moves?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Mouse, Sounds like you're having the problem I mentioned, finding the defense for black.

    Try to give the exact line where white wins the rook. Remember that white can't leave the king on g7, because he can't move any of his other pieces. Also, be careful what square you put the king on, if you allow the knight to move with check you're busted. Also, save your pawn moves as long as you can.

    Last hint: White wants to be a temposchlucker.

    I'd be less vague, but I don't want to give it away :-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Is the 92 moves from Troitzky or just a joke of Tempo? I thought any mate should be given in as few moves as possible. Do I miss something here?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Mouse: As few moves as possible assuming perfect play from the opponent. Loomis is saying it is hard to find the perfect moves for black.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Okay I got it now. Just too lazy to count the moves. But I believe really that 92 is the smallest possible number. What I first missed is the multiple triangulation involved.

    ReplyDelete