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The 18 Queens Chess Problem.

Subscribergreenpawn34
Only Chess 07 Aug '19 18:55
  1. Subscribergreenpawn34
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    07 Aug '19 18:55

    Inspired by 64 Squares of Pain and one of his OTB games
    I snatched a theme of the week with a few RHP examples.

    I came across an Wenman book in a junk shop containing some odd
    puzzles. I found a few RHP games matching the solution of this one.


    White to play and mate in four moves.

    Then I had an idea. Why not have a money box safe and instead of a dial combination
    you have a chess problem. From this I figured you could have a blank chessboard and
    to open the safe you had to put a certain position on the board. I remembered an old
    18 Black and White Queens problem from somewhere (I don’t know who composed it)


    Place eighteen Queens (9 White and 9 Black) on the safe chessboard to open it.
    No White Queen is allowed to attack a Black Queen. (and obviously visa-versa)

    Blog Post 428
  2. Subscriber64squaresofpain
    The drunk knight
    Stuck on g1
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    08 Aug '19 17:16
    I shall tick this off my bucket list!
    Inspiring a greenpawn blog... and it wasn't a mistake of my own!

    Anyway, that puzzle where the clue was a "good" White player having Queen's Rook odds...
    I'm not sure that solution is legal???
    Can you have ghost Rooks?

    I really liked the mate in 4 though, Rook and pawn vs Bishop and 2 pawns might crop up one day,
    so I may try achieve such a position.

    Many thanks as always, we all appreciate your work.
  3. m
    Standard membermynameisklint
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    08 Aug '19 17:33
    @64squaresofpain said
    Anyway, that puzzle where the clue was a "good" White player having Queen's Rook odds...
    I'm not sure that solution is legal???
    Can you have ghost Rooks?
    For a discussion by the always excellent Edward Winter on this subject, see http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter56.html#6027._Lasker_v_Steinitz_C.N._5020
    "6029. Castling with a phantom rook"
  4. Donationketchuplover
    Isolated Pawn
    Wisconsin USA
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    08 Aug '19 19:19
    The 9 queens problem is a 5 queens problem for at least one side. That's all I've got for now.
  5. Subscribergreenpawn34
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    08 Aug '19 22:04
    Yes, if a player has given Queen Rook then they allowed to castle queenside.

    Mate in two


    The Rook on a1 came from h1. White had given QR odds.
    So the only logical answer is 1.Kc1 and mate next move.
  6. m
    Standard membermynameisklint
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    08 Aug '19 23:21
    I was reading the chess column of Raymond Keene (OBE) yesterday (someone left a paper on the seat of the bus I was travelling on) and what a load of boring old rubbish it was. I wish Greenpawn had a regular column in a national paper instead, I think it would work well even if the pictures (except the diagrams) had to be cut.
  7. Subscribergreenpawn34
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    09 Aug '19 10:23
    HI mynameisklint,

    A newspaper column would have to supply a bit of up to date news and most
    of it would read boring. Carlsen wins...Carlsen wins...and er...Carlsen wins again.

    Then you would have to supply an up to date game and you are at
    the mercy of the players hopefully playing a current game full of fun.

    Something like this is common on RHP but OTB at that level is pretty rare.

    Round 5 2019 Irish Championship, Alexander Baburin - Killian Delaney.

    (Black to play)

    Black played 70...Qxa5 (OOPS!)

    Also you have the dreaded the editor scissors and a piece you thought was OK can be butchered.

    I have an idea I'm working for a regular page or two in CHESS. It will be
    different but maybe too radical but I'll give it a try and see what happens.
  8. Standard memberShallow Blue
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    09 Aug '19 23:09
    @greenpawn34 said
    Yes, if a player has given Queen Rook then they allowed to castle queenside.

    The Rook on a1 came from h1. White had given QR odds.
    So the only logical answer is 1.Kc1 and mate next move.[/center]
    I have to disagree with that.

    If the rook on a1 is the original, it has to participate in the castle.

    If the rook on a1 started on h1, it must have replaced the original rook on a1. Never mind that that rook was never there, there can't be two pieces on one square, not even one real and one odds piece. Therefore, the ghost rook that was on a1 is now not on a1, and therefore, cannot be castled with.

    Either way, white cannot just play Kc1. For that to happen, the a1 square must be occupied by the original rook, ghost or not. And it isn't. Therefore, white cannot castle at all.
  9. Subscribergreenpawn34
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    10 Aug '19 10:39
    Hi Shallow-Blue

    Although the rule is the odds giver can castle with the ghost of the Rook you point
    does raise an interesting question as there is a piece on the ghost Rook square.

    Of course I have no game to show as a precedent because getting a PGN
    to show 0-0-0 without a Rook crashes it. But I will investigate this further.
  10. Standard memberShallow Blue
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    10 Aug '19 15:52
    @greenpawn34 said
    Of course I have no game to show as a precedent because getting a PGNto show 0-0-0 without a Rook crashes it. But I will investigate this further.
    I have to admit, these days it's probably more of a theoretical point. Nothing like this will ever happen again in serious play. Still, interesting as it is.
  11. Subscribergreenpawn34
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    11 Aug '19 01:01
    HI Shallow-Blue,

    It does appear that yes the odds giver can castle without a Rook
    but, provided nothing has occupied a1. (I never knew this rule, apparently
    neither did Wenman) so In this case the problem is bogus.
  12. Subscribergreenpawn34
    e4
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    13 Aug '19 13:321 edit
    Another poster over at the ECF forum has found 0-0-0 in an odds game.

    Philidor - Atwood, London 1795 (remove the a1 Rook and c7 pawn)

    White played 14.0-0-0 Black replied 14...Rh8-f8. The moves 14.Kd1 Rh8-g8 15.Kc1 Rg8-f8 reflect this.

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