A Problem with Mixed Pieces

       a     b     c     d     e     f     g     h
    +=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+
    |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |   Ralph Betza
8   |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |   April, 1997
    +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
    |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |   Mate in 2
7   |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
    +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
    |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
6   |     |     |   K |     |     |     |     |     |
    +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
    |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
5   |     |     |     |     |   Q |     |     |     |
    +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
    |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
4   |     |     |     |  *p |     |     |     |     |
    +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
    |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
3   |     |     |  *k |     |     |     |     |     |
    +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
    |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
2   |  WD |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
    +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
    |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
1   |  WD |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
    +=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+
8/8/2K5/4Q3/3P4/2k5/(WD)7/(WD)7/
2#
This problem is a simple mate in two (White must find the best move, and then give checkmate with his second move).

White has only a King on c6, a NB on e5, and a pair of WD on a1 and a2; Black has only a K on c3, and a P on d4.

As you can see, White has pieces from both the the Colorbound Clobberers army and the Remarkable Rookies.

Solution

You should try to find the solution yourself.

Because it's considered impolite to tell you the answer before you've had a chance to try, but on the other hand I don't want to have a separate page for the solution, you'll need to scroll down a while here:

















































  1. (NB)e5-f4? Kc3-b4? 2. (NB)f4-d2 mate; but 1...d4-d3
  1. (WD)a2:b2  Kc3:b2  2. (NB)e5:d4 mate
The mating position is glorious, and that's the whole point of the problem.

The White King serves no purpose except to make possible the "try" 1. (NB)e5-f4?; I think that an experienced solver might see this move first, and the pretty mate that follows after a King move.

One often starts solving a problem by pretending that it's Black's move and seeing what happens. 1...Kc3-b4 2. (NB)??-d2 mate is pretty obvious, so naturally you try 1. (NB)e5-f4; and then when that doesn't work, you try a few other moves and then realize that the flight square at d2 must be cut off somehow, and the rest is easy.

If you put the White King on c5, there is a second solution that I don't think is nice enough, plus a third solution that's just ugly; so I just couldn't find a way to rearrange the pieces that would produce either another variation or a good second solution. But I think there must be one. I think you could rearrange this same collection of pieces into a better problem, but I can't find it.


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