'My question is rather specific, in the duodecimal variant I am just
designing there are standard knights and bishops, and I want the endgame of king & knight & bishop vs lone king to be a win.' - Jörg Knappen, regarding the 50 moves rule.
Sorry to be so late! Your 12x12 board requires at least a 100 moves rule, as the length of a forced checkmate (or other victory) seems to increase in proportion to the number of squares on the board. Here are some known facts on the 8x8 board. K+B+B can take 19 moves to mate. K+B+N can take 33 moves to mate. K+Q versus K+B+B can take as long as 71 moves to force the first capture. K+R+R versus K+Q only takes 15 moves (30 ply) to force the capture of the Queen, but it takes much longer if the defender has a [C]hancellor (Rook + Knight) or a [U]nicorn (Bishop + Nightrider).
* Fairy endgames with 3 pieces' * Dave McCooey *
------------------------------------------------------------------
||||| Longest Wins for the Strong Side (WHITE) |||||
------------------------------------------------------------------
Three Number Type Side
Piece Half Of Of To
Endgame MovesPositions Win Example Position Move
------- ----- ------- ------- ---------------------------------- -----
KRRvKQ 30 14 f-captr WK(c8) WR(h2) WR(g8) BK(a1) BQ(d1) WHITE
KRRvKU 202 4 capture WK(b8) WR(d5) WR(h8) BK(d7) BU(e1) BLACK
KRRvKC 87 9 capture WK(d6) WR(a6) WR(a7) BK(g6) BC(d3) WHITE
KQvKBB(xdd) 142 74 capture WK(b8) WQ(a8) BK(e5) BB(e6) BB(f8) BLACK
'My question is rather specific, in the duodecimal variant I am just designing there are standard knights and bishops, and I want the endgame of king & knight & bishop vs lone king to be a win.' - Jörg Knappen, regarding the 50 moves rule.
Sorry to be so late! Your 12x12 board requires at least a 100 moves rule, as the length of a forced checkmate (or other victory) seems to increase in proportion to the number of squares on the board. Here are some known facts on the 8x8 board. K+B+B can take 19 moves to mate. K+B+N can take 33 moves to mate. K+Q versus K+B+B can take as long as 71 moves to force the first capture. K+R+R versus K+Q only takes 15 moves (30 ply) to force the capture of the Queen, but it takes much longer if the defender has a [C]hancellor (Rook + Knight) or a [U]nicorn (Bishop + Nightrider).
* Fairy endgames with 3 pieces' * Dave McCooey * ------------------------------------------------------------------ ||||| Longest Wins for the Strong Side (WHITE) ||||| ------------------------------------------------------------------ Three Number Type Side Piece Half Of Of To Endgame MovesPositions Win Example Position Move ------- ----- ------- ------- ---------------------------------- ----- KRRvKQ 30 14 f-captr WK(c8) WR(h2) WR(g8) BK(a1) BQ(d1) WHITE KRRvKU 202 4 capture WK(b8) WR(d5) WR(h8) BK(d7) BU(e1) BLACK KRRvKC 87 9 capture WK(d6) WR(a6) WR(a7) BK(g6) BC(d3) WHITE KQvKBB(xdd) 142 74 capture WK(b8) WQ(a8) BK(e5) BB(e6) BB(f8) BLACK