Lateral Puzzle.

Discuss anything you like about chess related matters in this forum.
Matthew Turner
Posts: 3600
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 11:54 am

Re: Lateral Puzzle.

Post by Matthew Turner » Mon Jun 28, 2021 10:02 pm

Chris,
You are not on the right lines there. You really have to think a bit more abstractly.

Geoff Chandler
Posts: 3484
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:36 pm
Location: Under Cover
Contact:

Re: Lateral Puzzle.

Post by Geoff Chandler » Mon Jun 28, 2021 10:03 pm

Hi Chris,

It is a position that cannot be reached legally, sounds like you have it.



(Usually I set it up with no White King on the board - I gave 3 clues hinting it was odd, as well as saying ignore the White King.)

Matthew Turner
Posts: 3600
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 11:54 am

Re: Lateral Puzzle.

Post by Matthew Turner » Mon Jun 28, 2021 10:09 pm

My bad, I didn't read Chris' last line, so in fact he had it all along. He just made the mistake of thinking Chandler would be restrained by legal considerations :roll:

Geoff Chandler
Posts: 3484
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:36 pm
Location: Under Cover
Contact:

Re: Lateral Puzzle.

Post by Geoff Chandler » Mon Jun 28, 2021 11:52 pm

Hi Mathew,

Try it on players, (leave the white King off the board which gives a hint it's illegal.)
It is a nod to how good pattern recognition is and how much we depend on it. (though we do not know we are doing it.)

This is one the coaching positions I use for my kids who have bit more experience. Good but raw round the edges.


White to play and right away they give happily a Philidor's Legacy mate in 5 starting with 1.Qe6+
Thanks to pattern recognition we can all see, instantly, in a split second, a mate in 5.
I then ask them why mate in 5 moves when you can mate in 4 moves or even 2 moves.

They often moan because I am tricking them. I tell them I'm tricking then for fun and to learn in a classroom.
Your opponents will be trying to trick you over the board in earnest and it's not funny when they succeed.

User avatar
Christopher Kreuzer
Posts: 8781
Joined: Fri Aug 06, 2010 2:34 am
Location: London

Re: Lateral Puzzle.

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Mon Jun 28, 2021 11:53 pm

Heh, yes, that's the position I had (surely it only has 4-fold symmetry, unless you specify the rooks as being different?). For some great puzzles like this, see the books by Raymond Smullyan.

Post Reply