[Retros] Extreme #1?

Noam Elkies elkies at math.harvard.edu
Wed May 1 23:28:08 EDT 2002


Recent discussion of a "#1" problem reminded me of this position,
which I constructed in March of 1993:

+-----------------+

| . _ . _ . _ . _ | White Kf4, Re5, Rf6, Pawns f5,e6,f7 = 6

| _ . _ . _ P _ . | Black Kh5, Ra3, pawns d4,d5,e4,h4,g5,h6 = 8

| . _ . _ P R . p |

| _ . _ p R P p k |

| . _ . p p K . p |

| r . _ . _ . _ . |

| . _ . _ . _ . _ |

| _ . _ . _ . _ . |

|_________________| NDE 3/93


White appears to have just been mated, but in fact
is legally obliged to give mate in one.

This task is not quite trivial but can be accomplished in various ways,
and I imagine it must have been done well before 1993. Are there any
standard examples in the literature?

--Noam D. Elkies




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