The debate about the game of chess being an art, a science or just another board game still rages on, but one thing that cannot be denied is that chess is aesthetically pleasing. If you have doubts, then just look at the following little problem.
A warning then, before you look at the following position. THIS IS NOT A NORMAL CHESS PROBLEM , hence the title ‘suicide mission’.
OK. Now have a look at the weird position below. These kind of problems are generally called 'Self mates' in chess terminology. (This selfmate was composed by E. Hasselkus in 1948)
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| WHITE TO PLAY & FORCE BLACK TO MATE WHITE IN 07 MOVES |
What is this? You might wonder....
It’s rather simple. What you have to do is to imagine you are playing white & then commit hara-kiri. You have to get yourself checkmated in 07 moves. Sounds easy ah..? (mind you, all the white pawns are on the verge of promotion)
It’s not exactly “White to play & lose”. The slight hitch is Black is not willing to mate you. So finding a way to allow black to mate you is not enough, you have to FORCE black to mate you. In other words black should be left with no other option but to mate you.
At first it might sound bit difficult, specially ‘in 07 moves’ part. But I assure you, once you get the general idea it’s as simple as they come.
Happy solving!! Post your thoughts in the comments section. If it is too hard, check the solution.
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