Shatranj Problems

Saturday, 19th July 2014

It seems that the mediaeval masters had as much time composing puzzles as I do following them! I've discovered an error in the solution to last month's problem, meaning that the presented solution is no solution at all.

The first solution to last month's problem is given as: 1. Rook f7-f6 (check), King e6-d5; 2. Pawn e3-e4 (check), Pawn f5xe4; 3. Pawn d3xe4 (check), King d5-c5; 4. Bishop c1-e3 (check), King c5-b6; 5. Rook a7-b7 (check), King b6-a5; 6. Rook b7xb5 (check), Pawn a4xb5; 7. Knight d6-b7 checkmate.

Playing this out on a board shows that move 7 isn't checkmate at all; the king may move to square a4 which has been vacated by the pawn in move 6. For this reason I'll make that the last of the shatranj puzzles, at least until such time as I have the time and expertise to verify each and every puzzle in advance!