White to move and checkmate in 3. Have fun.
Lloyd 1877
8/2p5/2p5/k1K5/8/3Q4/8/3b4 w – – 0 1
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1.Qxd1 Ka6
2.Kxc6 Ka5
[if 2..Ka7 3.Kxc7 Ka6/Ka8 4.Qa4#]
3.Qd4 Ka6
4.Qa4# ..took me a little over a minute to solve this! lol
Oh..I kinda overlooked the ‘checkmate in 3 moves’ scenario. My bad!
Here’s the revised line..
1.Qg3 Ka6
[if 1..Ka4 2.Qc3 Bc2/Bb3/Bf3 3.Qb4#] 2.Qxc7 Bf3/Ba4
3.Qb6#
Cheska,
Mate in three, not four.
1Qg3 ka6 2Qc7
ka4 2qc3
ba4 or b3 2qc7
bc2 2qg8
any move of q or b can not prevent mate in three
mr cheska it is mate in 3 & not in 4
Of course, if you were playing this over the board, you would instantly play Qd1 and your opponent would resign, but we are looking for mate in three, and Qd1 is a mate in four:
1. Qd1 Ka6
2. Kc6 Ka5
Here, Ka7 3.Qb3 Ka6/a8 4.Qa4/b7#. Continuing:
3. Qb3 Ka6
4. Qa3#
So, how to corral the king in three moves? I have almost certainly seen this problem before, and probably on this blog, because I came up with the answer almost instantly, and it is far too subtle for me to have done so so quickly otherwise. The key is to mate, or to threaten mate, of the black king when he is on a6 or a5 with the queen on b6 or b4 (on the dark squares to deny the bishop any delaying attacks). There is really only one way to do this- the white queen must be able to come to c7 or c3 on move 2 after the black king has moved on the first move. There is only one square from which she can do this, and all that is left is to make sure white can still mate in three total if black moves the bishop on the first move:
1. Qg3!
Now, if black plays 1. …Ka6, 2.Qc7 forces black to move the bishop on move 2, none of which can prevent 3.Qb6#, and 1. …Ka5 allows 2.Qc3 with the same type of mate on 3.Qb4# since in both case the black king is completely immobilized. So, black must move the bishop on move 2, but if the bishop leaves the a4/d1 diagonal, white mates on the second move with Qa3, so the only moves left are Bc2, Bb3, and Ba4, but they are all mates in 3 total:
1. …..Bc2
2. Qg8! Ka4 (other moves, 3.Qa8#)
3. Qa2#
Or
1. …..Bb3 (covers g8, blocks b3!)
2. Qc7! Ka4 (Ka6 3.Qb6#)
3. Qa7#
And, finally
1. …..Ba4
2. Qc7 Ka6
3. Qb6#
1. Qg3!, threatening 2. Qg8 followed by either 3. Qa2# or 3. Qa8#
1. … Ba4/Bb3 2. Qxc7+ followed by either 3. Qb6# or 3. Qa7#
1. … Bg4/Be2 2. Qa3#
1. … Ka4 2. Qc3 and 3. Qb4#
1. … Ka6 2. Qxc7 and 3. Qb6#
this is my try: 1.Qa3+ Ba4 2.Kxc6 Ka6 3.QxBa4 checkmate
1. Qb1 Ka4
2. Qb4+ Mate
Or
1. Qb1 Ka6
2. Qb8 Ka5
3. Qa1+ Mate
Or
1. Qb1 Bb3
2. Qa1+ Mate
Or
1. Qb1 Bc2
2. Qb8 Ka6 or Ka4 and one of the mates above
Or
1. Qb1 Ba4
2. Qb8 Ka4 or any bishop movement
3. Qa1+
Or
1. Qb1 Any Bishop movement to EFGH leads to mates above
– Shekhar
Took me a long time. In the end I was just moving the queen around arbitrarily. 🙂 There were several 4-move checkmates, but the 3-move one was quite elusive. Finally, I did hit upon 1. Qg3. Now:
If black moves his bishop in his first move, 2. Qg8 and it is mate via 3. Qa8 if the king moves northwards, and 3. Qa3 if the king moves southwards.
If black moves his king in his first move, 2. Qc3 and mate next move if the king moves southwards and 2. Qxc7 and mate next move if the king moves northwards.
Good one!
1 Qg3
1…. Ka6 2Qxc7 B moves 3Qb6#
1…..Ka4 2Qc3 B moves 3Qb4#
1….Ba4 2Qxc7+ Ka6 3Qb6#
1…. Bb3 2Qxc7+ Ka4 (2… Ka6 3Qb6#)3Qa7#
1…. Bc2 2Qb8 and now
(2…Ka4 3Qa2#)
(2… Ka6 3Qa8#)
(2… B on a4-d1 diagonal 3Qa8#)(2…. B elsewhere 3Qa2#)
1….Bf3 2Qb8 Ka4 3Qa2# Ka6 or Bd1 3Qa8#
1… Be2(or g4,h5) Qa3#
This is impossible!
Susan has posted this problem before, I almost 100% sure, and it definitely is possible, but you need to accept that the bishop is on the board at the end.
She had posted this before, and much more recently than I thought. I managed to solve it that time, but it took me forever.
A typical Lloyd.
1. Qg3!
1…. Ka4 2. Qc3!
1…. Ka6 2. Qxc7!
1…. Ba4 2. Qxc7!
1…. Bb3 2. Qxc7!
1…. Bc2 2. Qg8!
The solution is actually Qg3.
If the bishop moves on e2,g4 or h5 the mate is simply Qa3.
If the bishop moves on f3 or c2, then Qg8 with double threats of Qa8 and Qa2, checkmating.
Then, if the bishop moves on b3 or a4, Qxc7+ followed by either Qb6 or Qa7.
Last, if the king moves to a4 (a6) we have Qc3 (Qxc7), mating on b4 (b6).
This combination is really tricky and beautiful. For me after some minutes it was obivious that the queen have to move to a8(for Ka6-b7), but the first question was, how to do it?
With 1.Qg3! After that the bishop have to move(cause Ka4 met with Qc3-b4# and Ka6 met withQc7: with the same motif), so Bc2.
2.Qg8!(this was the important move, cause the queen can move now to a2 and a8, and it depends on what defense balck choose). For example Bd3 and now Qa2#
I had some problems with the problem but I think it’s not so hard if you find the right idea.
1 Qg3
The key. If 1 … Ka6 then 2 Qxc7 and 3 Qc6++ next. If 1 … Ka4 then
2 Qc3 and 3 Qb4++ next. So only bishop can move…
1 … Bc2
The other bishop’s move are easier.
For example:
If 1 … Bb3 2 Qxc7+ and it’s mate
(2 … Ka6 3 Qb6++; 2 … Ka4 3 Qa7++)
If 1 … Ba4 then 2 Qc7+ and 3 Qb6++
2 Qg8!
and it’s mate in a8 o a2.
1 Qb1! threatens Qb8-a8#
Black can’t move king to a4 or Qb4#
Bishop moves all lose or block the king.
Nice problem.
1. Qg3! and now:
1…. Ka4 2. Qc3
1…. Ka6 2. Qxc7
1…. Bb3 2. Qxc7+ Ka4 3. Qa7 mate
1…. Bc2 2. Qg8!
It took me half an hour to analyse all variants and find the right follow-ups. Qc3 and Qg8 were not so obvious.
What is the problem with 1. Qa3+, Ba4 (the only move) 2. Kxc6, Ka6 (the only move) 3. Qxa4#
Ohhh! Ravi,
2Kxc6 is illegal as it is supported by B on a4.
There is a saying in Kannada “Ravi kanaddannu kavi kanda.” meaning “poet could see what sun(ravi) could not find.”.That does not make me a poet.
Full source: Samuel Loyd, Detroit Free Press, 1877
(and again, not Lloyd…)