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This mate cannot be solved.
1 b4+ ..cxb3 en passant 2 Rdc7+ ..Bc6 3 Rgxc6+ bxc6 4 Rxc6+ ..Kd5 5 c4++
1. b4+ cxb3 2. Rc7+ Bc6 3. Rcxc6 bxc6 4.Rxc6 Kd5 c4
1.b2-b4+ c4xb3
2.Rd7-c7+ Bd5-c6
3.Rg6xc6+ b7xc6
4.Rc7xc6+ Kc5-d5
5.c3-c4#
An alternative to the explanation given by thechessdoctor:
The hint “mate in 5” makes this brain teaser simpler. Let’s forget about this hint. Imagine you’re in a game a knight and several pawns down. You must finish quickly otherwise you’re lost. Moreover black threats Rxg6.
Therefore you must look for forced ways to win immediately. The first candidate continuation which looks somehow forced is 1.Rc7+ Bc6 2.Rcxc6+ bxc6 (2..Kd5 3.Rgd6#) 3.Rxc6+ Kd5.
In the resulting position the only way to trouble black would be to move your pawn c3 to c4. It’s not possible because of the black pawn on c4. b2-b3 threating mate by bxc4 does not work because of Rxb3. The question arises: Is there a way to remove the black pawn c4 beforehand?
After having reached this point you can find the solution as given by tfk.
nice little puzzle
the last anon gave a good example how i by myself try to solve “mating puzzles” – i’m going to look for “king escape” squares…
in the position given, the king has no square to move, a check on the diagonal a3 – e7 e.g. by a fictive bishop would be mate in one.
on the other hand – a rook check on c7 will force the bishop to shield his king, freeing the field d5 for the king to move there. and even a rook sac on c6 won’t change this fact (no mate with bishop and rook because of the free d5 square!)
so how to prevent the king from entering d5? check by a bishop? impossible; a quiet move by the king? impossible. so the only candidate is the pawn on c3 – but he is blocked by it’s counterpart on c4
and at that point i got it …
nice and straight…
Exactly how I solved it.
Chess Training Blog
b3 is nicer than b4+
@pelle:
b3 is nice only for black:
1.b3 Rxg6 0-1