Author: Hans Havermann
Date: 07:37:55 11/14/98
Valentin Albillo, more than a year ago, posted his "unsolved" 3qk3/8/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQ - (Test #91: <http://www.multimania.com/albillo/ajedre9a.htm>). Computationally intensive, Albillo conjectured "it's a mate in 12". A number of chess engines had a go at it, but the attempts are old and seem dated. I wonder if this problem has since been solved. I thought I should let MacChess (5.0b3) try this on my 300 MHz G3. After 56 hours, toward the end of 13-ply, MacChess came up with: 1. e4 Qd4 2. Bb5+ Ke7 3. Qg4 Qe5 4. Qd7+ Kf8 5. d3 Qh5 6. Bf4 Qf7 7. Bh6+ Kg8 8. Bc4 Kh7 9. Qxf7+ Kxh6 Despite the program's move-extenders (which caused my analysis to go 93 plies deep on some line!), it couldn't see the follow-up (because, I guess, "g3" is a non-trivial move and does not engage the move-extender): 10. g3 Kg5 11. Qg7+ Kh5 12. Bf7# Anyways, I do not pretend this (necessarily) "solves" the problem. But there are people out there with faster computers and better programs than mine. Anyone?
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