Author: Dann Corbit
Date: 18:26:24 02/15/00
This position: 8/pp1p1p2/1p1P1P2/k7/8/1p4p1/1P4PP/2K5 w - - does not have a mate within 30 ply. Chest perked for about an hour and a half and found that there is no mate in 15. Does any program or solver find a checkmate? I am guessing it is beyond the range of today's programs. However, it is fairly plain that h4 wins, and the programs do choose that move. I find it odd that the programs I have tried promote to knight so that they can take the black pawn on f7. I [personally] would promote to queen (would I lose?) as it seems to me that I could clean up the back rank even faster, and also a king cannot directly approch a queen like he can a knight. I am puzzled at the logic behind choice of knight on promotion. I would think that +8 on the promotion (+9 for queen, -1 for losing the pawn) would far outweigh the new knight and the pawn taken immediately.
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