Author: Andreas Stabel
Date: 01:23:49 02/16/00
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On February 15, 2000 at 21:26:24, Dann Corbit wrote: >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. After 1. h4 b5 2. h5 b4 3. h6 Ka4 4. h7 a5 if white does not choose 5. h8=N, black will play 5... b5 with stalemate, so white has to choose the knight. But this is NOT a mate problem. The task is for white to win. A chess computer immediately sees that if after 5. h8=N, black plays 5... b5, mate will follow in eight moves, so the best play for black is to not wall his king in, but play 5... Kb5 and even though white wins easily now, the mate is very far ahead. If you looked at the other posts I have made to the "Mate in ...?" thread, you would see my description of a mate in 16 problem I have composed by fiddling with this one. The position is: [D]8/1p1p1p1p/3P1P2/pp5P/kp6/1p4P1/1P4P1/2K5 w - - 0 1 Not the nice queen moves at the end, and that promoting to a knight the third time does not work. Regards Andreas Stabel
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