"Almost Chess Almost Chess is a chess variant invented by Ralph Betza in 1977. The game is played using a standard chessboard and pieces, except the players' queens are replaced by chancellors, which combine the moves of a rook and a knight. Almost Chess was featured in NOST magazine ""Nost-algia"", beginning with issue 205. Other than the replacement of queens by chancellors (notated ""C""), the game follows all the rules and conventions of standard chess. The Fool's mate in Almost Chess begins 1.Cc3. Replacing queens with chancellors imparts a radical change to the nature of the chess game, despite the"
"because the move is not a legal move on board A. Therefore, it is checkmate. Another form of Fool's Mate: 1. e4 d6 2. Bc4 Qxd2? 3. Bb5# And another: 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 Nf6? 3. Qxe5# 1. e4 h5 2. Be2 Rh4 3. Bxh5 Rxe4+ 4. Kf1 d5 5. Qe2? (threatening 6.Qb5#) 5... Bh3# (see diagram). 1. d4 e6 2. Qd6 Be7? 3. Qe5+ Kf8 4. Bh6# (Seitz–Nadvorney, 1973). Paul Yearout vs. George Jelliss, 1996 AISE Grand Prix [Annotations by George Jelliss; moves returning to board A are notated ""/A"".] 1. d3 Nf6 2. Nc3 c5 3. Qd2"
"could play f4 rather than f3. Additionally, the order in which White advances their f- and g-pawns could be alternated. Similar mating patterns can occur early in the game. For example, in 1. e4 g5 2. d4 f6 3. Qh5, the basic Fool's Mate pattern is the same: a player advances their f- and g-pawns, which permits the enemy queen to mate along the unblocked diagonal. One such Fool's Mate is widely reported to have occurred in a possibly apocryphal 1959 game between Masefield and Trinka which lasted just three moves: 1. e4 g5 2. Nc3 f5?? 3. Qh5#. A"
"and the game immediately ends in a draw. A checkmating move is recorded in algebraic notation using the hash symbol ""#"", for example: 34.Qg7#. A checkmate may occur in as few as two moves on one side with all of the pieces still on the board (as in Fool's mate, in the opening phase of the game), in a middlegame position (as in the 1956 game called the Game of the Century between Donald Byrne and Bobby Fischer), or after many moves with as few as three pieces in an endgame position. The term ""checkmate"" is, according to the Barnhart"
"The Fool (Tarot card) The Fool or The Jester is one of the 78 cards in a Tarot deck. In occult tarot, it is one of the 22 Major Arcana, sometimes numbered as 0 (the first) or XXII (the last). However, in decks designed for playing traditional Tarot card games, it is typically unnumbered, as it is not one of the 21 trump cards and instead serves a unique purpose by itself. The Fool is titled ""Le Mat"" in the Tarot of Marseilles, and ""Il Matto"" in most Italian language tarot decks. These archaic words mean ""the madman"" or ""the"
"similar mate can occur in From's Gambit: 1. f4 e5 2. g3 exf4 . A well-known in the Dutch Defence occurred in the game Frank Melville Teed vs. Eugene Delmar, 1896: It seems that Black has won the bishop, but now comes ... Threatening Qh5#, a basic Fool's Mate. Probably better is 6.Be2, but the move played sets a trap. Defending against Bg6#, but ... White sacrifices his queen to draw the black rook away from its control of g6. A similar trap occurred in a game published by Gioachino Greco in 1625: Opening up a flight square for the"
"White moves N*81, then the silver or dragon taking 81 are mates. That leaves the longest (7-move) mate sequence in which the king attempts a futile escape starting with P-84. Subsequently, the dragon chases. Thus, 2. +Rx91 K-83, 3. +Rx93 K-72, 4. +R-73 K-61, 5. +R-71 is a mate. Brinkmates (""hisshi"") and threatmates (""tsumero"") are also found in western chess. Brinkmate In shogi, brinkmate or hisshi (必至 ""desperation, inevitability"" or 必死 ""sure kill"") is the situation in which an unavoidable 詰め ""tsume"" checkmate sequence will be created by the player's next move. (Note that in shogi ""tsume"" is defined as"
"checkmate a lone king. While the rook versus camel endgame is usually a draw, more winning positions exist than there are in rook versus knight and rook versus bishop endgames: the longest win takes 35 moves. (All endgame statistics mentioned are for the 8×8 board.) As a component of other pieces, it has about the same value as a knight (both pieces can move to eight squares). The camel plus ferz compound is used in Omega Chess where it is called a ""wizard"", and the camel plus king compound in Paulovits's Game where it is called ""general"". Its long move"
"10. Bd2 0-0 11. Bxb4 Nxb4 12. Nbxd4 Qa5 13. Nd2 Qe5+ 14. Ne2 Nd3#. Another example is the game Unzicker–Sarapu, Siegen Olympiad 1970: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. Nc3 e6 5. Nxd5 exd5 6. d4 Nc6 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Qxd5 Qb6 9. Bc4 Bxf2+ 10. Ke2 0-0 11. Rf1 Bc5 12. Ng5 Nd4+ 13. Kd1 Ne6 14. Ne4 d6 15. exd6 Bxd6?? 16. Nxd6 Rd8 17. Bf4! Nxf4? 18. Qxf7+ Kh8 19. Qg8+! Sarapu now resigned in light of 19...Rxg8 20.Nf7#. Bibliography Smothered mate In chess, a smothered mate is a checkmate delivered"
"Kg8 28.Nh6++ Kh8 (28...Kf8 29.Qf7#) 29.Qg8+! Nxg8 (or 29...Rxg8) 30.Nf7 still mates.) This technique is so common as to have its own name: ""Philidor's Mate"" or ""Philidor's Legacy"" (after François-André Danican Philidor). This is something of a misnomer, however, as it is earlier described in Luis Ramirez Lucena's 1497 text on chess, ""Repetición de Amores e Arte de Axedrez"", which predates Philidor by several hundred years. Occasionally, a smothered mate may be possible in the opening of a game. One of the most famous, and most frequently occurring, is in the Budapest Gambit. It arises after 1. d4 Nf6 2."
"Boden's Mate Boden's Mate is a checkmating pattern in chess characterized by bishops on two criss-crossing diagonals (for example, bishops on a6 and f4 delivering mate to a king on c8), with possible flight squares for the king being occupied by friendly pieces. Most often the checkmated king has castled queenside, and is mated on c8 or c1. Many variants on the mate are seen, for example a king on e8 checkmated by bishops on g6 and a3, and a king on f1 checkmated by bishops on h3 and b6. Often the mate is immediately preceded by a sacrifice that"
"found in other types of problems, it is most common in selfmates. Another variation is the ""series-selfmate"", a type of seriesmover in which White makes a series of moves without reply, at the end of which Black makes one move and is compelled to give mate. Selfmate A selfmate is a chess problem in which White, moving first, must force Black to deliver checkmate within a specified number of moves against his will. Selfmates were once known as sui-mates. The problem shown is a relatively simple example. It is a selfmate in two by Wolfgang Pauly from ""The Theory of"
"Helpmate A helpmate is a type of chess problem in which both sides cooperate in order to achieve the goal of checkmating Black. In a helpmate in ""n"" moves, Black moves first, then White, each side moving ""n"" times, to culminate in White's ""nth"" move checkmating Black. (In a helpmate in 2 for example, sometimes abbreviated ""h#2"", the solution consists of a Black move, a White move, a second Black move, then a second White move, giving checkmate.) Although the two sides cooperate, all moves must be legal according to the rules of chess. The example problem illustrated is a"
"check with the knight, then move the knight away to deliver a double check from the queen and knight, then sacrifice the queen to force the rook next to the king, then mate with the knight. An example is to be found in the game Jan Timman–Nigel Short at the 1990 Tilburg tournament. From the diagrammed position, play continued 27. Nf7+ Kg8 28. Nh6++ Kh8 29. Qg8+ Rxg8 30. Nf7#. (Note that White would force mate even if his rook, and pawn on e7, were removed from the board, and Black had a knight on f6. In that case, 27.Nf7+"
"in two. Instead, he surprised Black with 3.Rh5! Qxh5 4.Qxc6+! bxc6 5.Bxa6#. Boden's Mate has occurred in many later games, usually, as in the Boden and Horwitz games, after the losing king has castled on the queenside, and the winner sets up the mate by a queen sacrifice on c3 or c6. Perhaps the most famous example of Boden's Mate is the so-called Peruvian Immortal game, Canal–NN, simultaneous exhibition, Budapest 1934: 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 c6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.Bf4 e6 7.h3 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 Bb4 9.Be2 Nd7 10.a3 0-0-0?? 11.axb4!! Qxa1+ 12.Kd2! Qxh1 13.Qxc6+! bxc6 14.Ba6#. More rarely,"
"Selfmate A selfmate is a chess problem in which White, moving first, must force Black to deliver checkmate within a specified number of moves against his will. Selfmates were once known as sui-mates. The problem shown is a relatively simple example. It is a selfmate in two by Wolfgang Pauly from ""The Theory of Pawn Promotion"", 1912: White moves first, and compels Black to deliver checkmate on or before Black's second move. If White can leave Black with no option but to play Bxg2#, the problem is solved. The only move by which White can force Black to deliver checkmate"
"referred to as a ""discovered attack"" (or ""check"") ""with capture"". When the moving piece moves to a square from which it threatens to inflict checkmate on the next move, the tactic is called a ""discovered attack with mate threat"". A ""discovered checkmate"" itself is also possible. In exceptional circumstances, it is possible for the moved piece to give a ""double discovered check"" (though this name is not actually used). The only way for this to happen in orthodox chess is by way of an ""en passant"" capture. In the position shown at right, Black has just played 1...g7–g5. White replies"
"The Fool ""il matto"" (0) is played as an excuse: it can beat nothing, but can always be played to a trick, relieving the holder from the obligation to follow suit. In only two games recorded in the 18th and 19th centuries is the Fool treated as the lowest trump. Like in most tarot games outside of France and Sicily, the order of the cards in swords and batons is king, queen, knight, jack, X, IX, ... I, while in the ranking of the cards in cups and coins is king, queen, knight, jack, 1, 2, ... 10. Tarot decks"
"will soon have to pull his exposed pieces back. Although a quick mate on f7 is almost never seen in play above beginner level, the basic idea underlying it—that f7 and f2, squares defended only by the kings, are weak and therefore good targets for early attack—is the motivating principle behind a number of chess openings. Scholar's Mate has sometimes also been given other names in English, such as ""Schoolboy's Mate"" (which in modern English perhaps better connotes the sense of 'novice' intended by the word ""Scholar's"") and ""Blitzkrieg"" (German for ""lightning war""), meaning a quick and short engagement ."
"move, but the only way to avoid stalemate is 3...Rd7 4.cxd7 (threatening 5.d8=Q+, forcing stalemate) c5?? 5.bxc6 Kb8 6.Kxb6, when White even wins. Decades later, someone pointed out an alternative draw with 1.Rg6! fxg6 2.h8=Q+ Rxh8 3.b5 or 1...Re8 2.Rg8 Rb8 3.b5. In Chigorin–Schlechter, Ostend 1905, (diagram at above right), a game between two of the leading players of the day, an unusual combination of stalemate and ""zugzwang"" enabled the great Schlechter to rescue a desperate position. Schlechter, in extreme , played 44...Qc7+! Chigorin, thinking Schlechter had blundered, responded 45.Qb6+??, seemingly forcing the trade of queens. Schlechter's 45...Ka8! forced an"
"Smothered mate In chess, a smothered mate is a checkmate delivered by a knight in which the mated king is unable to move because he is surrounded (or ""smothered"") by his own pieces. The mate is usually seen in a corner of the board, since fewer pieces are needed to surround the king there. The most common form of smothered mate is seen in the adjacent diagram. The knight on f7 delivers mate to the king on h8 which is prevented from escaping the check by the rook on g8 and the pawns on g7 and h7. Similarly, White can"
"11.Qg5+! hxg5 12.Bxg5# Zukertort–Anderssen, Breslau 1865. An unusual example of Boden's Mate occurring to a king on d8, and without the winning side having to sacrifice to achieve the mating position, occurred in Pandolfini–NN, 1970, after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 exd4 7.Re1 d5 8.Nxd4 Bd6 9.Nxc6 Bxh2+ 10.Kh1 Qh4 11.Rxe4+ dxe4 12.Qd8+ Qxd8 13.Nxd8+ Kxd8 14.Kxh2 (So far this is a position known to opening theory from the Riga Variation of the Ruy Lopez. White is considered to have the advantage after 14...Be6 15.Be3.) f5?? 15.Bg5# 1–0. Boden's Mate Boden's Mate is a"
"Checkmate Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is a game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no way to remove the threat. Checkmating the opponent wins the game. In chess, the king is never captured—the game ends as soon as the king is checkmated. In formal games, most players an inevitably lost game before being checkmated. It is usually considered bad etiquette to continue playing in a completely hopeless position. If a player is not in check but has no legal move, then it is ""stalemate"","
"that which follows 1...Be6). This second Loshinsky example, also a mate in two, is from ""Tijdschrift v.d. Nederlandse Schaakbond"", 1930, and is one of the most famous of all chess problems. It is a complete block (if White could pass his first move, then he could reply to every black move with a mate), and White's key, 1.Bb3, holds this block, making no threat, but putting Black in zugzwang. Black has six defences leading to three Grimshaws, one of them a pawn Grimshaw: After other black moves, White can play one of the above moves to mate; the three exceptions"
"following position with these implied moves: In a sense, this a fairly unlikely mate sequence (cf. the Fool's mate in western chess). 1. P-76. Black's bishop diagonal is opened. 1...G-72. An unusual move early made by White. In the current configuration, the gold is stacked on top of the right silver creating a wall blocking White's king from fleeing rightward past the central file. 2. Bx33+?? A very bad blunder. Black trades his bishop for merely a pawn and promotes. Although the promoted bishop is checking White's king, it's meaningless. The game is now strongly in White's favor. 2...G-42?? An"
"7.exf6 Qxf6 8.gxf3 Nc6 9.f4 Bd7 10.Be3 0-0-0 11.Nd2 Re8 12.Qf3 Bf5 13.0-0-0? (13.Bd5 is better) 13...d5! 14.Bxd5? (allowing a forced mate; better is 14.Rde1, losing a piece) 14...Qxc3+ 15.bxc3 Ba3#, giving the final checkmate position shown in the diagram. However, the mate had been known before that from the game Horwitz–Popert, Hamburg 1844 (see diagram). There, Black set a trap with 1...Bb8, which White fell into with 2.Rxd5?. Instead of playing the winning 2...Qxh2+ 3.Qxh2 Rxh2+ 4.Kxh2 c6+ (5.Re5 Nxe5 6.dxe5?? Rxd1) Black blundered with 2...c6??. After that White could not save his rook because of the threatened mate"
"opens up the diagonal on which the bishop delivers checkmate. The mate is named for Samuel Boden, who played a famous early example of it in Schulder–Boden, London 1853. However, it had been known previously from the game Horwitz–Popert, Hamburg 1844. Boden's Mate is characterized by a king being mated by two bishops on criss-crossing diagonals, with possible flight squares blocked by friendly pieces. Samuel Boden, for whom the mate is named, administered an early example of it in the friendly game Schulder–Boden, London 1853. That game went 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.c3 f5 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.d4 fxe4 6.dxe5 exf3"
"piece between the king and the bishop (...G*82, Bx82+). Like the famous Scholar's mate in western chess, shogi has a well-known early mate sequence related to the joseki for Cheerful Central Rook vs Static Rook games. For instance, if Black is playing Cheerful Central Rook, then if White deviates from the jouseki and blunders by creating a wall with their either of their silvers (S-62 or S-42), then Black will give a double check with their rook and promoted bishop rendering an 11-move mate as follows: Similar variants of this sequence are also possible. For example, Kitao (2011) offers the"
"chess problems is the following, called ""Excelsior"" by Loyd after the poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. White is to move and checkmate black in five moves against any defense: Loyd bet a friend that he could not pick a piece that ""didn't"" give mate in the main line, and when it was published in 1861 it was with the stipulation that white mates with ""the least likely piece or pawn"". One of the most famous chess problems by Loyd. He wrote on this problem: ""The originality of the problem is due to the White King being placed in absolute safety,"
"been known even earlier. From the diagram position at left, instead of 1...Nb6+??, Black would win quickly by threatening mate on d8 by 1. ...Na5, e.g. 2. Kd8 Ba4 3. Kc8 Bd7+ and the white king is forced to b8 with mate in 6. Bishop and knight checkmate The bishop and knight checkmate in chess is the checkmate of a lone king which can be forced by a bishop, knight, and king. With the stronger side to move and with perfect play, checkmate can be forced in at most thirty-three moves from any starting position where the defender cannot quickly"
"Game of Chesse-Play"" by Francis Beale in London (Leon 1900). These games were not described in the now-familiar algebraic notation; rather, the movement of each piece was given in order like so:The Fooles Mate.Black Kings Bishops pawne one house.White Kings pawne one house.Black kings knights pawne two housesWhite Queen gives Mate at the contrary kings Rookes fourth house in which ""house"" refers to a square on the chessboard. In addition to the games (""Gambetts"") listed in his manuals, Greco gave an overview of the rules of chess (""The Lawes of Chesse"") and general advice to his readers. These range from"
"warning!"" Walter Whiteman vs. Rib Orrell: 1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Bc5 4.Bc4 Ng4 5.0-0 Nxf2+ 6.Rxf2 Bxf2+ 7.Kxf2 0-0 8.d3 d6 9.Ng5 Be6 10.Bxe6 fxe6+ 11.Ke1 h6 12.Nxe6+ Qh4+ 13.g3 Qxh2 ""Black threatens 14...Qg/h1 mate since a K move is illegal as it exposes the Q to check. If 14.Qg4 (only legal move for Q) Rf2 15.Ne2 (forced: Qxg7 is not mate—it's illegal!) Rxe2+ and mate in three."" Played on a regular chessboard, this variant is a simple race game: the first player to reach a square on the last with his king is the winner. Checking is not"
"king walking half-way over the board and then back again. (As usual, chess problems with unintended multiple solutions are considered flawed; they are often said to be ""cooked"".) The solution here is: Seriesmover A seriesmover is a chess problem in which one side makes a series of legal moves without reply at the end of which the other side makes a single move, giving checkmate or yielding stalemate, depending on the precise stipulation. Checks cannot be given except on the last move of the series. There are various types of seriesmover: Thus a serieshelpmate in ""n"" moves consists of ""n"""