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CHESS PUZZLE, FEN r3N1bk/b1n4p/1pPp4/4R3/2PN4/5pnp/2K5/Q4R1q w - -

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Added by:blitzkov
Added on:30-Nov-12
Description:
Difficulty:
chess puzzle r3N1bk/b1n4p/1pPp4/4R3/2PN4/5pnp/2K5/Q4R1q w - -
Attempts:490
Solved:87 (17%)
White to move, mate in 2
Comments: (5) » LastGo to last comment
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schmuel
20-Mar-25, 02:29

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Brain fog
Hi!

Could someone explain why 1. Ne2 doesn’t work..? Thanks!
schmuel
20-Mar-25, 02:32

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Don’t worry I got it
2. Qf1 stops mate, got there in the end
eitan283
20-Mar-25, 04:48

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The hard thing in this puzzle
is to understand the subtle differences of the N moves....
pbednaruk
20-Mar-25, 05:47

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The hard thing...
It was kind of obvious that only the queen can deliver the checkmate and that it must be a discovery attack. It was also quite easy to find out that the knight must be moved first. The real question is to figure out why only one out of possible 8 (?) N moves works.
jonellis
20-Mar-25, 07:02

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Indeed. Having worked out that the knight move must be the first one, and the second would be a discovered check from the rook on e5:

1. Ne2 fails because of Qxf1 - the knight blocks 2. Re1+ which would prevent Qf1xa1.

1. Nxf3 fails because of Qxf3 - Black cannot use his e5-rook to prevent the queen reaching *either* c3 or f6.

1. Nf5 fails because of Nh5 - the knight blocks 2. Rxh5, and the black knight on h5 will be free to block on f6 or g7.

1. Ne6 fails because of Nxe8 - the knight blocks 2. Rxe8+, and the knight on e8 will be free to reach g7 or f6.

1. Nb5 fails because of Bb8 - the knight blocks 2. Ra5+ which would prevent Ra8xa1.

1. Nb3 works against all the above.

And that's all 6 possible knight moves (the white pieces on c2 and c6 block the knight's other two squares).
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