The Lemon Fool

Bobby Fisher lost a bet that he could solve this puzzle in 30 minutes.

Mate in 3.



Board: https://lichess.org/editor/8/8/8/8/4k3/8/8/2BQKB2_w_-_-_0_1

RC

ReformedCharacter wrote:Mate in 3.

Black or white?

Scott.

I’ve got it down to mate in 4 so far.

ReformedCharacter wrote:Bobby Fisher lost a bet that he could solve this puzzle in 30 minutes.

It would be more interesting to know how quickly Bobby Fischer solved it... :-J

Gengulphus

Gengulphus wrote:

ReformedCharacter wrote:Bobby Fisher lost a bet that he could solve this puzzle in 30 minutes.

It would be more interesting to know how quickly Bobby Fischer solved it... :-J

Gengulphus

The puzzle was created by Pal Benko. Bobby Fischer bet he could solve it in a half hour and lost. Fisher then bet Benko he could find a second solution if he could study it overnight. He lost again.

RC

I have never understood the chess puzzle obsession with "mate in X". I would sacrifice the two bishops to reduce it to a "problem with a known solution".

9873210 wrote:I have never understood the chess puzzle obsession with "mate in X". I would sacrifice the two bishops to reduce it to a "problem with a known solution".

Maybe it's like people who will climb a challenging cliff face while others walk the easy route in a fraction of the time? They have designated routes that disallow use of obvious hand- and footholds within easy reach!

In this case, the mate in four is trivial, with many solutions. I can't see it in three, and I'm not motivated to spend more than a few minutes looking. In a real game, the mate would be pre-empted by resignation.

Spoiler

Playing as white
Option 1
B C4 - K E5
Q D5 - K F6
Q G5 - Mate

Option 2
B C4 - K F5
Q F3 - K G6
Q F7 - Mate

Option 3
B C4 - K F5
Q F3 - K E5
Q F4 - Mate


Or something like that - the white bishop is the pin piece

AiY