Philippe Schnoebelen, 20 Jun 1995
Here is a nice chess problem with no chessboard. Only cartesian coordinates are given. The problem has a retro-flavor because the solver has to compute the size of the chessboard and its orientation. (Yes, I'll post a solution in a few days if nobody does it before,)
Eric Angelini Europe Echecs, Nov 1990 ---------------------------------------- | wK(0,0) wR(14,-2) wN(4,3) wB(0,5) | | bK(5,0) bP(-2,-4) | ---------------------------------------- 4+2. White mate in 3.
The author, <eric.angelini@infoboard.be>, has just subscribed to the mailing list. He asks me whether I was aware of any similar problem, and how original is this concept.
Why ask poor me? That is a question for you, the real retro-scholars on the list!
I'm back with some additional points regarding Eric Angelini's problem I posted two days ago. (Thanks to Richard Sabey.)
phs> The problem has a retro-flavor because the solver has to compute phs> the size of the chessboard and its orientation.
Well, some precisions may be in order: the orientation may well involve *any* rotation, not necessarily a multiple of quarter-turns. Also the coordinates do not necessarily assume that squares on the chessboard have integer (or unit) length.
phs> Eric Angelini phs> Europe Echecs, Nov 1990 phs> ---------------------------------------- phs> | wK(0,0) wR(14,-2) wN(4,3) wB(0,5) | phs> | bK(5,0) bP(-2,-4) | phs> ---------------------------------------- phs> 4+2. White mate in 3.
I make this clear not because I thought you might miss it :-) but because it sheds a new light to the originality question: Who knows whether problems with a similar idea already exist?
Here's a chess problem like one which Eric Angelini posted a few days ago. Only cartesian coordinates are given. You have to compute the size of the chessboard and its orientation. I'll post a solution in a few days if nobody does it before.
WK(0,1) WB(2,2) WN(0,2) WP(1,1) BK(1,0) #4
Apart from a minor dual I think that my intended solution is unique. How many solutions can you find?