No. 32, Jan-Mar 2006
R0125 - Dmitri Baibikov
StrateGems 32, Jan-Mar 2006
Dedicated to Wolfgang Dittmann
Decode:
A=king (exactly one letter of each case, and W's are too close together to be kings). Letters BCDW are on the 8th rank, so only E can be pawns. Lowercase is white (otherwise illegal pawn structure). D=knight (must not check enemy Kh7, and Ba8 could only arrive by promotion, but no wPs are missing!). B=rook (no check to Kh7), C=bishop (white can't promote to extra bishop). So W=queen. The decoded position is:
[N1brqbrn/1p1pBQRK/PP1PB2n/3p1pk1/2p3P1/6P1/2P1PP2/8]
Add bQf6 and bSg6, and retract: -1. b5-b6 c5-c4 -2. Sb6-a8 c6-c5 -3. Sc4-b6 c7-c6 -4. Se5-c4 Sh4-g6 -5. Sg6-e5 Sf3-h4 -6. a5-a6 Sd2-f3 -7. a4-a5 Sb1-d2 -8. a3-a4 b2-b1=S -9. a2-a3 a3xSb2 -10. Sd3-b2 a4-a3 -11. Sf4-d3 a5-a4 -12. Sh5-f4 Qa1-f6 -13. Sf6-h5 Qh1-a1 -14. b4-b5 h2-h1=Q -15. b3-b4 h3-h2 -16. b2-b3 h4-h3 -17. h3xPg4 Kh5-g5 -18. Se4-f6 etc.
R0126 - Michael Grushko
Retract -1. Kb1-c2 and now Ke2xSf3 for 1. Kd1 Bb5= or Kg2xSf3 for 1. Kh1 Bh3=.
P0183 - Noam Elkies
1. b3 a5 2. Ba3 Ra6 3. Bb4 Rc6 4. Na3 Rc3 5. Qb1 c5 6. Kd1 Qb6 7. Kc1 Kd8 8. Kb2 Kc7 9. Qe1 Kd6 10. Nb1 Ke5 11. Ba3 Qb4 12. Kc1 b6 13. Kd1 Bb7 14. Bc1
A captureless K/Q platzwechsel, inspired by Stanley's P0173.
P0184 - Gianni Donati
1. e4 Nc6 2. Qh5 Ne5 3. Ke2 Ng6 4. Kf3 f6 5. Kg4 Kf7 6. Nf3 Ke6 7. Bc4+ Kd6 8. Re1 Qe8 9. Re3 Qf7 10. Rc3 Qd5 11. d3 Ke6 12. Bf4 Kf7 13. Bd6 Ke8 14. Qe5 Nf4 15. Bxd5 Ne6 16. Rc6 Nc5 17. Nc3 Na6 18. Rh1 Nb8
A long black knight tour provides the necessary shielding for the black king.
P0185 - Unto Heinonen
1. h4 Nc6 2. h5 Rb8 3. h6 gxh6 4. Rxh6 Bxh6 5. a4 Be3 6. Ra3 h5 7. Rb3 Nh6 8. Rxb7 O-O 9. Rb3 Rxb3 10. a5 Rd3 11. c3 Ba6 12. Qa4 Qa8 13. Qh4 Nb4 14. f3 Qxf3 15. Kd1 Qxf1+ 16. Qe1 Qf5 17. Qh4 Qxa5 18. Ke1 Nd5 19. Qa4 Rb8 20. Qd1
The wK and wQ switch place twice.
P0186 - Jorge Lois, Roberto Osorio
1. h4 f5 2. h5 Kf7 3. h6 Kg6 4. Nh3 Kh5 5. Nc3 g6 6. Nd5 Bg7 7. Nb4 Bf6 8. Ng1+ Bh4 9. Nf3 Nf6 10. e3 Qg8 11. Ke2 Qb3 12. axb3 Rg8 13. Ra6 Rg7 14. Re6 dxe6 15. Ng1 Bd7 16. Kf3 Bb5 17. Be2 Nc6 18. Qf1 Rd8 19. Bd1 Rd3 20. Ne2 Nd4+ 21. Kf4 c6 22. exd4 Rg3 23. hxg7 Bd3 24. cxd3 h6 25. Bc2 Nh7 26. Ng1
A spectacular triple-switchback by Sg1.
P0187 - Allan Bell
1. e4 c5 2. Ba6 c4 3. Ne2 c3 4. O-O cxd2 5. Qe1 d1=N 6. Nd2 Nxb2 7. Rb1 Nd1 8. Rb4 b5 9. Rd4 b4 10. f4 b3 11. f5 b2 12. f6 b1=B 13. fxe7 f5 14. Rf3 f4 15. Ra3 f3 16. g4 f2+ 17. Kg2 f1=R 18. g5 Rf3 19. g6 Rb3 20. gxh7 g5 21. Nf1 g4 22. Be3 g3 23. Kh3 g2 24. Nc1 g1=Q 25. Be2 Qg5 26. c4 Bd3 27. Bf2 Qd2
The intended theme is a giveaway but it's still a challenge to get there!