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        riddles >> medium >> Not Another Chess Game
        
(Message started by: kellys on Mar 21^st, 2004, 9:58pm)

Title: Not Another Chess Game
Post by kellys on Mar 21^st, 2004, 9:58pm

[e]No more disclaimer.[/e]

In the published version, the players were professors at my school, but I can't think of clever replacements. So I'll just use smiley and frowny.

:) and :( are playing two simultaneous board games. One of them is modern chess, and the other is a variant called Chaturanga. Chaturanga originated in India in the seventh century, and many believe it to be the first ancestor to modern chess.

The two games are shown below (the Chaturanga pieces have been replaced with their modern equivalents). Suppose that :) is about to win one game in two moves, and the other in three. What color is he [it?] playing, which game is Chaturanga, and what are the winning moves?

The Rules of Chaturanga:
1. The board is set up exactly as in chess, and all pieces move the same as in chess, with two exceptions.
2. The Queen moves only one square diagonally.
3. The Bishop moves exactly two squares diagonally, but may jump over pieces just like a knight.
4. A pawn promotes to whichever piece started at that square, but may not promote to a king. [e]You must make the assumption that, in both games, the pawn are on the same file as the one they started on[/e]

Title: Re: Not Another Chess Game
Post by THUDandBLUNDER on Mar 23^rd, 2004, 8:03am

[hide]For normal chess in the top diagram White can mate in 3:
1. BxR+ NxB
2. RxB+ Nc5
3. RxN mate

and in the lower diagram White can mate in 2:
1. QxB any
2. Qe6 mate

But doesn't the mate in 3 of the top diagram also qualify as a mate in 3 under Chaturanga rules?
[/hide]

Title: Re: Not Another Chess Game
Post by kellys on Mar 23^rd, 2004, 12:09pm

THUDandBLUNDER: [hide]If the top game is Chaturanga, then black can respond to 1. BxR+ ... with 1. ... Kc5. The bishop at b4 does not attack the square directly up and to the right of it.[/hide]