Today’s puzzle is white to move and mate in two. Can you solve it?
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Clue: On their first move, white needs to move their queen.
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Answer: Qh1.
Black can now only move their knight or their g pawn.
If black moves their knight, then white can respond Ng6#.
If black instead moves their g pawn, then white can respond Qa1#.
The above chess puzzle is white to move and mate in three.
The puzzle comes from a position in the 2024 American Cup. The game was played between two of the best chess players in the world: Sam Sevian as white and Levon Aronian as black. Aronian had just played his knight to f8. It was white’s (Sevian’s) move and he had a mate in three. However, he missed it. Can you find it?
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Clue: White needs to move their queen on the first move.
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Answer:
1. Qxh7+ Nxh7
2. Ng6+ Kg8
3. Bd5#
Although Sevian missed the mate in three, he went on to win the match. The full match can be viewed here.
Today’s puzzle was created over 100 years ago by the mathematician Henry Dudeney. Your challenge is to place 16 pawns onto a chessboard so that no three pawns lie in the same vertical, horizontal or diagonal line. One of your pawns must be placed on d4 and another of your pawns on e5. Where should you place your remaining 14 pawns?
You can attempt this puzzle at the interactive chessboard editor here: https://lichess.org/editor.
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Clue: In the top row, you need one pawn on c8 and another on g8.
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Answer:
The above chess puzzle is white to move and mate in two. Can you solve it?
Scroll down for a clue and further down for the answer.
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Clue: White needs to sacrifice their queen with their first move.
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Answer:
1. Qa4+
-If black moves Kxa4, then white responds Bc2#.
-If black moves Kc3, then white responds Qc2#.
Your challenge is to place five white queens and three black queens onto a 5×5 chessboard so that no queen can capture a queen of the opposing colour.
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Clue: Two of the black queens go on a5 and d5.
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Answer:
There are also rotations and reflections of the above solution.
Today’s puzzle comes from series 19, episode 23 of the British TV quiz show, Only Connect. The three images below, from left to right, form a sequence. What should come next in the sequence?
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Clue: This puzzle has nothing to do with chess. British people may find this puzzle slightly easier than other people. Focus on what square each piece is on, ie e8.
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Answer: Fourth in the sequence is a king on c3.
The sequence consists of successive British monarchs.
The king on e8 represents King Edward the eighth.
The king on g6 represents King George the sixth.
The queen on e2 represents Queen Elizabeth the second.
This means, the next picture in the sequence should be a king on c3, which represents King Charles the third.
I like this puzzle because it appears to be chess related on the surface; however, it has nothing to do with chess.
Place four white queens and a white bishop onto a chessboard so that if the black king is placed onto any empty square of the chessboard, it will be in check.
If you would like to try this puzzle with an online, interactive chessboard, I recommend https://www.365chess.com/board_editor.php.
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Clue: In one answer to this puzzle, the queens belong on the a, b, e and h files.
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Answer: There are a number of possible answers to this question. In the answer, pictured below, the white bishop can be on d1, f3 or g4.
This chess puzzle is white to move and mate in three. Can you solve it?
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Clue: White’s first move is rook to h3.
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Answer:
Pictured above is one queen and eleven pawns. Your challenge is to find a path for the queen so it captures all eleven pawns in just 11 moves.
Note: The pawns don’t move, capture or protect one another. This puzzle involves just the queen moving.
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Clue: The queen must first take the pawn in the bottom right corner, on h2.
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Answer:
This chess puzzle is white to move and mate in two. It is one of the more challenging mate in two puzzles.
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Clue: White needs to first move their rook on d8.
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Answer: Rd7.
Now, whatever piece blacks moves, they lose on white’s next move.
If black moves the rook on b8, then Qxb7#
If black plays bxc6, then Rxa7# (either rook can take on a7).
If black plays Ra5, then Rxa5#
If black plays Ra6, then Rxa6#
If black plays Rxa4, then Qxa4#
Puzzle a Day 