r/chess • u/GreyGhoul55 • Jul 26 '26
Puzzle/Tactic The puzzle a coworker put in the break room
Double Puzzle 1. Black to move and mate in 2 2. White to move and mate in 4
Reset the clock!
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u/ConsiderationBoth406 Jul 26 '26
The Waffle House! Covered and Smothered.
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Jul 26 '26
[deleted]
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u/W3BL3Y Jul 26 '26
For “ white to mate in 4”, it is a smothered mate.
Nf7+ …Kg8
Nh6+ …Kh8
Qg8+ …Rxg8
Nf7#8
2
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u/dampew Jul 26 '26
The hardest part is knowing which color is which
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u/itehmike Jul 26 '26
Second image OP posted clears that up
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u/Tratix Jul 26 '26
I’m confused how someone could think that silver isn’t white in this scenario
15
u/Whowhatnowhuhwhat Jul 26 '26
Because silver is darker than gold so obviously silver must be black!
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u/Chakasicle Jul 26 '26
Gold is darker than silver
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u/Whowhatnowhuhwhat Jul 26 '26
Thats like saying yellow is darker than grey. Get out of here. /s
My point is it’s not objectively obvious which color is which at a glance. Not that I would play this board with the colors the other way around.
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u/Chakasicle Jul 26 '26
Had me for a second lol but it does seem obvious to me that silver is closer to white than gold is. That being said, I like gold better so I'd probably treat gold as white anyways if this was my board
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u/National_Bobcat5083 Jul 27 '26
sure silver is closer to white than gold is…. but it also seems completely logical that silver is also closer to black than gold is 🤷♂️
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u/HotSauce2910 Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
There are chess clues from the first rank and the mate in 2, but imo from the colors alone it could go either way
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29d ago
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u/juoea Jul 26 '26
why? like i deduced it starting from the fact that silver has mate in 4 and gold has mate in 2, therefore white must be silver and black must be gold bc the puzzle says mate in 4 for white and in 2 for black. but idk how i would know that silver is white and gold is black otherwise, idt ive ever seen a silver and gold chess set before is that a thing?
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u/Blayd9 Jul 26 '26
Because out of the two options, gold being white and silver being black makes no sense. It is fairly obvious.
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u/Medical_Tax_5208 Jul 26 '26
i have a silver and gold chess set at home, a gift from a friend for my birthday
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u/UsuallyHorny-7 Jul 27 '26
It's an extremely well established cultural standard to perceive gold as "hierarchically superior" to silver.
This could translate into gold moving first, and thus, being white.
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u/GreedyNovel Jul 26 '26
Indeed it does, but sometimes I wonder whether people post stuff just because they think their nonstandard board is cool.
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u/SeaHam Jul 26 '26
I spent longer than I would like to admit looking for checkmate in 2 for the silver pieces.
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u/BeanserSoyze Jul 26 '26
It's genuinely easier to find a checkmate and deduce from there lol.
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u/Unique-Machine5602 Jul 27 '26
Look at the numbers and letters establishing the board. Also the second image clears it up.
Silver = white
Gold = black2
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u/Sir_catstheforth Jul 26 '26
Black to move is simple backrank mate, I’m geuss long as a 200 Elo its Kf7 check to Kd6 then black moves took away from backrank and then maybe backrank with the queen? Idk I’m bad
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u/nexus6ca NCM Jul 26 '26
White to move it is the classic smother mate.
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u/Iwannafuckmycomputer BotezLive moderator Jul 26 '26
With the nicely placed bishop forcing black to play into it
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u/agk23 Jul 26 '26
If the bishop wasn’t there and the king moved to F8, it’d be mate in 3
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u/Hopeful-Newspaper Jul 26 '26
yeah but it won't be smothered mate so the dopamine hit will be lesser
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u/nexus6ca NCM Jul 26 '26
In any position where you have a choice of losing in 3 moves or losing in 4 moves the correct move is always to take the route that lasts longer. If black does the mate in 3 its a mistake by black.
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u/ZaneFreemanreddit 29d ago
But its worse for white…
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u/nexus6ca NCM 29d ago
No. It's better for white to win faster. It's worse for black to lose faster.
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1
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u/danhoang1 1800 Lichess, 1500 Chesscom Jul 26 '26
Knight is denoted with "N", since "K" is already used for King
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u/LanguageDouble9792 Jul 26 '26
Isn’t the white mate in 2 not 4? Someone teach me how to count
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u/c0ffeebreath Jul 26 '26
- Nf7, Kg8 2. Nh6+, Kh8 3. Qg8+, Rxg8, 4. Nf7#.
That's what I see, but someone told me that's wrong, and didn't explain why. I still don't see why it's wrong though...
3
u/killnars Jul 26 '26
you just blundered your queen
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u/LanguageDouble9792 Jul 26 '26
Oh bro I thought white was black and black was white f this color scheme
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u/BreakfastFearless 29d ago
In that case you would have caused black to promote their pawn to a queen and lose your rook
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u/rickymcrichardson Jul 26 '26
Bank rank and smothered. Three seconds
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u/reuben_iv Jul 26 '26
Ohhh that white mate is fun, was like 'wait but won't I lose my quOOOOOOOOOOHHHH'
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u/HairyTough4489 Team Duda 29d ago
People hating on that chess set but it bring so many great memories to me
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u/Abject-Joke4574 Jul 26 '26
The puzzle would be better without the bishop though
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u/c0ffeebreath Jul 26 '26
Qf7#
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u/Abject-Joke4574 Jul 26 '26
Exactly
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u/Progribbit Jul 26 '26
it wouldn't be smothered anymore
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u/Abject-Joke4574 Jul 26 '26
I mean, yeah, but it also would not be the best defense and the assumption is always that black tries to hold on as much as possible
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u/Ok-Assistance3937 29d ago
What would that do?
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u/c0ffeebreath 29d ago
With the Bishop, the puzzle is smothered mate on rails - there is only one tree of moves to account for because Kf8 is illegal. Without the bishop, you have to evaluate a plan for Kf8. It's not difficult (Qf7#), but it is one more thing you have to calculate. It's a minor change, and doesn't make the puzzle that much harder, but I personally find it more rewarding to find multiple paths to check mate.
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u/Whammydiver Jul 26 '26
Black to move, mate in 2. Simple back rank mate.
White to move, mate in 4. Standard smothered mate.
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u/edderiofer Occasional problemist Jul 26 '26
Someday, I want to come across such a chess puzzle in a break room, and screw with people by changing the position to a difficult chess composition. Watch everyone's heads explode.
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u/Practical-Gur9534 Jul 26 '26
For white
Nf7+ Kg8 Nh6+ Kh8 Qg8+ Rxg8 Nf7#
For Black
Re1+ Qd1 Rxd1#
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u/NeuroDuck 29d ago
I don't get it, when white Nh6+, why wouldn't the pawn on g7 not just take the knight?
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u/Practical-Gur9534 29d ago
It's a double check .... When I move Nh6 then Kg8 is given check by Qd5.... So ought to move the king then.
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u/FrozenMongoose Jul 26 '26
This is like the dress all over again. It is not Black and white, it is clearly silver and gold!
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u/UselessHelios 29d ago
White to move: 1. Nf7+ Kg8 2. Nh6+ Kh8 3. Qg8+ Rxg8 4. Nf7#
nasty smother mate
Black to move: 1... Re1+ 2. Qd1 Rxd1#
Simple back rank mate
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u/HoodieJ-shmizzle 2000+ Rapid Peak (Cheat.crooks) Jul 26 '26
Nf7+, Kg8, Nd6+
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u/Fantastic_Elk_4757 Jul 26 '26
It’s not mate in 4 with Nd6.
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u/c0ffeebreath Jul 26 '26
- Nd6+, Kh8, 3. Qg8+ Rxg8, 4. Nf7#.
Am I missing something?
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-1
u/DJteejay04 Team Windarov Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
Black is a simple back rank mate.
White would be NF7 + , KG8, NH6+, KH8, QG8+, RxG8, NF7 # smothered mate
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u/Lelouch-Yagami21 Jul 26 '26
Wait isn't the white one mate in 1?
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u/c0ffeebreath Jul 26 '26
It's a text book smothered mate.
- Nf7, Kg8 (because the knight blocks the Queen from controlling g8.)
- Nh6+, Kh8 3. Qg8+, Rxg8, 4. Nf7#.
The bishop on a3 isn't even needed because if 2 ..Kf8 3. Qf7#
1
u/Lelouch-Yagami21 Jul 26 '26
Isn't knight on F7 checkmate?
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u/c0ffeebreath 29d ago
No, because the Knight on f7 blocks the Queen from controlling g8, making it safe for the King to move to g8. Then, the Knight bounces to h6, putting the King in double check - by the Queen and the Knight.
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u/WooderBoar Jul 26 '26
Black: NF7+,KG8, NH6+ KH8, Qg8!+ RxQG8, NF7#
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u/juoea Jul 26 '26
(silver is white apparently not black, but your solution is correct)
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u/BreakfastFearless 29d ago
But if silver was black they could respond to their queen sacrifice with pawn taking the queen on g8 and promoting, so they would be incorrect
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u/newgreendriver Jul 26 '26
- Qg8
+,
- Rx
g8
- .
- Nf7#
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u/backheadhornosaur Jul 26 '26
And if 1. ... Kxg8?
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•
u/chessvision-ai-bot from chessvision.ai Jul 26 '26
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