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<title>Chess puzzle</title>

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<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Chess puzzle</span></span>

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<p>A <b>chess puzzle</b> is a <a href="Puzzle" title="Puzzle">puzzle</a> in which knowledge of the <a href="Chess_piece" title="Chess piece">pieces</a> and <a href="Rules_of_chess" title="Rules of chess">rules of chess</a> is used to logically solve a chess-related problem. The history of chess puzzles reaches back to the <a href="Middle_Ages" title="Middle Ages">Middle Ages</a> and has since evolved.

</p><p>Usually the goal is to find the single best, ideally aesthetic move or a series of single best moves in a chess position, that was created by a <a href="Chess_composer" title="Chess composer">composer</a> or is from a real game. But puzzles can also set different objectives. Examples include deducing the last move played, the location of a missing piece, or whether a player has lost the right to <a href="Castling" title="Castling">castle</a>. Sometimes the objective is antithetical to normal chess, such as helping (or even compelling) the opponent to <a href="Checkmate" title="Checkmate">checkmate</a> one's own king.

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Chess_problems">Chess problems</h2></div>

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</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="Chess_problem" title="Chess problem">Chess problem</a></div>

<p>While a <i>chess puzzle</i> is any puzzle involving aspects of chess, a <i>chess problem</i> (or <i>chess composition</i>) is a crafted position with a specified task to be fulfilled, such as White mates in <i>n</i> moves. Chess problems are divided into orthodox and heterodox types, both covering a variety of genres.

</p><p><i>Orthodox problems</i> employ the standard rules of chess and involve positions that can legally arise from actual gameplay. The most common form of orthodox problem is the <a href="Directmate" class="mw-redirect" title="Directmate">directmate</a>, which stipulates checkmate in <i>n</i> moves, usually two or three. The positions are often dissimilar to positions from actual play, sometimes to the extent of being outlandish in comparison. The <dfn><a href="Glossary_of_chess_problems#key" title="Glossary of chess problems"><span title="See entry at: Glossary of chess problems § key" style="color:inherit;" class="glossary-link">key</span></a></dfn> move is usually counter-intuitive. Despite their unusual stipulations, <a href="Helpmate" title="Helpmate">helpmates</a> and <a href="Selfmate" title="Selfmate">selfmates</a> are usually considered orthodox problems, as they use standard chess rules. Likewise, <a href="Retrograde_analysis" title="Retrograde analysis">retrograde analysis</a> problems are usually considered orthodox.

</p><p><i>Heterodox problems</i>, also called <a href="Fairy_chess" title="Fairy chess">fairy chess problems</a>, involve altered rules, such as different boards and pieces not used in standard chess.

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Tactical_puzzles">Tactical puzzles</h2></div>

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<p>Chess puzzles can also be regular positions from actual games, usually meant as <a href="Chess_tactics" class="mw-redirect" title="Chess tactics">tactical</a> training positions. They can range from a simple "Mate in one" combination to a complex attack on the enemy king. Solving tactical chess puzzles is a very common chess teaching technique. They are helpful in pattern recognition.

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Example_1">Example 1</h3></div>

<p>The solution is 1...Qf2<a href="Chess_annotation_symbols#!" title="Chess annotation symbols">!</a>, attacking the f1-rook; 2.Rxf2 would incur a <a href="Back-rank_checkmate" title="Back-rank checkmate">back-rank checkmate</a> after 2...Rd1+. If 2.Rg1, 2...Bc5 sets up a <dfn><a href="Glossary_of_chess#battery" title="Glossary of chess"><span title="See entry at: Glossary of chess § battery" style="color:inherit;" class="glossary-link">battery</span></a></dfn> targetting g1, where White can stop checkmate only by moving the c1-bishop to <dfn><a href="Glossary_of_chess#connected_rooks" title="Glossary of chess"><span title="See entry at: Glossary of chess § connected rooks" style="color:inherit;" class="glossary-link">connect rooks</span></a></dfn>. Since the only two squares available to the bishop are controlled by the black queen, loss of the bishop is unavoidable. White's best try is 2.Be3, giving up the bishop immediately and leaving Black an easily <dfn><a href="Glossary_of_chess#winning_position" title="Glossary of chess"><span title="See entry at: Glossary of chess § winning position" style="color:inherit;" class="glossary-link">won position</span></a></dfn>.

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Example_2">Example 2</h3></div>

<p>The solution is 1.Ne6+<a href="Chess_annotation_symbols#!" title="Chess annotation symbols">!</a>, unblocking White's h4-bishop and g1-rook. Black's f-pawn must guard the g6-bishop, preventing ...fxe6 in almost all variations; thus, if the black king moves after 1.Ne6+, then 2.Qxf6 leaves Black down a piece and in a <dfn><a href="Glossary_of_chess#mating_net" title="Glossary of chess"><span title="See entry at: Glossary of chess § mating net" style="color:inherit;" class="glossary-link">mating net</span></a></dfn>. 1...Kh7 and 2...Rhg8 defending the bishop allows for 3...fxe6, but White's attack is insurmountable, with prospects of opening the h-file with Bg5 and of Bxe6. White can force mate in less than 13 moves against any alternative to 1...Qxe6, which sacrifices material to blunt White's attack.

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Mathematical_chess_problems">Mathematical chess problems</h2></div>

<div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="Mathematical_chess_problem" title="Mathematical chess problem">Mathematical chess problem</a></div>

<p>Some chess problems, like the <a href="Eight_queens_puzzle" title="Eight queens puzzle">eight queens puzzle</a> or the <a href="Knight's_tour" title="Knight's tour">knight's tour</a> problem, have connections to mathematics, especially to <a href="Graph_theory" title="Graph theory">graph theory</a> and <a href="Combinatorics" title="Combinatorics">combinatorics</a>. Many famous mathematicians have studied such problems, including <a href="Leonhard_Euler" title="Leonhard Euler">Euler</a>, <a href="Adrien-Marie_Legendre" title="Adrien-Marie Legendre">Legendre</a>, and <a href="Carl_Friedrich_Gauss" title="Carl Friedrich Gauss">Gauss</a>. Besides finding a solution to a particular puzzle, mathematicians are usually interested in counting the total number of possible solutions, finding solutions with certain properties, and generalization of the problems to <i>n</i>×<i>n</i> or rectangular boards.

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<ul><li><a href="List_of_chess_variants#Single-player_variants" title="List of chess variants">List of chess variants § Single-player variants</a></li>

<li><a href="Mutilated_chessboard_problem" title="Mutilated chessboard problem">Mutilated chessboard problem</a></li>

<li><a href="Wheat_and_chessboard_problem" title="Wheat and chessboard problem">Wheat and chessboard problem</a></li></ul>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2></div>

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<div class="side-box-text plainlist">Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: <i><b><a href="https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chess/Puzzles" class="extiw external" title="wikibooks:Chess/Puzzles">Chess/Puzzles</a></b></i></div></div>

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<ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://lichess.org/training">Open-source chess puzzles (Lichess)</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.chesspuzzleplus.com/">Lifetime updates and many chesspuzzles </a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.gameknot.com/chess-puzzles.pl">Chess puzzles anyone can add or edit</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.chessvideos.tv/past-chess-puzzles-of-the-day.php">Collection of tactical chess puzzles</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.chesselo.com/chess_puzzle_new.html">Chess puzzles with the solution hints</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120425111910/http://www.brainychess.com/puzzle/easy">Chess puzzles with easy, med, hard categories</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://blitztactics.com">Blitz chess puzzles</a></li></ul>

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