05 December, 2012

Mate in Three from 1869

Here's a study from 1869, by William Grimshaw.









White to Play: Mate in Three
Took me a while, and I thought it was a mistake, as I found a mate in four, but no, its mate in 3 !

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can't find a mate in three. show it to prove it!

Signalman said...

Gladly...but maybe it helps if I tell you the first move ?

1. Bf3+

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the first move, but I've spent a good 8 hours looking at this problem. There is an "out" for Black at the end of every 3 move continuation. What is the second move??

Signalman said...

Oops, my mistake...I've switched solutions. 1. Bf3+ is the start of the 4-move mate.

Mate in three starts with 1. Nh3...

These things happen. I spent ages on the 4-move mate,so I dare say that is what stuck in my mind, and came out when you asked.

LinuxGuy said...

Thanks, Signalman! It was fun to spot this Nh3 (I didn't spot it). :-) Yes, it works now. I found many mate in 4's, so I had wondered if it was a real "problem" or not.

Signalman said...

No worries, and apologies for the mis-post.

I also found mate in 4 ( relatively ) easily but mate in 3 was tough until you realise you have to force the king to move.

I guess I don't really think in the "study" mode properly, just like I don´t really work with cryptic crosswords.

I´ll put a full solution up, and may even publish the others from the same old source.

Thanks for contributing !