Chess...
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Chess
This exercise in retro-analysis (composed by N Petrovic) is a variation on a well-known theme. The question is: what were the last six moves (three White and three Black)?
Black is in check, but White's bishop cannot have moved to a1 without Black having already been in check. It cannot have been a discovered check for the same reason. If you've seen this sort of thing before, you'll quickly recognise that there's only one possibility: White has just made an en passant capture of a pawn on e5. Black's previous move was ...e7- e5, to which White replied either fxe6 or dxe6.
But how did the bishop deliver check before ...e7-e5? The only possibility is that the white pawn was on d4 and discovered check by moving to d5. Now comes the really clever bit. With white pawn on d4, black pawn on e7, what was Black's last move? Any move of the king seems to be from an impossible double check. There is only one way out of the dilemma. From the diagram, move the black king on e6, add black pawns on f7 and e7, white ones on e5 and d4. Play continues 1...f5 2.exf6+ Kxf6 3.d5+ e5 4.dxe6+ and we're home! A splendid double-retro-en passant!
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments