A few days back I decided to send a postcard to the South Pole (Rothera Research Station). On the back of it, a chess problem was drawn by me (see diagram above): White to play and win in several moves. If you want to solve it, here is a tip: don’t be too greedy. Use your patience. If you think everything is solved, then wait a little more! The following Sun Tzu words seems to me rather appropriate (I will post the solution in incoming future posts):
“First put yourself beyond the possibility of defeat, and then wait for an opportunity to defeat the enemy. To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.” -SunTzu.
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13 January, 2009 at 3:43 pm
learnsomethingguru
is this a problem at all? Queen will make chessmate in two draws.
13 January, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Vitorino Ramos
Mate in two? Do you mind telling us how come ?!
18 June, 2009 at 9:14 pm
David Rodrigues
Great problem.
19 June, 2009 at 1:02 am
Vitorino Ramos
David. Welcome. I really do not know. After all the solution is just a ladder. What seems to me really outstanding is the 10th move by white! White pieces wait for the right moment, without being too greedy. And you must agree with me on this one: knowing they are right, they could really do it (they know it from the beginning), while expecting for the precise tiny moment, is extremely difficult for everyone, specially in a chess game. Moreover, within eleven moves, that’s extremely difficult to forecast.If they were too greedy everything will turn out to be spoiled, jeopardizing the whole concept in less then a second. So they play 10. Qh8 !! … waiting for the perfect timing! It’s an allegory, really (I take this chance to reveal the solution you now know, since I have promised 6 months ago to post the solution and sadly I have never did it ~ zen procrastination!).
What’s great is your blog. It’s not easy to speak about a lot of areas, from complexity to photography, among many other interesting subjects. Pena, Portugal não ter mais blogs como o teu. E aqui falo em Português, directamente para Portugal, não para ti, mas antes para todos os Portugueses.
I believe, we will soon be at a Monastery, closed for 3 days! Under the circumstances I will bring 3 chess boards, and 3 clocks. We never now. Among our colleagues, it migth pop-up someone eager to play 1 minute blitz chess games (or 5, or 10). Closed in a Monastery for 3 days, these guys will not be easy on us
. Migth the force be with us!
19 June, 2009 at 1:11 am
Vitorino Ramos
David Rodrigues blog is at sihat pirate parts http://sixhat.net/ . Here is one of his posts that I will rip off completely. Goes on like this (At the Edge of Chaos) :
Perhaps the most exciting implication is the possibility that life had its origin in the vicinity of the phase transition, and that evolution reflects the process by which life has gained local control over a successively greater number of environmental parameters affecting its ability to maintain itself at a critical balance point between order and chaos.
C. Langton in Computation at the edge of chaos
David Rodrigues, June 12, 2009 (http://sixhat.net/2009/06/12/entre-ordem-e-caos/)
19 June, 2009 at 2:51 am
Vitorino Ramos
btw. Chris – Christopher Langton – is also in here (his photo): http://chemoton.wordpress.com/2008/09/23/at-the-el-farol-bar/.
19 June, 2009 at 10:04 am
David Rodrigues
Thank you for the compliment, but my Blog is just a place to put out my daily ramblings… On the chess at the monastery , I’ll take also a board or two. I don’t have clocks (I should get one, do you have any suggestions on brands, digital vs analogic?, etc…) but at least we will be able to seat 10 or 12 persons around the game… (if they want to… ).
On the Langton post, there’s a problem with the link that you posted here, as the right bracket is making the link redirect to another post of the blog (strange, but true). http://sixhat.net/2009/06/12/entre-ordem-e-caos/
Back to this chess problem. From the Pin and Check pattern it is easy to see the leader and as you noticed 10.Qh8 is the most interesting play of them all to get white in the “right tempo” to do the kill… and the “right tempo” is a lot of what chess is about.
19 June, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Vitorino Ramos
Yep, u are rigth. My fault, sorry. With the bracket goes elsewhere into your blog. Amazing. The rigth one is:
http://sixhat.net/2009/06/12/entre-ordem-e-caos/
So, we will have around 4-5 boards. Not bad! Meanwhile, I still prefer analogic clocks. Even if my own one is digital (very cheap – just for blitz games – It’s a DGT easy http://digitalgametechnology.com/site/index.php/Clocks/dgt-easy.html ).
However what I really recommend (for me the best chess clock in the world), with a very competitive price (made in Serbia – Belgrad), is INSA:
http://www.thechessstore.com/product/INSANL/Insa_Chess_Clock_in_Natural_Finish_Wood_Case.html
They have on black wood. btw, as far as I know, it’s the only analogic chess clock in the world where you could also measure seconds in the last minute (check the red curve – between Twelve O’Clock and One O’Clock)
11 July, 2009 at 10:51 am
David R.
Lembrei-me da tal loja online de Xadrez que existe no Algarve em Armação de Pera.
Aqui fica o URL e a morada:
http://www.al-shatrandj.com/
Al Shatrandj Lda.
Rua Dr. Henrique Gomes 14/rce
P – 8365-133 Armaçâo de Pêra
Um abraço.
17 August, 2009 at 11:15 am
David Rodrigues
Queria só fazer uma correcção ao meu comentário anterior: O site da loja parece que foi “apanhado” por uma gripe de publicidade (provavelmente o domínio não foi renovado). No entanto a loja parece continuar online no domínio alternativo:
http://al-shatrandj.weebly.com/
Amanhã vou tentar passar na loja!
Um abraço e boas férias