A friend told me about a chess game he had seen. At certain moment, the only pieces on board were a Queen at h8, a Rook at g6, and the Kings at h6 and g8. He didn't remember what color was each piece, but it can be worked out... how?

      +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
      |   |   |   |   |   |   | K | Q | 8
      +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
      |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | 7
      +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
      |   |   |   |   |   |   | R | K | 6
      +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
      |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | 5
      +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
      |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | 4
      +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
      |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | 3
      +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
      |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | 2
      +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
      |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | 1
      +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
        a   b   c   d   e   f   g   h

If the Rook had been at g7, what would have been the colors?

okay, haven't read all the other answers but here's how I see it. The king at g8 is black, the other pieces are white. It is black to play. White's last move was g7xh8=Q. If the rook was on g7 (ie the pawn could not have come from g7), then the king on h6 is black, the other pieces are white and white's last move was h8=Q++.

Posted by Michael on 2004-08-22 09:28:42