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?

this puzzle has no answer because the placement could not logically exist. With the rook at G7 diagonally beside the King at h6 the King would have moved parallel to block said rook being in a position of check. A slightly odder solution could be that rook at G6 and King at H6 are White and Blacks King and Queen have snuck in behind the enemy forces. Either way you look at it, if this situation arose during a chess match the players were ignorant.

Posted by Bri on 2004-08-05 10:20:58