Arrange all sixteen white pieces and the black king on a standard 8x8 chessboard such that no piece is in check by another piece.
The arrangement must be possible to reach following rules of standard play (though such play would be ludicrous),
with no pawn having reached the eighth row for promotion.
(In reply to
re(3): Clarification by Dej Mar)
Defends them from WHAT? Black has only his King. I suspect that this puzzle relies on some prior puzzles (not referenced) for context/interpretation. The notion of defense implies that there is a possibiity of attack. It is hard to protect completely from sacrifices, which is/was apparently black's absurd game; the usual meaning in the context of chess is to make a potential capture too unprofitable for the opponent. This puzzle is supposed to have some reference to "standard play" but seems to me far removed from that. The initial wording does not request a series of moves to arrive at a position (other than the general notion that it should be reachable without violation of the rules of the game), which is indeed ludicrous. It seems to request only a board position where black has only his king, white has all 16 pieces, and none of the 17 is currently under attack (depending on who has the move). Surely there are multitudes of ways to set that up.
(EDIT) Does the problem really suggest that some of your own pieces might be "attacking" others of your pieces??
Edited on August 24, 2010, 10:54 am
re(4): Clarification
