6 Mar
2011
6 Mar
'11
1:43 p.m.
Richard Guy wrote:
Normal starting position for Chess. Remove Black's King's Knight, and White's King's Knight and King's and Queen's pawns. White has just played her 5th move in a normal play of Chess. What was it?
Spoiler alert! Most players will soon realize that black's first move need be Nf6, and black's remaining three moves need to capture the two pawns and finally the knight (necessarily in row 1). But not the g1 knight it turns out, which executes the final Nxb1. The problem that remains is white possessing an extra extra ply. It took me a few minutes to realize that this can be "wasted" in white's first move!