| Here are a collection of some of my favourite tricky chess puzzles of all time. (answers at the bottom) <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<PUZZLES>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 1.White mates in half a move.
click for larger view2.White to move and not mate.
click for larger view3.White mates in two.
click for larger view4.White mates in two.
click for larger view5.White mates in 0 moves!
click for larger view6.White mates in two.
click for larger view7. White mates in one.
click for larger view8. White moves and mates in 1.
click for larger view9.White to play and mate in one.
click for larger view10. White mates in two.
click for larger view<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<ANSWERS>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 1. Black's last move could only have been b5, to which White replies 1 cxb6 e.p.+, moving his pawn to b6 but not removing the Black pawn from b5, which would allow Black the defense 1 ... Rxb6. 2. 1 Rc6+ is the only move that is not mate. Black chouldn't worry that by capturing the checking bishop on h7 he is exposing his king to checkmate by the other bishop on a8. White's rook, which allows the check from h7, at the same time blocks the check from a8. 3. Well, it depends. Let's say White plays 1 Ke6, threatening 1 Rd8 mate. Black castles and White has no mate. By castling, Black proves that his last move must have been g5. But if White knows that Black has the right to castle, then he doesn't play 1 Ke6 but instead mates in two starting with 1 hxg6.
"Oh no you don't!" says Black. "My last move was Rh8, not g5, and you can't capture en passant.
"Have it your way," says White. "If you can't castle, I play I Ke6."
"In that case," says Black ...
Round and round she goes, and where she stops nobody knows.
What was really Black's last move? If a position has a history, it can have only a single history, and black would not be able to choose what his last move was any more than I can choose today what I had for dinner last night.
This is not a real game, however, but a problem in chess logic. The position's history does not exist in actuality but only as a logical construct.
Sam Loyd once commented facetiously: "Every composer knows thet in making a problem the pieces are not moved into position, they are merely placed, and there has been no previous play." If that were really the case, of course, the retractor problem and all those treasures or retrograde analysis would not exist. 4. Sorry the answer is not 1 0-0. By what route did the Black king reach a2? Only by crossing d2 and/or d1, which proves that at some point the White king was not on e1 gaurding those squares. If White's king has moved, he can't castle. So: 1 Kf2 (not 1 Ke2 Nc3+) 1 ... N any 2 Qa1 mate. If 1 ... Ka1 then 2 Qxb1 mate. 5. If his puzzle mystifies you, you're probably assuming that White is moving up the board. Simply rotate the board 180 degrees and voila! Does that count as a move? 6. The clever attmpt 1 e8=Black knight, threatening 2 f8=N mate, doesn't work because of 1 ... Ng7! (not 1 ... Nxd6 or Nxf6 because of 2 Nc5 or Bf5 mate). Correct is 1 e8=Black bishop!! (threatening 2 f8=N mate 1 ... Bd7 or Bxf7 2 Re5 or Qf5 mate. 7. If you try to set up the position on a board you will run out of Black pawns, since you see nine of them! To solve the problem, remove any Black pawn. For each one you remove, there is a different mate: a-pawn: Qb6#
b-pawn: Nc6#
c-pawn: Qb4#
d-pawn: Qe4#
e-pawn: Bxf2#
f2-pawn: Bxe3#
f7-pawn: Ne6#
g-pawn: Rg4#
h-pawn: Rh4#
8. This one is a funny one, Black's  could not have got to where it is now, the player must have pulled a fast one to avoid mate. Stick the king on any other open spot where he isn't in check and its mate in one. 9. The only move that white can play for a mate in one is g8=Black knight. Any other promotion ends up either 1. ...xg8 or (if promoted to a black piece) 1. ... / / xf7. 10. Try as you might, you cannot find a mate in two. Unless of course you bend the rules. The only way for white to checkmate black in two is <drumroll> 1. e8=!!. Followed up with 2. 0-0-0-0#. Technically the king and rook haven't moved, and the is not passing through check, so they qualify for a castling, but not a regular castling but a long castling. The king still moves only two squares like regularly. No matter what move the black does he cannot avoid mate. I hope you enjoyed doing these puzzles and you got a mental excercise trying to do them. If you would like to submit a lateral thinking puzzle just reply to recent post of mine. Thanks. | 
b4; 10