[Retros] non-FEN fun

[Noam Elkies]

Joost de Heer <joost at sanguis.xs4all.nl> writes:


> I didn't know the a3 one, but it wasn't very hard to solve. Can it be 

> altered to 'White's first move was with a knight, and he mates on the 

> fifth move with his rook. Game?'?


Alas no.  I hoped that something like this would work because 1 a3
is a bigger hint than 1 e4 in the 5...NxR# puzzle.  But there are cooks:
1 Nc3 d6 2 a4 Kd7 3 a5 Kc6 4 Ra4 Q(B)d7 5 Rc4#.  Pity about the alternative
in Black's last move, because each of the sequences is unique given that
White begins with a Knight.

NDE