[Retros] Hit Team theme progress

[Noam Elkies]

andrew buchanan <andrew at anselan.com> wrote:

> Theme: proof game showing a pure mate, where except for the "hit team" of
> White pieces actually involved in the mate, all pieces including bK are
> in apparent starting position (homebase).

[But the examples include games where the "hit team" is Black,
so the theme definition should omit "White"]

> [...] (4) I am no longer pursuing the "total home circuit" challenge,
> to get a problem where all remaining pieces are on their original
> squares, and the result is mate. I am informed that a top composer
> gave up on this, and I am of the same inclination.

After trying about a dozen setups(*) I found this proof game in 11.0
(C+ Popeye 3.41 in about 1 second) which seems to solve this task:

https://www.janko.at/Retros/d.php?ff=rnbqk1nr/1ppppp2/8/6P1/6RK/P3P1P1/P1PPP1B1/RNBQ2N1

(Solution below after about 20 lines of "spoiler space".)
Is that what you meant?  wK isn't on e1, but clearly it would be
impossible for a King to be mated on its home square if all the
opponent's remaining pieces are also on their starting squares.
Or were you deliberately suggesting an obviously impossible task
(like finding a stalemate position where White has all 16 men on
their starting squares) and I didn't get the joke?

NDE

P.S. (*) including one where I seemed to find a good setting starting
1 Nf3 e5 2 Ne5 e4  and only realized my error when it came to recording
the move sequence . . .



















1 h4 g5 2 hxg5 Bg7 3 Rh4 Bd4 4 Rg4 Be3 5 fxe3 h5 6 Kf2 Nh6 
7 Kg3 h4+ 8 Kxh4 a5 9 g3 a4 10 Bg2 a3 11 bxa3 Ng8#