The Hardest chess problem in the world? • Hacker News Board

Re: The Hardest chess problem in the world?

#131

Post by manveru » Sat, Sep 19, 2015, 10:52 AM UTC

shadefinale wrote: post #60

simcop2387 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Qbrfa'g gung serr gur ovfubc gb zngr gur xvat? Gur bayl zbirf V pna frr gung jbhyqa'g qb vg ner gb zbir gur juvgr xvat.

Juvgr xvat pna'g zbir, oybpxrq ol oynpx ebbx naq ovfubc Vs lbh zbir juvgr ebbx gb p6, gur oynpx xvat vf gura va purpx. Ubjrire, oynpx pna pncgher gur ovfubc gb ab ybatre or va purpx.

Pna'g lbh zbir gur cnja ng o2 be u2 ol whzcvat bire gur cvrprf va sebag bs gurz fvapr vg'q or gurve svefg zbir? Gur ortvaare ehyrf ba gur fvgr lbh yvaxrq qba'g zragvba jurgure guvf vf n yrtny zbir be abg, fb V'z abg fher.

Re: The Hardest chess problem in the world?

#132

Post by Scarblac » Sat, Sep 19, 2015, 11:19 AM UTC

rtpg wrote: post #107

reviseddamage wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the amount of times i get called bullshit for doing an en passant or uttering the word zugzwang...

Serious question: Does en passant happen often? I've never seen it happen in the wild (i.e. in games I play), but I just play casually with people.

It's relevant in almost every game, if you include variations that you have to consider when deciding your move.

Re: The Hardest chess problem in the world?

#133

Post by Scarblac » Sat, Sep 19, 2015, 11:23 AM UTC

vidar wrote: post #127

scrumper wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't figure it out but I'm positive that 12 year old me would have lost from this position. Fools mate in an inter-school tournament, the only player on my team to lose his game and thus the only one who didn't get ice cream on the drive home. Still hurts. EDIT: actually it isn't that hard! I really could cock it up from that position.

Not giving icecream to a 12 year old because he lost a game is just outright cruel. :(

In Dutch high level youth chess it's usual for there to be a target score for the entire team based on the strength of the opposition that day (say the goal of that day is to score at least 6/10), and then _the entire team_ gets icecream or not depending.

Re: The Hardest chess problem in the world?

#134

Post by cyphar » Sat, Sep 19, 2015, 6:17 PM UTC

Definitely an interesting hack, it's interesting that the rules were updated to make it illegal.

Re: The Hardest chess problem in the world?

#135

Post by delinka » Sat, Sep 19, 2015, 7:25 PM UTC

SPOILER ALERT

I don't know about "hardest" but I do tend to wonder: who'd have thought to promote to anything other than one's own color? Kinda feels similar to doing some odd operation "in a single processor instruction" but the trick is that the ISA in question went the way of the dodo about four decades ago.

Re: The Hardest chess problem in the world?

#136

Post by barrkel » Sun, Sep 20, 2015, 1:17 AM UTC

javert wrote: post #93

dsjoerg wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"strictly" changes the meaning of the sentence. it suggests that there are "strict" and "not so strict" interpretations of the chess rules, and that if you're not so strict, the move is OK. but promoting to the other color is not allowed, even under "not so strict" interpretations of the rules of chess. an example of things that may be permitted in "not so strict" chess: taking back your move, not moving a piece even…

I mean really, the rules are the rules, and there is no ambiguity. So a "strict reading of the rules" is the same thing as a "reading of the rules." Because, as you say, there is no such thing as a reading of the rules that violates the rules and is thus merely "less strict." For example, under the rules, not moving a piece you touched and promoting to the other color are the same: illegal. The examples you are givin…

Either English is not your first language, or you have never played a game with a child!

Re: The Hardest chess problem in the world?

#137

Post by scrumper » Mon, Sep 21, 2015, 6:51 PM UTC

vidar wrote: post #127

scrumper wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't figure it out but I'm positive that 12 year old me would have lost from this position. Fools mate in an inter-school tournament, the only player on my team to lose his game and thus the only one who didn't get ice cream on the drive home. Still hurts. EDIT: actually it isn't that hard! I really could cock it up from that position.

Not giving icecream to a 12 year old because he lost a game is just outright cruel. :(

Nah, I was 12. That's old enough to learn about failure in a fairly direct way. It was a good lesson and I'm glad my teacher stuck to it/

Sure, if I'd put up a good fight and lost because he was better, perhaps I'd be a bit sadder, but I really failed. (I still remember it clearly: I was distracted by my opponent's disgusting acne. I also had a turns-out-justified case of impostor syndrome about my place on the team).