Chess Problems of 1001 Years ago






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The water wheel.

This problem is remarkable, among others by the length of its solution: it takes 36 moves! It was popular enough to receive a name: it was called ad-dulabiya, the water wheel, a name clearly inspired by the solution of the problem. Despite the length of the solution, the problem is not very hard to solve.

White:
King g3; General e5; Rook f4, h1; Knight c3, d1; Elephant b1, c1; Pawns a5, b2, c7, d3, f3, h3. (14 pieces)

Black:
King g8, General g1; Rook b8; Knight g6, g7; Elephant c4, f8; Pawns b5, e6, f5, g4, h2, h6. (13 pieces).

Black to play and win.

Solution


Written by Hans Bodlaender.
WWW page created: August 13, 1996. Last modified: September 2, 1997.