Transcription
Hi everyone, it's Jerry. I have another retrograde analysis problem I'd like to share with you. The response to the first one I put out there a couple weeks ago was overwhelmingly positive. I figured I'd throw another your way. I've been enjoying these.
This one is largely inspired by a philosopher, a concert pianist, a magician, a logician, a mathematician. I'm speaking of one person, the late Raymond Merrell Smullian, a man who wore many hats throughout his life. I'm calling this one "The Spark."
What do we want to know? Well, who killed the queen? Was it Colonel Mustard in the library with the candlestick? All right, with these retrograde analysis problems, I can't help but be reminded of the classic board game Clue.
On a more serious note, what do we want to know with this problem? Who captured the White Queen and on what square? If you'd like to try and solve this one on your own, right about now would be a good time to pause the video. And when you return, I'll be sharing some words along with the solution, of course.
Okay, so let's make some observations. Four pieces were captured: White Queen, light square Bishop, White Knight, and black Rook. We're not quite sure on what squares exactly, but that's something we can say right away.
Before looking into where exactly that White Queen was captured, we may want to ask, where was the black Rook captured and who captured it? Was it captured on one of these four squares? How else could it get out? Was a white knight capturing the Rook? No, this guy right here is a big tell. Made a capture to get to F3, and there's only one black piece that was captured. So, the black Rook was captured on F3.
How did it get there? Well, a file must have opened. How did the file open? Well, let's see how that may have happened. Starting from the original position, the White Knight comes out and hops into G6. This is providing a necessary spark for future events. Now, the Rook is deployed along the H file, then it gets to F3 and is captured. And this now releases the light square Bishop and Queen. They could now sneak out. The King gets out of the way. And well, hang on for a moment.
We have two remaining captures on H6 and B6. Do you see a problem? They're both dark squares, and a light square Bishop cannot be captured on B6 or H6. We have reached a dead end. What does this mean? It means the White Knight must have been captured elsewhere.
Let's go back. The White Knight was in fact captured on H6, and the black Rook was deployed along the G file to get to F3, captured, and now the Bishop and Queen are released. And the big difference here is that the remaining captures, one light and one dark, we can satisfy those conditions. We can position the pieces like so. And in the end, the Bishop is captured on G6.
Who captured the White Queen? It was the Black Sea Pawn on B6. How'd you do with this one? Feel free, as usual, to leave any feedback to this video. I've been having fun with these retrograde analysis problems. Feel free to leave a comment. Let me know how you did with this one. That's all for now. Take care. Bye.