The Chess Puzzle That Broke The Computers.
Hello all,
This puzzle is called Plaskett's Puzzle and was created by Dutch composer Gijs van Breukelen and then later presented at a tournament by English GM James Plaskett. This puzzle has the strongest GM's and even computers. In fact, some say that the only one able to solve it at the time was World Champion Mikhail Tal. I think it is a really fun puzzle, so give it a try!
SOLUTION BELOW
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So, how did you do? This puzzle was probably the first famous chess puzzle I ever saw and I remember being amazed by the complexity it had but the also the simplicity of the ideas. I think that the coolest part of the puzzle is that one has to calculate all the possible knight promotion or else you just lose. That is why that Bc2 move can stump some computers, because the line to mate is pretty tricky and very unintuitive.
In fact, the chess.com analysis board evaluates the initial position as -1 (an advantage for black) and only finds that white is slightly winning after Bc2. It doesn't even see the mate until Nf7+. As for the Lichess engine, which typically can get more depth. The stock fish 14+ at 59 depth gives white the initial advantage at +7. Then after Kg6 it freaks out and suddenly thinks black is clearly winning, until Bc2 reverses the evaluation.
This was fun to make, let me know if you want more puzzles in the future!
God Bless!
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