The Bubble Chess Puzzle 1 – SOLUTION
An Englishman’s Home Is His…
There are 34 possible first moves for White but only one will secure checkmate in two – Qb2. Whatever Black replies, White checkmates next move.
If the Pawn on f3 takes the Pawn on e2, Qb7 mate.
If the Rook moves anywhere, then it’s Qh8 mate.
If the Knight moves to d2, then King x Knight mate.
What about Knight a3? If the King moves to d2 unveiling the check from the Rook, then annoyingly the Knight returns to b1 and it’s not checkmate.
Instead, Black simply castles on the Queenside to deliver the fatal blow. 0-0-0! Check and mate.
The first correct solution emailed to Mr Cuddihy was from James Pemrick who wins a bar of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk. Correct solutions were also demonstrated over the board by Daniil Dildyaev, Toby Shum and Raphael Collange. Very well done to all for solving quite a tricky mate in two!
Mr Cuddihy
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