Chess Part XIV Trivia Quiz

Answer: 10

1. c4 h5
2. h4 a5
3. Qa4 Ra6
4. Qxa5 Rah6
5. Qxc7 f6
6. Qxd7+ Kf7
7. Qxb7 Qd3
8. Qxb8 Qh7
9. Qxc8 Kg6
10. Qe6 stalemate

Friends who trust each other have actually played out these moves in real tournaments when they agree to draw before the game.

Answer: four knights

A mating position for rook and two bishops is: Rd6, Bd3, Bg3, with the mated king on e5.
A mating position for two queens is: Qd6, Qd3, with the mated king on e5.
A mating position for queen, knight, and pawn is: Nc3, Qf6, with the mated king on e5, and a pawn supporting the queen.
It's impossible to mate in the center of the board with four knights, because the king needs 9 squares guarded in order to be mated in the center. Knights are only capable of controlling 2 squares in a king's path, so four knights are only capable of controlling 8 squares in a king's path.

Answer: You usually win if the bishops move on opposite colors, and it's usually a draw if bishops move on the same color

In order to win the endgame of rook and bishop vs. bishop and knight, you need to use your superior pieces to slowly push the opponent toward the edge. It's hard to do this when the bishops are the same color since the defending bishop gets in the way of yours. Exchanging bishops will go into the drawn ending of rook vs. bishop.

When the bishops move on opposite colors, the attacker's job is easier since the defending bishop can't oppose yours, and becomes a useless defender.

Answer: Pawn to f8 and promote to bishop

Capturing the bishop on g8 with the pawn is an obvious draw since the king takes the promoted piece and you can't win with just 1 bishop. Moving your king is also an obvious draw since your pawn will be captured by the bishop, and you can't win with just 1 bishop. Promoting to a queen or rook is an immediate draw since your opponent's king will be stalemated. Promoting to a knight is also a draw since knight and bishop vs. bishop is a drawn endgame.

The only winning move is promoting to a bishop. Even though 2 bishops vs. 1 bishop is a drawn endgame, your opponent's king is already cornered and your bishop pair is strong enough to force checkmate in 2 moves. If your opponent moves bishop to h7 after you promote, then Bg7+ Kg8 Bc4 is checkmate. If your opponent makes any other move, then bishop to h7 traps the king and your opponent's bishop is the wrong color to stop Bg7 checkmate. This is just a nice checkmate I discovered when setting up random positions, but now I realize it would be hard for that position to occur in a real game.

Answer: a minor piece and two rooks

A minor piece and two rooks can always force a win against a queen. Your king can hide from queen checks behind its three pieces, and the rooks can attack at the same time.
A queen and minor piece usually can't win since the extra bishop or knight usually isn't enough to be important on the wide open board with queens.
A pawn and queen can sometimes win if the pawn is close to promotion, but there is usually a perpetual check.
Four minor pieces can win against a queen in certain positions, but other positions are draws if the queen has a lot of checks and the minor pieces aren't well coordinated.

Answer: It's a draw if the pawn is a bishop-pawn, or a rook-pawn

Even if your king is far away from your opponent's pawn, you can win by repeatedly checking the king until it is blocking its pawn, or your queen is pinning the pawn. You'll have 1 free move to get your king closer to the action, and then you can repeat the checking process.

This doesn't work with a rook-pawn, since your opponent's king can be stalemated under it's pawn in the corner. It doesn't work against a bishop-pawn either, since your opponent can place their king in the corner. You won't be able to take the pawn with the queen since the enemy king will be stalemated in the corner by your queen.

Answer: queen

Although this question is slightly opinionated, it is reasonable that having a queen against a queen and bishop should be a simple draw.
In an endgame without pawns, it is easier to exploit a material advantage when your opponent cannot neutralize your pieces. The attacking force of queen and bishop is superior to all of the answer choices, but it is hardest to exploit against a queen, since the queens just neutralize each other and the extra bishop isn't a significant attacking force to win. For example, two bishops can beat a knight in an endgame without pawns, but two bishops cannot beat a bishop since the lone bishop can neutralize one of your bishops.
A queen and bishop always win against two rooks, and usually win against three minor pieces.

Answer: You usually lose if your opponent has just a queen left, and you usually win if your opponent has just a rook left

The two scenarios in the question demonstrate two ideas behind exploiting a material advantage: (superior piece quality and superior piece quantity). In the scenario of knight, bishop, and pawn vs. rook, the weaker attacking forces clump together to gang up and overpower the strong attacking force.

In the scenario of knight, bishop, and pawn vs. queen, the strong attacking force dominates the board so that the weak attacking forces cannot support each other and eventually get into zugzwang. Superior piece quantity is usually easier to exploit than superior piece quality.

Answer: none of these

Just about any rule change of chess would have some sort of significance, no matter how ridiculous the rule change is.
Rooks being able to move like knights would obviously have major significance in the game, and totally change how chess is played. Pawns being able to move backwards would also have major significance, since you'd be able to correct the overextensions in your pawn structure.
Being able to promote a pawn to a pawn would have significance in rare circumstances. There are some situations where a king is stalemated, and no matter what the attacker does, the king will still be stalemated on the next move. Let's say you have one of those stalemate situations, and your only piece left is a pawn on the seventh rank. By promoting the pawn to a piece, you won't be stalemated on the next move, and the attacker should have time to un-stalemate you. By promoting the pawn to a pawn, you will be stalemated. Although this type of situation is rare, promotion to a pawn would still have some significance if it was made into a legal move.

Answer: 12

1. d4 e5
2. Qd2 e4
3. Qf4 f5
4. h3 Bb4+
5. Nd2 d6
6. Qh2 Be6
7. a4 Qh4
8. Ra3 c5
9. Rg3 f4
10. f3 Bb3
11. d5 Ba5
12. c4 e3

Friends who trust each other have actually played out these moves in real tournaments when they agree to draw before the game.