Grasshopper Chess: Mate in 6 or more

Grasshopper Index

Mate in 6 or more

Mate in Six

5 men

V. Onitiu
Die Schwalbe #563 May 1929
Mate in 6

Solution: 1.Pg3 Gh4 2.Pg4 Gf4 3.Pg5 Gh6 4.Pg6 Gf6 5.Pg7 Gh8 6.PxGh8=G‡

Comments: A classic.

6 men

F. W. Andrew
Fairy Chess Review #3721 June 1939
Mate in 6

Solution: 1.Bb6 Kb8 2.Bd8 Ka8 3.Bc7 Gb7 4.Bg3 Gh3 5.Bh2 Gh1 6.GxGh1‡

Comments: Bishop shepherds the Gs.

7 men

C. M. Fox
Fairy Chess Review #4557 August 1940
Mate in 6, with try

Solution: 1.Ke5 Gf4 2.Ke6 Kb8 3.Kd7 Ka8 4.Kc7 Gb8 5.Kc6 Gb7 6.PxG‡
try 1.Kd5 Gc6 2.Kc4 Gc3 3.Kc5 Gc6 4.Kd5 Ge4 5.Kc6 now Gb7 not forced, Gf5 instead.

Comments: Shepherdng by WK. Switchbacks by Ka8, Gb8.

Mate in Seven

5 men

V. Onitiu and E. M. H. Guttmann
Die Schwalbe #766B January 1930
Mate in 7

Solution: 1.Bb1 Gc1 2.Bc2 Gc3 3.Bd3 Ge3 4.Be4 Ge5 5.Bf5 Gg5 6.Bg6 Gg7 7.PxGg7‡

Comments: WB switchback. Staircase.

9 men

W. Pauly
Essener Anzeiger #1514-1515 February 1931
Mate in 7, (b) remove h4

Solution: (a) 1.Kf2 Ph3 2.Ke3 Ge4 3.Kd4 Gc4 4.Kc5 Gc6 5.Kb6 Ga6 6.Ka7 Ga8 7.GxG‡
(b) 1.Kd2 Gc2 2.Kc3 Gc4 3.Kd4 Ge4 4.Ke5 Ge6 5.Kf6 Gg6 6.Kg7 Gg8 7.Gh8‡

Comments: G over K paths. Bf1 pinned by Ga1.

Mate in Eight

7 men 3 types (KGP) 4G

C. M. Fox & T. R. Dawson; V. Onitiu; N. Petrovic composed independently
Essen Anzeiger Tourney, cited in PFCS Apr 1931 (157)
Mate in 8

Solution: 1.Ga3 Ga4 2.Ga5, Ga6 3.Ga7 Ga8 4.Gd7 Ge7 5.Gf7 Gg7 6.Gh7 Gh6 7.Gh5 Gh4 8.Gh3‡

Comments: Leapfrogging.

15 men 6 types (KQRBGP)

V. Rudenko & V. I. Tchepijnyi
Feenschach 1960 (#4734)
Mate in 8

Solution: 1.Rh3 Qg8 2.Gh4+ Bg6 3.Gf6+ Rh7 4.Gh6+ Rg7 5.Gf8+ Qh7 6.Gf6+ Rg8 7.Gh6+ Qg7 8.Gf8‡

20 men 5 types (KQRGP)

K. Fabel
The Problemist May 1969 (F43)
Mate in 8

Solution: 1.b8=G+ Rxb8 2.axb8=G+ Kc1 3.c8=G+ Kd1 4.d8=G+ Ke1 5.e8=G+ Kf1 6.f8=G+ Kg1 7.g8=G+ Kh1 8.h8=G‡

Comments: Tssk problem showing 8 WP promotions to G.

Mate in Twenty-Three

21 men 5 types (KRBGP)

C. E. Kemp
Chess Amateur 1927 (F993)
Mate in 23

Solution: 1.The WK plays 1-10 c3 c4 d4 d5 e5 e6 f6 f7 g6 xh7 and 11-20 g7, xg6 f6 xf5 e5 xe4 d4 xd3 c3 b3 while the BK is forced to alternate a1-b1. Then 21.d4 Ka1 22.d5+ Kb1 23.G(a8)e4‡

Comments: WK circuit. Staircase theme.

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Composer
Source Problem number and date
Stipulation

Solution: 1. ‡

Comments: