Puzzle 5

Tafl puzzles
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cyningstan
Posts: 38
Joined: Sun Mar 15, 2015 8:22 am

Puzzles

Post by cyningstan » Fri Jan 24, 2014 10:18 pm

Tablut problem

I've been thinking about hnefatafl problems for a long time now, since before crust's thread on the subject. I've looked into it a bit more deeply in the last couple of weeks. I knew would be difficult, but its difficulty surpassed even my expectations! After about three hours and as many failed attempts, this is what I've come up with. It uses Linnaeus' tablut rules as in the recent tournament.

Code: Select all

9 - - - - - A - - -
8 - - A - - - - - -
7 D - A - - - - - -
6 A - - - - - - - -
5 - - - D + - A - -
4 D - - K - D A - A
3 - D A - A - - - -
2 - - - - - - - - -
1 - - - A - - - - -
  A B C D E F G H I
(edited after reading conanlib's post below)

It's the turn of the king's side, who will move three times before the attackers resign. What are those three moves, and the attackers' responses? I'm not expecting it to be very taxing for people here, but I'm hoping that there is only one solution - and that there isn't a quicker victory for the king!

A prettier version of this is due to appear on my social media feeds tomorrow, unless someone finds a problem (ha ha) with it.

conanlibrarian
Posts: 30
Joined: Sun Dec 13, 2015 3:48 pm

Re: Puzzles

Post by conanlibrarian » Sat Jan 25, 2014 2:53 pm

A possible solution starts with the king going D4B4, and the next defender move being D5A5. But there is another solution (i think) starting with defender D5I5, followed up by king D4D5 (noting that the king is safe there due to being next to the throne.)

Yes, it seems very hard to design water tight problems. Perhaps going through old games and looking for interesting situations is the best bet?

cyningstan
Posts: 38
Joined: Sun Mar 15, 2015 8:22 am

Re: Puzzles

Post by cyningstan » Sat Jan 25, 2014 3:19 pm

Whoops! I made an error while transcribing the diagram, sorry. There's an attacker on G5 meaning that the D5 defender can only get as far as F5:

Code: Select all

9 - - - - - A - - -
8 - - A - - - - - -
7 D - A - - - - - -
6 A - - - - - - - -
5 - - - D + - A - -
4 D - - K - D A - A
3 - D A - A - - - -
2 - - - - - - - - -
1 - - - A - - - - -
  A B C D E F G H I
The correct solution will lead to an almost certain resignation on the third white move, i.e. a direct threat on the third move which can't be countered. I can't see such a solution for D5-F5, although white can certainly break out that way in the end. The closest I can get is:

D5-F5; C7-D7, D4-D5; C8-C5, B3-B5xC5

which leaves black in a weak position, but white isn't in a position to win on the following turn. As for D4-B4, I'm hoping that there's a sure solution that can't be blocked by a black move that I've not seen.

Thanks for taking a look!

cyningstan
Posts: 38
Joined: Sun Mar 15, 2015 8:22 am

Re: Tablut problem

Post by cyningstan » Sat Jan 25, 2014 3:23 pm

As for the general idea of looking at old games, I think I'll give that a try. Reading up about chess problems, though, has suggested that they're better carefully composed, reducing the pieces to only those that are necessary. Hnefatafl presents some difficulties in that all pieces are long-range, meaning that options can't be restricted as easily as in a chess problem. Also, the rooks move seems to make things a bit more obvious.

I wittered on about this at length in a blog post last week, after I first looked over the precipice of chess & hnefatafl problems.

Casshern
Posts: 18
Joined: Fri Jun 23, 2017 7:20 am

Re: Puzzle 5

Post by Casshern » Sat Jul 01, 2017 4:23 pm

The quickest way for white to win is 3 moves: d4-b4, a4-a5, b4-a4. Black would probably resign after the second move. If possible, I try to get the king into that position, one step from the edge with one defender on the edge and another protecting one side. I got into a similar position against epm180 in the tablut 13x13 tournament, which forced him to resign. This is also the same position as puzzle 11. So, you can see this tactic can also be used in corner escape, as well as edge escape games. Another example is my win as white against altti in the brench cluster 17 tournament.

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