Henrik Juel: Completing the key isn't legal, 1.'Rd1'/'-bPc5'/'e8S'+, but omitting the promotion in the mating move is, 1.Sxe7+ Bxe7 2.'f8'#. Excellent joke. (2003-09-19)
James Malcom: A very witty joke Valladao! (2020-09-24)
A.Buchanan: Really like this joke (2020-09-25)
Henrik Juel: To see the illegality of completing 1.fxe8=S+?, note the captures:
Black captured fxDe, so [Pg7,h7] were captured on their files, while the other six missing black men were captured by white pawns
The illegality of completing 1.0-0-0,bxc6ep? is rather obvious (2020-09-26)
James Malcom: And for those you don't find it obvious: If the White king hasn't moved, then where did wRa5, and wBb8 if bPb5 has just done a double-step, come from? Neither can be promoted pieces, as White still has all eight pawns. Trying to finish castling and en passant therefore both produce illegal positions and thus cannot be the solution. (2020-09-26)
Henrik Juel: Continuing beating the dead horse...
How does the white player actually perform an entire move?
1.0-0-0+: Ke1-c1 and Ta1-d1
1.bxc6ep+: Pb5-c6 and remove sPc5
1.fxe8=S+: remove sYe8 and Pf7-e8 and replace wPe8 with wSe8 (three fractional actions)
2.f8=Y#: Pf7-f8 and replace wPf8 with wYf8
So a marginally better stipulation might be: 'White to move mates in less than 2 moves' (2020-09-26)
A.Buchanan: Hurray I've got the animation working! I agree with Henrik's stipulation. There is a dummy pawn on f8, but not by the Dummy Pawn rule. Instead it's the joke that does it. If Dummy Rule applied, the move would be full length! :) (2022-02-09)
A.Buchanan: All three tries are full #1.5 not as the solution currently has it #0.5. Really fine joke! (2020-09-25, hidden)
Henrik Juel: The legal mate could be written better:
1. Sxe7+! Lxe7 2. f8=B# (Omitting the promotion) (2020-09-26, hidden)
A.Buchanan: I've tried to set up some intermediate diagrams to allow us to show the animation, but the pieces seem to move even for words which are not moves (and marked italic/red). It's quite baffling. It's almost as if someone with privilege has gone in the background and assigned moves to those dead words. If so, that's extremely unhelpful. Gerd was quite active on this site for a month in German lockdown, for which I'm grateful, but one key task is still waiting: to empower the editors by documenting exactly how the animation decides what to do based on the diagram(s) and stipulation. (2020-09-27, hidden)
A.Buchanan: The PDB stipulation field should be non-text form to drive the animation. Where the stipulation is non-standard, there should be a Unicode representation of the original, and translations into German, English and French. But cannot overwrite any original non-standard stipulation, in my opinion, as it is part of the composer's work. (2020-09-27, hidden)
A.Buchanan: I no longer think this is Dummy Pawn: instead it's a truncated regular promotion move. (2022-01-26, hidden)
A.Buchanan: Hurray I've got the animation "working"! I know this *looks* like a dummy pawn promotion, but if the famous Dummy Pawn rule applied here, then W2 would constitute a full move, not a fractional one! :) This is a truncated orthodox promotion instead! (2022-02-09, hidden)
A.Buchanan: Hurray I've got the animation "working"! I agree with Henrik that this is #2. We end up with a dummy pawn on f8, but not by the Dummy Pawn rule. Instead it's the joke that does it. If Dummy Rule applied, the move would not be considered to be truncated! (2022-02-09, hidden) more ...
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Henrik Juel: After the addition of sPd1, C+ Popeye 4.61 (2022-01-26)
Henrik Juel: Other variations
1... Kc4/Ke3 2.Dc2+/Lb4 (2022-01-26)
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Henrik Juel: The solution is almost given away by the keywords
1.f4 a5 2.f5 a4 3.f6 a3 4.fxe7 axb2 5.exf8! bxa1=L 6.Lb2 Ke7 7.Lf6+ Ke6 8.Sc3 Dxf8
Even though Black captures the white man on f8, promotion to DTLS will not work
First Schnoebelen with dummy pawn as the captured man, I would think
Very good, Andrew (2020-05-08)
Henrik Juel: Another first:
Never before was a problem commented in the PDB before it was published... (2020-05-08)
James Malcom: When Andrew messaged me this asking about a PG with two dummies, I came back almost right away with the same idea, albeit in a flawed form-1. a4 f5 2. a5 f4 3. a6 f3 4. axb7 fxe2 5. bxa8=Q exd1 6. Ke2 e6 7. Ke3 Qg5+ 8. Kd4 Qxg2 9. Qf3 Qxh1 10. Qxd1. Great minds think alike after all! The best way. I think, to have two dummies is to have one per side and have both kings make the same journey. An idea to make it all unique is the problem though. (2020-05-08)
A.Buchanan: Haha Henrik thank you. Well I'm in lockdown in Singapore, and it was 9-May already when I posted in Matplus. (2020-05-09)
A.Buchanan: Can claim that this is not Schnoebelen because the pawn wasn't promoted! Just remained as a pawn! But I'm sure the Schnoebelen theme was interpreted in a looser sense in 1860s. Although exponents in that era would have been baffled as to *why* the theme was termed "Schnoebelen", as Philippe was not yet born. (2020-05-09)
Henrik Juel: I am sorry to learn about the Singapore lockdown, but here the merriment has no bounds (apart from the notational dilemma: exf8 is not a promotion and still the PDB animation requires exf8=B) (2020-05-09)
Olaf Jenkner: If you consider each pawn move onto the 8th rank as a promotion then we have the Schnoebelen. (2020-05-09)
A.Buchanan: This is not "non-standard material", removing that keyword. (2022-01-26)
James Malcom: When Andrew messaged me this asking about a PG with two. dummies, I came back almost right away with the same idea, albeit i. a flawed form-1. a4 f5 2. a5 f4 3. a6 f3 4. axb7 fxe2 5. bxa8=Q exd1=P 6. Ke2 e6 7. Ke3 Qg5+ 8. Kd4 Qxg2 9. Qf3 Qxh1 10. Qxd1. Great minds think alike after all! (2020-05-08, hidden) more ...
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Henrik Juel: What is the joke, James?
Natch 3.1 found no solution (2020-08-26)
James Malcom: The solution has now been added in, Henrik.

This PG has two purposes.
1) It is another exploration of what themes be realized with the dummy pawn involves.
2) It is also to push the boundaries of how long a dummy pawn PG can be made. (2020-08-27)
Henrik Juel: Thanks, James
Apparently you also extended the proof game; the one I tested was in 10.5
The solution shows the Schnoebelen theme, by the way (2020-08-27)
Henrik Juel: You forgot to remove wPf2 from the diagram position (2020-08-27)
James Malcom: Removed, and yes I did manage to find a way to extend it by a ply, in theme for its purpose. The version is also C+. (2020-08-27)
A.Buchanan: I think sLb1 is kind of anti-Belfort Any way to replace it with a Phoenix/Prenix knight? (2020-08-27)
Henrik Juel: Strictly speaking, this is not Belfort, which requires two units to stand away
As Andrew suggests, if sLb1 were a black knight, we would have Belfort (2020-08-27)
A.Buchanan: It's limiting to just talk about Belfort Theme - one historical tourney which had a fiddly constraint about the number of pieces exhibiting the property. Want really to talk more generally about Belfort *Effect*, which is a property of a single unit (2022-01-26)
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James Malcom: The point of this PG was to make a true Belfort, after the lone bishop in P1379376 was pointed out to not be a true Belfort. (2020-10-28)
A.Buchanan: Belfort is not in the Encyclopedia! (2020-10-30)
Henrik Juel: For some reason, the diagram is completely wrong
The animation works fine, though (2020-10-28, hidden)
James Malcom: Thanks for fixing the diagram, Mario. (2020-10-28, hidden)
A.Buchanan: A lone bishop can be a Belfort piece. A random tourney at Belfort a long time ago sloppily said that one needed two Belfort units with no other constraints (e.g. avoiding pieces on the wrong piece squares, which is utterly essential for the theme). We can tidy up the definition properly and I think that one Belfort piece could be enough. Why stick with the chaos of the past? (2020-10-29, hidden)
A.Buchanan: I think the notion of a Belfort piece is the foundation idea. Then the question of whether a composition is a Belfort is derived from that, and should include other criteria as well. The original tourney succeeded in launching this idea, but we are surely allowed to clean up the position definition. I will check in the Encyclopedia (2020-10-30, hidden) more ...
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Henrik Juel: What is the (-: trick, James? (2021-08-30)
James Malcom: Nothing special; merely the usual. (2021-08-30)
Henrik Juel: Ah, the old dummy pawn...
Why not spell it out in the stipulation? Not everybody knows 'the usual', and I had forgotten all about it (2021-08-30)
James Malcom: Done! (2021-08-31)
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Henrik Juel: Definition of the Royal Dynasty condition from Schwalbe
Königsdynastie: Im Diagramm kann jede Partei keinen, einen oder mehrere Könige haben. Ein König ist genau dann königlich, wenn er der einzige König seiner Partei ist. Eine Bauernumwandlung in einen König (derselben Partei) ist erlaubt. Ein König darf nur dann rochieren, wenn er königlich ist und nicht gezogen hat, seit er zuletzt königlich wurde. Die anderen für die Rochade vorgeschriebenen Bedingungen bestehen weiter.
In this problem 10.h8=K makes both white kings non-royal, so 11.f4 is not an illegal self-check
The black king is royal throughout, so 5.exf8=KDTLS? would have given a disturbing check to him, leaving just 5.e8=B
It is nice that both conditions are invisible in the diagram, but they should be mentioned in the stipulation, I think (2021-08-30)
Henrik Juel: Euclide 1.01 reports no solutions in orthodox chess (2021-08-30)
Henrik Juel: in my first comment you should read 5.exf8=B, of course, not 5.e8=B (2021-08-30)
James Malcom: I forget to add the C+, and thank you for your comments. (2021-08-31)
Henrik Juel: Jacobi 0.7.5 in Heuristic Mode found the solution in 35 seconds
A full test required 917 seconds (2021-08-31)
Henrik Juel: Here is a way to use Jacobi:
1. Open the homepage https://wismuth.com/jacobi/latest/solver.html
2. Copy the following two lines to the rectangle for Text representation:
stipulation dia11.0 forsyth 1sb2r1q/1pppspp1/4k3/8/5Pr1/p7/PPP1P2P/RSBQKBSR
condition RoyalDynasty PromOnly P S B R Q K
3. Click on 'Set problem from text'
4. Click on Start (with Heuristic Mode marked, if you just want to find the solution)
5. When Jacobi ends, click on the solution to view it in the Game editor
. (2021-08-31)
James Malcom: For those who advocate N for knight, use "EnglishN" to avoid changing the FEN each time. (2021-08-31)
Henrik Juel: That sounds good, James
Exactly how do you do that? Where do you write EnglishN?
There is an output option called English-N, is that it?
Is there a similar trick to use in Popeye? (2021-08-31)
Henrik Juel: This works in Jacobi, but note the s in promonly
englishn
stipulation dia11.0 forsyth 1nb2r1q/1pppnpp1/4k3/8/5Pr1/p7/PPP1P2P/RNBQKBNR
cond RoyalDynasty PromOnly P s B R Q K
And what about Popeye? (2021-08-31)
James Malcom: Popeye is S only as far as I know. (2021-08-31)
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Objective: record achievement of task. Promotion can be to either minor officer, but prefer to keep the "stem cell" to avoid arbitrary choice of non-standard material.
Henrik Juel: with wSd8 C+ Stelvio 1.0 (2023-03-19, hidden)
Henrik Juel: with wSd8
1.Pe2-e4 Sg8-f6 2.Ke1-e2 Sf6-d5 3.Pe4xd5 Pg7-g5 4.Pd5-d6 Bf8-h6 5.Pd6xc7 O-O 6.Pc7xb8=S Qd8-a5 7.Ke2-e3 Pg5-g4+ 8.Pf2-f4 Pg4xf3ep+ (2023-03-19, hidden) more ...
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Objective: record achievement of task. Promotion can be to any officer, but prefer to keep the "stem cell" to avoid arbitrary choice of non-standard material.
Henrik Juel: with wSb8 C+ Stelvio 1.0 (2023-03-19, hidden)
Henrik Juel: with wSb8
1.Pe2-e4 Sg8-f6 2.Ke1-e2 Sf6-d5 3.Pe4xd5 Pg7-g5 4.Pd5-d6 Bf8-h6
5.Pd6xc7 O-O 6.Pc7xb8=S Qd8-a5 7.Ke2-e3 Pg5-g4+ 8.Pf2-f4 Pg4xf3ep+ (2023-03-19, hidden) more ...
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Objective: record achievement of task. Promotion can be to any officer, but prefer to keep the "stem cell" to avoid arbitrary choice of non-standard material.
Henrik Juel: with wSc8 C+ Stelvio 1.0 (2023-03-19, hidden)
Henrik Juel: with wSc8
1.Pd2-d4 Sg8-f6 2.Ke1-d2 Sf6-e4+ 3.Kd2-e3 Se4-c5 4.Pd4xc5 Pg7-g5 5.Pc5-c6 Bf8-h6 6.Pc6xb7 O-O 7.Pb7xc8=S Pg5-g4+ 8.Pf2-f4 Pg4xf3ep+ (2023-03-19, hidden) more ...
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Objective: record achievement of task. Promotion can be to either minor officer, but prefer to keep the "stem cell" to avoid arbitrary choice of non-standard material.
Henrik Juel: with wSd8 C+ Stelvio 1.0 (2023-03-19, hidden)
Henrik Juel: with wSd8
1.Pd2-d4 Sb8-c6 2.Ke1-d2 Sc6-e5 3.Pd4xe5 Sg8-f6 4.Pe5xf6 Pg7-g5 5.Pf6xe7 Bf8-h6 6.Pe7xd8=S O-O 7.Kd2-e3 Pg5-g4+ 8.Pf2-f4 Pg4xf3ep+ (2023-03-19, hidden) more ...
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Objective: record achievement of task. Promotion can be to either minor officer, but prefer to keep the "stem cell" to avoid arbitrary choice of non-standard material.
Henrik Juel: with wSd8 C+ Stelvio 1.0 (2023-03-19, hidden)
Henrik Juel: with wSd8
1.Pf2-f4 Pe7-e6 2.Pf4-f5 Bf8-c5 3.Pf5-f6 Sg8-e7 4.Pf6xe7 Bc5-b6 5.Pe7xd8=S Pc7-c5 6.Ke1-f2 O-O 7.Kf2-e3 Pc5-c4+ 8.Pd2-d4 Pc4xd3ep+ (2023-03-19, hidden) more ...
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Objective: record achievement of task. Promotion can be to either minor officer, but prefer to keep the "stem cell" to avoid arbitrary choice of non-standard material.
Henrik Juel: With wSf8, C+ Stelvio 1.0 (2023-03-19, hidden)
Henrik Juel: With wSf8
1.Pf2-f4 Pd7-d5 2.Pf4-f5 Bc8-d7 3.Pf5-f6 Bd7-c6 4.Pf6xe7 Sb8-d7 5.Pe7xf8=S Qd8-g5 6.Ke1-f2 O-O-O 7.Kf2-f3 Pd5-d4+ 8.Pe2-e4 Pd4xe3ep+ (2023-03-19, hidden) more ...
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