Letter #20 -  2011

Sub:    Waitzkin vs Frumkin in 7 moves
Date:   05/04/11  01:36:32 PM EDT
From:  Lukas Mendez
To:      service@chess-poster.com

 White to move and mate in 7

 1. Re3 Nxd1 2. Rg3 g6 3. Bf6+ Kg8 4. Qh4 Nf2 5. Qh6 Nh3+ 6. gxh3 Bb7 7. Qg7++

Regards!

Dear visitor,

Thank you for sharing your seven move solution with us.

A then ten years old Josh Waitzkin took eight moves from the above position to checkmate GM E. Frumkin. And yet... this Chess position can only be won exactly as Josh Waitzkin did it!

The fact that you can checkmate the computer in seven moves, is due to the low setting level of thinking the program is set to at the beginning of the game, which by default is 10 seconds. This effectively limits the computer to find the right move that can keep you from making the seven moves mate.

The second move (2. Rg3) you found which allows you to make a mate in seven moves can easily be refuted by the machine with 2. ... Rg8! instead of 2. ... g6? To prove this, all you have to do is to refresh this page and change the game settings to 60 seconds fixed time or higher and start playing.

This time the computer will choose 2. ... Rg8 and your mate in seven moves will never happen. GM Josh Waitzkin was correct with 2. Qxg7+!! without wasting a crucial tempo and forcing the mate a few moves later.

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