This is probably the longest “six
piece tablebase endgame puzzle” ever: a mate in 262 moves!
Lewis Stiller found out in 1991 that this endgame, a King plus Rook
and Knight versus King plus two Knights, is a
win for the strongest side in 78% of all cases. The
262 move solution is credited to Ken Thompson who constructed the 93
gigabyte database and Peter Karrer, who found this longest mate
in it. Tim Krabbé’s comments magnificently describe it: “The moves
are awesomely beautiful. Playing over these moves is an eerie experience,
they are not human. A Grandmaster does not understand them any better than someone who has learned
Chess yesterday. The Knights jump, the Kings orbit, the sun goes down, and every move is the truth.” |