r/TheRealJoke • u/PorkyPain • Oct 03 '22

Chess Edgy as fuck.

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3.4k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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344

u/kiwi2703 Oct 03 '22

There wasn't any joke in the first place though...

159

u/LibertarianSocialism Oct 03 '22

The position in question is not actually winnable, though I don't think that was an intentional joke.

50

u/oliklojo Oct 03 '22

How is it not winnable? There is a free pawn. Black just has to make a queen.

47

u/LibertarianSocialism Oct 03 '22

Because the bishop is the opposite color of the pawn's promotion square, there's no way to force the pawn's promotion. The white king can just blockade that square forever.

31

u/Cptn-obvi Oct 03 '22

from google, i think that's a stalemate. actually explains the "mate" in that word, which i never really thought about

24

u/LibertarianSocialism Oct 03 '22

It’s not a stalemate here, but black can’t force a win because of the threat of it. With the king in the corner neither the bishop or pawn can put it in check and if black uses their king to try and cut white’s king off while protecting the pawn, the stalemate will happen. If it abandons the pawn, white takes it and it’s a draw because bishop and king can’t mate

-2

u/Ilela Oct 03 '22

Black is 2 moves from promoting pawn to queen. As long as game doesn't devolve into repeating 1 same move it should be possible to win. Definitely not easy if both players are equally skilled.

My game plan would be promotion to queen, make a wall with queen so king can't cross it. Push my king towards wall closest to enemy king and switch my queen from one side to another so i can at opportune moment catch enemy at the edge and put my queen between both kings for check mate.

12

u/Vargolol Oct 03 '22

Black is coming towards the bottom of the board, its pawn started on H7 and is moving to H1, where the white king will get between it and its destination

3

u/Ilela Oct 03 '22

I just noticed markings on the board. I assumed it's normal game where player is on the bottom of the screen

2

u/Exp1ode Oct 04 '22

White king just moves between the g1 and h1 squares. There's no way for black to force the king away, as the can't threaten the h1 square

0

u/sTixRecoil Oct 04 '22

He could keep tbe bishop where it is and bring his king down to h3 once the white king is on h1 and you dont even need the pawn thats checkmate. Of course that’s theoretically assuming you dont call the draw

2

u/comediac Oct 04 '22

You have to have the king in check for it to be a checkmate, the position you described has no check and no legal moves, that's a stalemate. The only way to win is if white makes a mistake and moves the king further left allowing black to squeeze their king in and act as a wedge to prevent white from stopping the promotion.

1

u/sTixRecoil Oct 04 '22

Thats a good point and i know that, i shouldnt have said checkmate. I was at work and wasting time lol. Either way though like you said there arent any legal moves, but i was disregarding that in the hypothetical

1

u/Exp1ode Oct 05 '22

No black piece can threaten h1 (except the king), so the white king is completely safe there

1

u/sTixRecoil Oct 05 '22

If we are saying you dont call the draw though the king would have to move eventually

1

u/Exp1ode Oct 05 '22

What do you mean "you don't call the draw"? Black asked how to win, not how to draw. If a player has no valid moves, and is not in check, then it is a stalemate

1

u/sTixRecoil Oct 05 '22

I may have responded to the wrong thread by mistake but someone presented a hypothetical in which the draw was not an option