BDS
Problem Observer, 1991
#2
GRASSHOPPERs a1, a7, b3, d7, g7, h4:
a5, b1, f1, g6, g8, h3, h5
1.Gd1! (2.Gd5#) 1...Gbxd1 2.Be4# 1...Gfxd1 2.f4# 1...Gd8 2.Re5# 1...Ge6 2.f3#
Grasshoppers are hoppers with a specific feature. They must hop to the square just past the hurdle. This problem is my attempt to thematise that. In the first three variations White mates by moving a hurdle along a Grasshopper line to the square adjacent to his own king. These moves would be self-check if Black hadn’t just removed a Grasshopper from the line. Construction was difficult and a plague of Grasshoppers resulted, though I do have to admit to a liking for this position with its upside-down queens. One solver pointed to the wBg1 and said the position was illegal, but, as I don’t know how games with Grasshoppers start, and he didn’t say, I haven’t been able to confirm his opinion.
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