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Last Move v.1.1
Benefit 
Last Move is the third program in the Chess Puzzles Series.
It is a generator of
all sorts of game situations in which you will have to make only a single move,
but that will be the most important one - mate to the opponent's King. The
program is going to teach you not only to discover mates in the most difficult
positions, standard-looking as well as highly non-trivial, but also to create,
construct them on your own in the course of unusual and very fascinating games.
In spite of the seeming simplicity, the game tasks will require of you to
demonstrate all of your best play-related abilities: ingenuity, intuition,
logical and creative thinking.
Game Rules
The objective of the game is to create by various means situations of mate on the
chessboard. The choice of the proper method depends on the type of task you are
to fulfil. The program features 4 task types: 1) mate in 1 move; 2) add the
opponent's King on a square where he is mate; 3) add pieces of your side's colour
to have the opponent's King mated; and 4) construct a position of mate with the
available pieces. If you cope with them, you win; if you don't, you lose. You are
always playing for the stronger side, i.e. the side that creates the situation of
mate to the opponent's King.
Task Types
Mate in 1 move
This task is similar to an ordinary chess problem in which one of the sides is to
mate the enemy King in one move. The act of mate-giving is always up to you.
Situations are possible when there is more than one way of giving mate. In order
to win it is enough for you to display any one of them, irrespective of the type
of mate you have set (see Features). You only need to make a
single move on the chessboard to cope with the task.
Add King
In case of this task you will be asked to cope with a problem position in which
the opponent's King is missing. Your objective is to add the King in such a way
that he is in a situation of mate. Note that in the thus created position there
is no need for a final mating move. All you have to do is determine a square on
which the King is mate and then put him there.
Add pieces
This task type is similar to the previous one in that you are also offered a
position in which one or more pieces are missing. But this time the absent
material is yours. You are to place the piece(s) on the board so that the enemy
King is mate. The pieces you may use to construct mate are limited. Their number
may vary from 1 to 3, depending on the difficulty level of the task. But the
correctness of your solution is estimated regardless of how many pieces you have
used. The really important thing is to achieve mate! For example, you are asked
to add 3 pieces but you have found a mate in which only one of them is involved.
In this case it is enough for you to add only that single piece leaving the
others alone.Construct mate
The essence of this task type is to create on the initially empty chessboard a
position in which the opponent's King is mate. Two sets of pieces - white and
black - are at your disposal to carry out the assignment. Your objective is to
display maximum imagination and ingenuity. You are free to invent the most
unusual, non-stereotyped and even "unreal" mates (i.e. mates that may not be
achieved in a real chess game). The principal criterion for the success of your
action is the fact of mate. This task type will help you go beyond the limits of
traditional ideas about chess and discover new capabilities of the "magical
pieces".
Features
The game has two modes: Play and Training. Play mode incorporates 10 levels of
difficulty. The difficulty of a particular task depends on two factors: the
number of pieces involved and the time allotted for the solution. The more pieces
are on the chessboard, the greater is the difficulty of the task, for the
opponent has more possibilities for avoiding likely threats of mate. The higher
the difficulty level, the less time you have for discovering the solution.
The program generates three types of mate: 1) simple mate; 2) mate through
discovered check; and 3) mate through double check. For each task you have coped
with the program gives you a certain number of points. The higher the difficulty
level, the more points you get.
To unlock all the features you must register.
Example
Only one move takes you to victory, but even that "bagatelle" is not always an easy
find... Try to solve the following task, and you will see.
This is a task of 6th level of difficulty (type Add King). Your objective is to
add the black King in such a way that he is in a situation of mate. Note that in
the thus created position there is no need for a final mating move. All you have
to do is determine a square on which the King is mate and then put him there.
Download the latest version
(1.1, November 11, 1998)
Last Move © 1999
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