If you play chess or are familiar with it, difficulty level goes
down a notch or two. If you don't play chess or are not too
familiar with it, difficulty level goes up a notch or two.
To obtain the coordinates for Stage 2, and the offset for the
final, you will need to know the basic
chess moves, and familiarize yourself with "chess notation"
and naming the spaces on the board. I have always preferred using
the English
descriptive notation , but this puzzle will be solved using
short
algebraic notation.
To get the coords for Stage 2, you will substitute numbers for
selected moves and positions on the board.
When figuring cordinate numbers from chess moves or board
squares and positions:
Capital letters represent a chess piece. For these you will
substitute the standard relative value of the pieces.
Therefore:
Queen (Q) = 9
Rook (R) = 5
Bishop (B) = 3
Knight (N) = 3
Pawn (P) = 1
King (K) = 0
Small letters represent the file that a piece is on, or moving
to or from.
Substitute like this: a=1, b=2, c=3, d=4, e=5, f=6, g=7, h=8
The numbers are ranks that a piece is on, or moving from or to.
The rank numbers stand for themselves.
An X stands for a piece capturing another piece.
X's will be ignored in any substitutions.
As an example for how to substitute, the white king starts the
game on e1, which would become 51.
The move Nxe5 (knight captures the piece on e5) becomes 355.
You might want to play this game out on your own chess board,
although it's not really neccessary. Whether you do or not,
consider yourself as the white player. I'll be black. The game will
generally not go well for white until the 21st move, at which time
white sees a possible win if he can make a combination of moves to
happen. It will involve sacrificing a bishop, if he can get black
to fall into the trap.
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So to get started: (Fig. 1)
the starting square of my (black)
king's rook pawn = degrees West
the starting square of your white
queen = degrees North
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Now we begin the game:
(white)....(black)
1. e4.......Nf6
2. Nc3......d5
(see Fig. 2)
You made the first move of the game.
What square did you move from?
= minutes West
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3. e5.......Ne4
4. Nxe4.....dxe4
(see Fig. 3)
Now, for your 5th move,
bring your queen's pawn up one
space and threaten my pawn.
What square did you move to?
= minutes North
5. ___.......exd3
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6. Bxd3.....Nc6
7. Nf3......Bg4
8. Bf4......e6
9. c3.......Bc5
10. 0-0.....0-0
(see Fig. 4)
On my 7th move my bishop pinned your knight.
(You can't move it or you will lose your queen.)
On the 10th move we both castled kingside,
moving our kings two spaces to the g file,
and jumping our rooks over to the f file.
This is to protect the king and get the
rook into play. We continue:
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11. Qc2........h6
12. Nd2........Qd5
13. c4.........Qd4
14. Ne4........Nxe5
15. Bxe5.......Qxe5
16. Kh1........Bd4
17. f4.........
(see Fig. 5)
For my 17th move, I am moving
my queen to the kings rook file.
Write down my move.
Convert it to a 3-digit number,
which = the fraction of minutes west.
17. .......... ___
18. Ng3........Qh4
19. Rae1.......f5
20. Rxe6.......Rf7
21. Qb3........b6
22. c5.........Bxc5
(see Fig 6)
You're looking several moves ahead,
and willing to sacrifice even more
to get the pieces where you want them.
Watch the action at f5.
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23. Nxf5.......Bxf5
24. Bxf5.......Rxf5
(see Fig. 7)
Black has gone for the bait
and has sealed his fate.
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.Now for your 25th move,
capture a pawn with your rook,
threatening the queen,
and also putting the King in check!
(It's called "discovered check")
Write down your move.
25. ___ ........
Convert it to a 3-digit number,
which = the fraction of minutes north.
The game is now as good as won, as is the cache.
.First let's quickly finish the game.
25. ___ ........Rf7
26. Rxh4........black resigns
(see Fig. 8)
You now have the coords for Stage 2
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If you want, you can check your Stage 2 coords for accuracy
before you go out, at
Geochecker.com.
Go there.
Note: August 20- As for parking, resist the inclination to park
in the most convenient parking lot nearest to the cache, as
tempting as it might look. It's a private lot. However, a birdie
told me that if you inquire within, they will most likely let you
park there without a problem. Just DO NOT PARK THERE WITHOUT ASKING
FIRST. You will find other places to park close enough, just be
careful of traffic going by when walking along the road.
When you arrive at the coordinates, notice what street you are
on?
Find all the letters in the street name that could represent
chess pieces. Add their total values = A.
A + number of squares on a chessboard = B
A x B = C
C= distance in feet from the coords to the cache.
To figure the direction, (considering that the black player is
at the "north" of the chessboard), go in the same direction as my
bishop went when I pinned your knight on the 7th move.
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For the First To Find, make sure to take your FTF trophy. It is
wrapped in a separate bag by the cache.
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.Congratulations to moodygrrl and badlands for the
FTF!
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Here is the entire game, with comments, using descriptive
notation. Refer to it if you want to or need to.
(white).......(black)................comments
1 P-K4.........N-KB3........(w)common opening___(b)Alekhine's
Defence
2 N-QB3........P-Q4.........(w)protect pawn___(b)wants to trade
pawns
3 P-5..........N-K5.........(w)passes up trade,threatens
knight___(b)knight gives white a choice
4 NxN..........PxN..........(w)trades knights___(b)and black has
doubled pawns
5 P-Q3.........PxP,,,,,,,,,,(w)offers black a pawn___(b)black
accepts
6 BxP..........N-QB3........(w)bishop now in play___(b)threatens
pawn
7 N-B3.........B-N5.........(w)protect K pawn___(b)pins the
knight
8 B-KB4........P-K3.........(w)controlling center___(b)opens up
black bishop
9 P-QB3........B-QB4........(w)avoid B-N5ch, opens
queen___(b)looking at KB7
10 0-0.........0-0..........(w)safety for king___(b)ditto
11 Q-B2........P-KR3........(w)attacking KR7___(b)saves
pawn...
12 N-Q2........Q-Q4.........(w)trading it for a bishop would
double pawns___(b)bringing out the power
13 P-QB4..........Q-Q5.........(w)force the queen___(b)looking
at KB7
14 N-K4?.......NxKP.........(w)protect KB2, threaten
bishop___(b)white down a pawn
15 BxN.........QxB..........(w)saving other bishop___(b)not a
bad trade for black
16 K-R1........B-Q5.........(w)frees BP___(b)threaten QNP
17 P-B4........Q-KR4........(w)drive queen from
center___(b)black's best move
18 N-KN3.......Q-R5.........(w)force queen again___(b)continue
kingside attack
19 QR-K1.......P-KB4?.......(w)bring rook into play___(b)stops
R-K4, but...
20 RxKP........R-B2.........(w)game even again___(b)keeps white
rook off 2nd rank
21 Q-N3........P-QN3........(w)prepare for P-5 or
QxNP___(b)protects pawn
22 P-5!........BxP..........(w)opens diagonal for
queen___(b)willing to trade pawns
23 NxP.........BxN..........(w)white is in control___(b)knight
was too dangerous
24 BxB.........RxB..........(w)rook bait___(b)black bites
25 RxKRPch!....R-B2.........(w)discovered check!___(b)only other
move is K-B1
26 RxQ.......Black resigns..(w)the crowning blow___(b)black
admits defeat