George Duke wrote on Fri, Aug 24, 2007 04:03 PM UTC:
DEMONSTRATION VIII: (Mate in Four) Black has just played R j5-j4 Check.
Black's only other piece is Rook at b8. White has full complement of ten
8 __R__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ pieces/ten pawns. The Two Rooks Alone
7 __ __ __ __ __K__ __ __ __ checkmate in at most four moves by
6 __ __ __p__ __p__ __b__ __ Rook at j4 in turn capturing any
5 p__ __p__ __p__ __p__p__p__ interposer across the entire rank 4
4 k__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __R to White King. At most, in turn,
3 r__ __q__ __ __ __ __ __ __ White Champion(BN), Marshall(RN),
2 p__ __p__ __ __m__ __ __ __c Queen and Pawn-c2 interpose only to
1 __b__ __n__ __ __ __n__ __r be captured. So what? Well, it is a
a b c d e f g h i j rather straightforward unpeculiar
position(only omitting any other logical Black pieces as irrelevant). Get a feel for how there is simply no subtle move-order for White to consider: Queen first only makes it mate in one or two instead. Whether Marshall goes -e4, -e5, or -e6 same outcome; ponderous, is that not so? Just play abstractly the doomed line of bowling pins across Rank 4 for the awkward constraint RN/BN pair tend to impose. As infinite in variety as tired 8x8 itself they may be, yet Cardinal/Marshall 8x10 positions typically present such rather uninteresting interactions. Cannot future composers find more promising piece material for their skills to work? Are there not some other optimizations than top-heavy ancient Carrera-Centaur and Carrera-Champion?