Chess Problems of 1001 Years ago

Dilaram's problem -2

Dilaram cried:

Sacrifice your two Rooks, but not me!

Fortunately, her husband and lover saw what she meant, and won the game. And, they lived happily ever after.

Do you see what she meant?

White:
King a4; Rook h1, h4; Elephant h3; Knight g4; Pawn f6; g6 (7 pieces).

Black:
King g8; Rook b2, b8; Knight c4 (4 pieces).

White to play and win.

Solution

This problem appears in Murray's History of Chess, with solution, story, and some additional historic backgrounds. Apparently, the problem was very popular, and several other problems have been made, which merely are a variant of this one.
Written by Hans Bodlaender.
WWW page created: August 13, 1996. Last modified: September 2, 1997.