Half-board position search

[Christopher Kreuzer]

I've been told a particular question should go here, so the question is whether the right-hand half of the position in the third diagram here: http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2283 has been seen before in a game? In other words, the position with Black king and pawns on g8, f7, g7, h7 and the White king on g1 with white pawns on f2, g2 and g3, and a Black knight on f6 and a Black rook on e1 giving check. The other half of the board should contain the other pieces. If that search is not possible, can it be ascertained if a game included the moves: 1...Re8+ 2.Kh2 Ng4+ 3.Kh3 Nxf2+ 4.Kh4 Re4+? (Reversing for White). And if possible, not just in games, but in endgame studies as well.

[Maxim Devereaux]

I did it as a manouevre rather than position search, as it's easier to search for analagous positions.

Mega 2008 contains no such manouevre, even extending it to any check on the back rank, not just e1, and switching White/Black. The closest is the following, which *should* have ended with 33. ...Re4+ and 34. ...R(x)g4#, but Black instead won rather more prosaically. The other closest one is where White had a pawn on h3, and simply mated with Rh8# after Nxf7+ Kh5.

[Event "Mainz Mini Ordix op"]
[Site "Mainz"]
[Date "2007.08.14"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Sarchisov, Slavik"]
[Black "Zill, Frederic"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B01"]
[WhiteElo "1842"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "2007.08.14"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2007.09.04"]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 c6 5. Nf3 Bf5 6. Bc4 Nf6 7. Bd2 Qc7 8.
Qc1 e6 9. Bf4 Qd8 10. O-O Be7 11. Qd2 O-O 12. Nh4 Bg6 13. Nxg6 hxg6 14. Ne2
Nbd7 15. Bb3 Nd5 16. Bg3 Qb6 17. c4 N5f6 18. Nc3 Nh5 19. Rfe1 Nxg3 20. hxg3 Nf6
21. Rad1 Rad8 22. Qe3 Rd7 23. Rd2 Rfd8 24. Red1 Bb4 25. Rd3 Bxc3 26. bxc3 c5
27. dxc5 Rxd3 28. Rxd3 Rxd3 29. cxb6 Rxe3 30. bxa7 Re1+ 31. Kh2 Ng4+ 32. Kh3
Nxf2+ 33. Kh4 Rh1+ 34. Kg5 Rh5+ 35. Kf4 Ra5 36. Kf3 Nd3 37. Ke3 Nc5 0-1

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Thanks! Would you possibly be able to give the other game as well? And one more question - given that this "manouevre" only occurs in these two games, would my next step be to see if it has appeared in problems/studies before, and how would I go about looking for that? I suppose if it hasn't appeared in studies before (it is not really a problem-type position, but then it isn't really a study-like position either), then I suppose it might be considered fairly original. Maybe what I should really do is wait years and years for a position like this to appear in one of my games, and then end up missing it anyway.

[Geoff Chandler]

This is not bad and fits the bill.
Let us give Black the credit and say he saw it all from move 18...Nd3!

H.Richter,H (1950) - W.Krischak,W (1661) Frankfurt 2009

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 e6 7.Bc4 Nf6 8.0-0 Bd6 9.Re1 0-0 10.Ng5 Re8 11.c3 Nbd7 12.Qb3 Qb6 13.Bd2 Qxb3 14.Bxb3 Bxg3 15.hxg3 e5 16.dxe5 Nxe5 17.Rad1 h6 18.Bf4 Nd3 19.Rxe8+ Rxe8 20.Nxf7 Bxf7 21.Bxf7+ Kxf7 22.Rxd3 Re1+ 23.Kh2 Ng4+ 24.Kh3 Nxf2+ 0-1