That's really interestingCrunchums wrote: ↑Thu Apr 07, 2022 4:47 pm in chess, is it possible to reach the starting position except it's black's move instead of white?Spoiler!no
if a pawn moves forward it's then impossible for its starting square to ever be occupied by a pawn of that color. so pawns can't move
knights can move, and then that lets the rooks move. but knights always move from a light square to a dark square or vice versa, and rooks can only move back and forth between their starting square and their adjacent knight's starting square, which means that any sequence of knight/rook moves that ends with the pieces both back on their starting squares will be an even number of moves. but in order to reach the starting position where it's black's move you would need black to make an odd number of moves that results in all of black's pieces being back in their starting position
Spoiler!
More interesting than the puzzle is that I understood the puzzle slightly differently from you. I never considered that the horses "different" units, i.e.: they could finish "swapped" in position (king side becomes queen side). Maybe because I think of the conclusion as visual (i.e.: an observer would see the board as natural, as they had no way of knowing which horse was which).
Haha, I also assumed the entire board would have to flip, which is stupid and trivially false.
So I guess this has a more interesting answer. Yes, but only if you see the horses as interchangable.
Haha, I also assumed the entire board would have to flip, which is stupid and trivially false.
So I guess this has a more interesting answer. Yes, but only if you see the horses as interchangable.