So I tried to solve puzzle#9 tonight. Since there was a comment for thewanderingeditor about the non existing discussion, I tell you my issues with #9:
Due to my calculations there is a huge differences in the amount of moves until all the pieces get to their final positions. White about 27, black around 16, this does not include any capturing moves yet.
The capturing position for 1 piece is predetermined, it can’t move at all. 3 out of the remaining 5 could happen on 3 adjacent fields but the moves keep in balance. So the last two pieces are responsible to even the count. I’m not a chess mastermind, but this difference seems far too big for me, to get a single conclusive solution here. In over 10 moves, I can shift those 2 pieces everywhere to the board and could be captured by any piece.
Another big problem is the missing kings in the picture. Reading the story, and according to the rules both kings should be present on the chessboard. But then, the white king must be present in one of the 4 squares not included in the picture. Since those 4 pieces are on the black side of the chessboard, the problem of uneven moves even gets bigger, since this king has to move across the hole board, about 6-8 more.
(But to be honest, I’m not sure if the king’s are even present at all.)
And my final problem: How rational is this game?
It seems to me, that a number pieces could have been captured by serveral opponent figures, but it does not happen (e.g. white knight on a8), (if included) the white king all alone upfront in enemy territory, or whatever happens to the black queen (took me a while to find the solution to those positions) seems pretty chaotic with no specific purpose, other then to create a puzzle for us and would (almost) never happen in a real chess game.
(Is there a ELO for the players involved? [If it’s above 175 I can stop thinking about this anyway.]
)
If this gets a discussion started, I’m happy to share, what I got so far, in more details.