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Cake day: June 12th, 2023

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  • The solution is Nc8.

    This is actually an easy one to find out. Here’s how I solved it: You can see in the given position, if black was to move, black could play Rxg8+ with check. This means that, if black is allowed to play Rxg8+ after white’s first move, then white is in check, and will not be able to mate on the second move. Therefore, white’s first move must make Rxg8+ impossible. The only four moves that do the trick are Nc8, Ne8, Rxb8+ and Kh7 (Kh7 doesn’t avoid Rxg8, but makes it a non-checking move). Out of those, it’s easy to check that only Nc8 works.

    1. Nc8
      1. … a6 or a5: 2. Ra7#
      1. … R to anywhere on the B file: 2. Nb6# (with double check)
      1. … Rxc8: 2. Rxc8#