Zugzwang is a German term, literally meaning "compulsion to move," which refers in chess to a situation in which any move by the side whose turn it is leads to ruin, but the player would be saved if only it were legal to "pass."
Questions tagged [zugzwang]
27 questions
20
votes
2 answers
Are there any symmetric zugzwang positions?
Although very unlikely, the starting position could be a forced win for Black. This would mean it is a position of mutual zugzwang, in the strong sense that whoever moves first loses. Wikipedia refers to one such position as trébuchet. Such…
Dag Oskar Madsen
- 9,031
- 1
- 36
- 61
5
votes
4 answers
Can a zugzwang be a bad move?
There's this related Helpful Zugzwang? but it's not quite what I am asking. I mean a double (or further) zugzwang.
So a player puts another player in zugzwang, and the other player makes a move. However, after that move, the first player doesn't…
LeopardL GD
- 239
- 1
- 8
1
vote
2 answers
Helpful Zugzwang?
Are there positions where a zugzwang helps the zugzwang'ed player? For instance, white forces black to make a move that gives black an advantage. Is that possible?
clickbait
- 637
- 1
- 6
- 16