Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Chamber of Strategy - Wrong Chess Position

Hello everyone,

I am on my second playthrough right now and discovered a wrong/misleading chess position (or lance-position ) in the "Chamber of Strategy".

[img]https://imgur.com/a/v8GwzON[/img]

In the game the solution is to play:

1.Rg8 --- Bxg8 (white rook moves to g8, black bishop takes the rook)
2.Qg7 # ( white Queen moves to g7 = checkmate)

In this position there´s actually no mate in two as Baldurans Statue requires ("the king has to fall in two moves").
After playing the white rook to g8 black doesn´t have to take the rook, but rather sidestep the check by moving the king to h6. Not only is there no mate in 2, furthermore all the white advantage is gone after Rg8

And yes, I know you can bypass the quest with certain actions Just wanted you and the devs know what I discovered.

If you have a screenshot or a pgn of the chess positions you got in your playthrough, please share, I like chess puzzles ^^

Pls apologize any mistakes, I´m not a native in english.

Have a nice one

I enjoy chess puzzles too ^.^

All I can suggest is that black is making a scripted mistake when you threaten like that, and it's part of the puzzle. Perhaps black is being characterised as aggressive and the sort who reacts by claiming material to solve its problems, even to their own detriment, rather than evading capture first and foremost?

There's definitely no mate in two there, but I also don't really have the confidence in Larian's design team to prose properly complex chess problems ^.^

As I find riddles in crpgs rather annoying in general, but also do enjoy chess riddles, this one gave me a smile. Honestly I didn't even realize it wasn't mate in two. But it seems very likely that sacrificing the rook is what makes this the chamber of strategy. Who could resits such a tasty bait, right?

There are literally countless mate in two puzzles that are actually working nicely, and easy to access, too, so I dont get why Larian picked one that doesnt ?!?!?

Is it possible that you encountered a bug? On one playthrough I was getting almost the same board as you, but there was an additional black pawn at h6.

Another time I got the following riddle:
Mate in 2

Could possibly be a bug since the position with the pawn on h6 would be a mate in two (actually with two solutions^^).
And the position with the black pawn on h6 would make more sense. (assuming the position is reached by "natural" play)

But nice to see they have (it seems) a lot of different puzzles. Didn´t encounter your position in my two playthroughs.

@halycon After Brir´s comment I think it´s possible, that it is a bug or maybe a minor oversight in the implementation/transfer of the position into the game. Adding a single black pawn to the position resolves the issue.

@Niara & Staunton: I like the idea of the aggressive/greedy characterization of the black king. Or it could be seen as mischevious, what would nicely fit (in my opinion) when you think about what became of Balduran who long ago set these trials. So, as you both said, the lore aspect in the puzzle is a fun way to look at it

Should be Qh8, Kg7 QF8 checkmate, with an epaulets mate