Answers.Body: <p>It is very easy to generate a &quot;proof game&quot; for this positions (and if you are too lazy, you can use problemists tools like <a href="http://natch.free.fr/Natch.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Natch</a> or <a href="https://wismuth.com/jacobi/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Jacobi</a>, but I think it will be very hard to make the proof game look &quot;natural&quot;. (It gets worse as the position itself is rather unnatural. Did the Kg6 have a death wish? Maybe if the last move pair was Rf6xg6+!, it looks a bit more believable, but still the Qg8 is ridiculous.)</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2021-04-29T13:36:01.470Z
Answers.Text: (at Editors: THX! Would have given explicite links myself, was too lazy :-)
Answers.UserDisplayName: Hauke Reddmann
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2021-04-28T17:43:02.900Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2021-04-29T13:03:02.110Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2021-04-29T13:03:02.110Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Hauke Reddmann
Answers.Body: <p>I think the best approach for loose positions like this without retro interest is to have three structured phases:</p>
  <ol>
  <li>Knights marraud to eliminate captured pieces not required for pawn balance. If necessary, c &amp; g pawns edge forward to avoid check being given. This gives a homebase diagram.</li>
  <li>Move pawns to final positions, including captures. This gives diagram A.</li>
  <li>If it's not obvious, use Jacobi in demolition mode to go from A to B (here in something like 10.0 moves).</li>
  </ol>
  <p>This approach can obviously be generalized. But if it fails to work, it will fail to work for a specific reason, and you can see whether this is a fundamental blocker or the solution approach has to be adapted.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2021-04-29T04:01:06.070Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2021-04-29T04:01:06.070Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Laska
Body: <p>I recently found a chess problem <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2NhGvIWRjc" rel="nofollow noreferrer">YouTube video</a> with this position.</p>
  <pre><code>[FEN &quot;r4rq1/5p1p/p5kn/R1B1Q1b1/6p1/5p2/PNP2P2/1K6 w - - 0 1&quot;]
  </code></pre>
  <p>I want to turn this position into an entire game of chess. Does anybody know of a way that I can generate moves that would lead up to that position to make a full game? I don't want to find out the exact moves that were played if this position ever happened. However, I want to find out if I could make this into an entire chess game that looks legitimate.</p>
  
Tags: <retrograde-analysis>
Title: Generate an entire chess game up to a position
ThreadText: # Generate an entire chess game up to a position
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2021-04-28)
  
  I recently found a chess problem YouTube video with this position.
  [FEN "r4rq1/5p1p/p5kn/R1B1Q1b1/6p1/5p2/PNP2P2/1K6 w - - 0 1"]
  
  I want to turn this position into an entire game of chess. Does anybody know of a way that I can generate moves that would lead up to that position to make a full game? I don't want to find out the exact moves that were played if this position ever happened. However, I want to find out if I could make this into an entire chess game that looks legitimate.
  
  **Tags:** retrograde-analysis
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 2 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2021-04-28. Score: 3
  
  It is very easy to generate a "proof game" for this positions (and if you are too lazy, you can use problemists tools like [Natch](http://natch.free.fr/Natch.html) or [Jacobi](https://wismuth.com/jacobi/), but I think it will be very hard to make the proof game look "natural". (It gets worse as the position itself is rather unnatural. Did the Kg6 have a death wish? Maybe if the last move pair was Rf6xg6+!, it looks a bit more believable, but still the Qg8 is ridiculous.)
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: (at Editors: THX! Would have given explicite links myself, was too lazy :-)  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2021-04-29. Score: 2
  
  I think the best approach for loose positions like this without retro interest is to have three structured phases:
  
  1. Knights marraud to eliminate captured pieces not required for pawn balance. If necessary, c & g pawns edge forward to avoid check being given. This gives a homebase diagram.
  2. Move pawns to final positions, including captures. This gives diagram A.
  3. If it's not obvious, use Jacobi in demolition mode to go from A to B (here in something like 10.0 moves).
  
  This approach can obviously be generalized. But if it fails to work, it will fail to work for a specific reason, and you can see whether this is a fundamental blocker or the solution approach has to be adapted.
  
  
  ---
  
  