[aanxztbx] Video games versus chess problems

A typical chess problem has exactly one way to solve it, and to solve it the solver must consider all possible defenses (non-determinism).  There is beauty in the art form in making solutions unique (no duals).

A typical video game challenge, e.g., a boss battle, has many ways of beating it, and the defender (boss) behaves deterministically, so you can learn how to beat it through many attempts.  There is beauty in the art form in coming up with (as a player) many different ways to win (inspired by BOTW).

This suggests updating the art of chess problems to the video game age.  Providing a deterministic engine as opponent is now easy, in contrast to days when chess problems could only be published in static books.

Compose chess problems paired with a deterministic defender that have multiple ways for the attacker (player) to win.  Perhaps the position has an overwhelming advantage for the attacker (thereby providing the multiple ways to win), so the art is in finding nice or elegant ways to win.  If a problem has multiple different defenses, turn them into separate problems with different defenders, analogous to different video game bosses that are merely initially dressed alike but behave differently.  Or, the boss enters phase 2 of the boss battle.

There is no shame in taking advantage of flaws in the engine (e.g., the player making a weak move that induces the engine to blunder in turn).  This is similar in spirit to speedrunning techniques in video games, not solving a puzzle the way it was meant to be solved.  That said, exploitable flaws in chess engines will likely be pretty rare.

Perhaps a higher level player starts with extra pieces, so it pays to level up before taking on the tougher positions.  Tougher positions may be impossible until you've leveled up some.  Where do the extra pieces go?  Maybe they are held in hand and dropped like shogi.

We do need an engine which makes good moves, maybe seeking to swindle despite starting in a losing position.

Also consider composing fairy chess problems of this style, as we're already breaking orthodox convention.