Murder Mate: Uzbekistan
Samarkand, 1403. The Emir has ridden to war and left behind a garden palace, a treasury and a mosque still in scaffolding. Muhtasib Karim, inspector of the markets, was asked to keep order until he returns. Then the guards started lying, and one of them was never a guard at all.
One of the guards is a suspect.
Same rules as every Murder Mate: one white piece gives mate, the witnesses tell you which. In Samarkand, the palace guards have a secret.
Guards never kill
The white pawns are the palace guards. They stand still, they block, they protect. They never deliver the mate.
Except this one
A pawn marked ? on the board is someone in disguise. It moves like a pawn, and on the last rank it becomes a queen. Then it can kill.
Killer or decoy
In 21 of the 40 cases, a guard is not what he seems. Sometimes he is the killer. Sometimes he is there to make you look the wrong way.
Case 01: The Envoy.
The crime on the left, the suspects and the witnesses on the right. The envoy from China waited six years for an audience with the Emir. He did not live to see the morning.
Eight rooms around a garden. Eight guests with a reason.
Every square of the board belongs to a room of the Emir's palace. Every white piece is a guest, always the same piece from one case to the next. You are the white king.
Princess Gulbahor
Khanum Nodira
Amir Bahrom
Don Rodrigo de Alba
Mavlono Sadriddin
Master Hasan of Tabriz
Yusuf of Herat
Signor Niccolo Spinola
Start easy. End at 1800.
You only need to know how the pieces move. Each book stands alone: you can start the series here.
Rookie
Mate in one. The impostor may already be on the board.
Cases 01-08 · 5-10 minDetective
Mate in two, and the first move is rarely a check.
Cases 09-20 · 15-30 minChief Inspector
At least three suspects can kill, and one witness is lying.
Cases 21-33 · 25-35 minCommissioner
Mate in three. One liar. Loyalty is the first thing to go.
Cases 34-40 · 30-40 minOne chess country per book. One chess rule per crime.
