Cat & Comb: no way out?
Board layout:
| a | b | c | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B | W | B |
| 2 | B | W | Br |
| 3 | Br | W | Br |
Board
Current position (cats in stacks listed bottom to top):
| a | b | c | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BrWB | B | |
| 2 | BWB | B | |
| 3 | Br | BrWB | BW |
Current position
Black to move. All black cats are already on the board. White still has one cat in hand. Can Black find a move that avoids losing on the next turn?
At first glance the position looks hopeless:
- White simultaneously controls two white cells (b1 and b3);
- has a strong “stripped tail” on b3 that can be dismantled on the next turn to take full control of the brown cells (b3: c2 - b2 - a3);
- and the cherry on top is the last cat in hand, giving one more attacking option.
After half an hour of analysis we concluded that whatever Black tries, White can answer all three threats — guaranteed loss. Did we miss something?