It will be stalemate if black takes.

wait is stalemate a draw or a win for the person who is restricting the king?

very nice one

Tough one

It's really a test in thinking disciplie, pure calculation of moves isn't likely to solve it. In the position black can obviously play 1...Kxf7. After this, as black cannot abandon the queen, nor white take it when it's defended, the checks end with Black:Kh8,Qg8 White:Rb8. All other pieces aren't moved.

Now, white's only chance for a draw is stalemate, though how to lock in the king enough for that? The best chance for that seems to be with the white king on h6 and black covering the g5 square. From the above mentioned position, this can be achieved only if white is allowed to play both Kh6 and Rd8. And since what we looked at was black's threat, white have an extra move in it. 1.Kh6 is out of the question, but 1.Rd8! makes it a draw if black captures the knight.

Now, as to alternatives for 1.Rd8 Kxf7, the only other sensible reply is to move the bishop, but this undefends Pg6. White can exploit this via 1.Rd8! B(any) 2.Rh8 trapping the queen. Note that 1.Rh8 fails as after 1...Qxh8 2.Nxh8 Kxh8 white cannot capture on g6 and thus loses.

 

So 1.Rd8! holds

Tough one. The move 1.Rd8 is not easy to see.

moopster, then white just wins the queen with 3. Rxh7 and draws easily.

why doesn't black play 2...ke8 or ke6?

I admit this was quite an artifical puzzle :) Don't ask me how and why the black queen got to h7, and what white's knight is doing on f7 :)

Still, it's not as artificial as for example the next mate in 2 problem, which, although it could be nice and hard, is just not realistic. Would you ever get the following position in a game? (and find the key move?)

Indeed a though one.

Though one!