White to move and mate in two #784 — Anathem

White to move and mate in two. The chess puzzle is published on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. It is customary for advanced players to wait till midnight ET before posting the full solution. Before then, they provide some stats about the solution (e.g., the number of distinct checkmate moves), help guide others, and sometimes post hints. But, there are no hard-and-fast rules, feel free to post comments as you please.

On the fictional planet of Arbre, millennia before the present, the planet's intellectuals (the 'avout') were sequestered in monastic communities called concents, to protect the activities of those within from the foreseen collapse of society.

In one of these concents, the protagonist — one Fraa Erasmas — sets out on a journey to find his teacher, Fraa Orolo, who was banished from the concent in a rite called 'Anathem'. Orolo had used a video camera — technology forbidden by his order — to discover an alien spaceship that is orbiting the planet...

I found this novel to be a ripping good read, albeit a little slow to take off.

And now, on to tonight's puzzle. Below are links to an on-line board to help you work the puzzle, and the solution. But don't peek at the answer until you've made an honest attempt to solve the puzzle, or you'll spoil the fun!

On-line board

Solution