ArcaMax

This is a position reached by Bird against Steinitz. He did win, but missed a mate in three.

This is a great attacking game by Steinitz. It went

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd8 4.d4 e6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Bd3 Be7 7.0–0 0–0 8.Be3 b6 9.Ne5 Bb7 10.f4 Nbd7 11.Qe2 Nd5 12.Nxd5 exd5 13.Rf3 f5 14.Rh3 g6 15.g4 fxg4 16.Rxh7 Nxe5 17.fxe5 Kxh7 18.Qxg4 Rg8 19.Qh5+ Kg7 SEE DIAGRAM At this point try and figure out the whole attacking plan in your head. ...

A Paul Morphy classic mating attack.

From Rohacek-May, Bad Sliac, 1932. Black played 8...Qxe1+ 9.Rxe1 Bxh3 which loses to 10.Rb3. How could Black have avoided loss?

This is one of those wild and wooly 19th century King’s Gambit games where Black, for a change, ends up mating White.

A great grandmaster missed this mating attack for Black.

A hint for those who know. This is an example of a switchback theme from problem composition.

This is a little variation on the Lucena mating theme.

From a game against an amateur won by Capablanca. It’s a theme that has shown up several times in chess games. Not a lot, but worth knowing.

A young, pre-world champion Alexander Alekhine was playing 20 at once in 1913 and came upon this position. He announced mate in ten. If you remember Rule Number One, often state here, you will be off to a good start, and it will be easier than you might think.

This one’s for novices. You should be able to tell it came out of a King’s Gambit Accepted because of the missing f-pawn. Can you tell how to continue the game from here?

Hope you had a great 4th of July! By solving this problem, you can tell your friends you once solved a mate in 27!

This is a prime example of the poor pawn’s disadvantage of only being able to move backwards. Mate in Four. Enjoy Independence Day!

You might think White’s task is to draw here; however, White, despite being a rook down, wins this. All Black has to do is give up one of its pieces to draw, but White makes that impossible. To get full credit, you have to play the best defense for Black.

There are FOUR mates in three today. The first is the diagram. Then, for your additional amusement, Put the knight on a8 and b8 and e8 for additional mates in three.

All the long-range pieces are ready to jump into action.

An interesting imbalance. A queen and pawns vs. a bishop and knight and pawn.

An interesting mating. Make it happen!

White is down in material, so he had better get busy and come up with some way to save the game.

This is a mate in seven. Be careful not to stalemate Black. The moves, though, are relatively simple themselves, but need to be timed precisely. In fact, each proper White move forces Blak to play the only legal move on the board. Oh, yes, those pawns on the a-file are there for a reason!