ArcaMax

A fine finish by Baron Kolisch as Black against Shumov in St. Petersburg in 1862.

One of Sam Loyd’s gems. A mate in three that uses such economy of force that it makes you wonder how he dreamt this stuff up.

A very practical endgame tactic is available here.

This looks like a composition, but it’s an actual game position, Bilek v. Honfi, 1957. Also notice the little one who wants to become a queen.

Back to the real world of chess. No more “fantasy” problems for a while! This position was reached between David Bronstein as White and E. Geller as Black. Bronstein, an imaginative player, came up with an imaginative move.

Our last “holiday problem.” How can a two move mate be tricky? It is played under the old Staunton laws, specifically, Rule 21: “When a pawn is played to the eighth square, it may be exchanged for any piece the player may think fit.” Hmmm…

Two more weird chess problems to go in our holiday series! In this one, you may take the four white chessmen and place them anywhere (there are no moves here), so long as you stalemate the black king on d4. Just write down the squares you would put each one of the chessmen on.

You may have heard about the advantage of having the two bishops. How about four?

I never had so many replies and questions and even a debate or two with our last problem! It was so much fun, here’s another retraction problem. You can see the task in the headline. It is from Vladimir Nabokov’s book, “Poems and Problems.” The famous author of “Lolita,” “Ada” and “The Defense” (a chess novel)composed this ...

OK, we’re entering the realm of fairy chess. Black is to retract (take back) his last move and then help White mate in one by making another move. There’s an ironclad logic to this, so don’t give up too easily!

Every year, during this holiday season, I like to put forth some joyful amusement with completely wacky and wild and even witty compositions. Today’s problem is a “task problem” taken from H.R. Agnel’s classic book “Chess for Winter Evenings” (1848), and the problem is from the chapter “The Midnight Challenge” or “Christmas in ...

Every year, during this holiday season, I like to put forth some joyful amusement with completely wacky and wild and even witty compositions. Today’s problem is evidence that both kings have gone for the holiday a bit early. The task, then, for White is to “mate” the black knight in three moves with what you’ve got left.

Every year, during this holiday season, I like to put forth some joyful amusement with completely wacky and wild and even witty compositions. Today’s is unusual. It’s a “Demotion Mate in Four Moves.” The composer, Maswell Bukopzer made it an easy one because the king can’t participate, so you have to start out with the queen. In a ...

Every year, during this holiday season, I like to put forth some joyful amusement with completely wacky and wild and even witty compositions. Today’s composer was named Witte, in fact, and I wonder how he pronounced his name. It’s an easy mate in two to start this time of fun problems!

The Teplitz-Schonau 1922 tournament book had this composed problem in it. It’s fun for me to pull the book off my shelf and find a practical looking composition. But be aware—there’s, as one might expect, a little twist in the solution!

It initially looks like White will fight to draw this, but there’s a winning path here. A hint: If Black’s king were on b7, Black would win.

This composition by J. Brown requires you to think clearly. Yes, it seems like Black promoting that pawn to a queen will spell disaster, but perhaps White can salvage a draw…

White has the opposing king cornered, but how does he finish it?

An interesting battle between the bishop and the black knight and pawns.

You might do best here to imagine the final mating position and work backwards!