ArcaMax

This position is a bit different for the usual type of problem in that there is not just one but three major different ways to win this game. See if you can find all of them.

Won by Steinitz in a simul. White has only one move to win or else he loses.

A magnificent final mating attacking by a forgotten master of the early 20th century.

Just win a lot of material.

This is from a great game in the Steinitz-Chigorin match in Havana, 1891. In the diagrammed position, White can recapture with the rook or bishop. Only one way wins, and you have to be pretty clever to find the subsequent moves as well. Good luck!

This is a composition by a joint effort of two great American problemists: Kenneth S. Howard and Alain C. White. A Mate in Two.

The great Alexander Alekhin constructed a mating net in this endgame. Do you think you could conjure one up. Take the weekend…

An instructional finish from Spielmann at Carlsbad, 1929.

This is a game, Alekhin – Kaufman,Odessa, 1918, which started out with 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 c5 3.Bf4 cxd4 4.Bxb8 Rxb8 5.Qxd4 b6 (Better was 5...a6) 6.e4 dxe4 (SEE DIAGRAM) Black figured that after the queen exchange followed by 8.Ng5 Nh6 9.Nc3 e6 10.0–0–0+ Ke7 11.Ncxe4 g6 he's at least equal. He figured wrong. Where did he go wrong?

Find the mating attack and name the opening.

Queen and pawn vs queen is a very tough ending. World Champ Botvinnik showed one way in 1955 to win vs. Minev. Very instructive.

Here is your chance to beat a world champion from the 1920s. Jose Capablaca couldn’t solve this mate in two in a contest—the only problem he could not solve.

White has a powerful rook, but Black has advanced connected passed pawns. What do you do as White?

This is a Grigoriev study that demonstrates that the lone king and advanced c-pawn on c2 don’t always draw. Can you do the whole concrete calculation all the way, with the variations, to the finish?

A king hunt leading to mate. After move 20.Kd4

A king hunt leading to mate. After move 30.

This is a very famous problem. It’s a forced mate.

How long would it take you to checkmate Black here?

An old favorite for beginners.

Can White stop those pawns in time?