ArcaMax

I don’t normally do more than composed mate in two problems, but you can do this mate in three, based on two key items: the black king is stalemated and there is a reason for the two black pawns being on the board.

This is another position from Abrahams’ book. A fine example of how to transition to a winning endgame.

Last time out we had a game by Lommer. He turned that game into a composition. That should help you solve this problem.

Lommer won this game in 1967 under the threat of mate in one by White.

Here’s another missed opportunity from Moscow, 1935. Miss Menchik overlooked a winning move against GM Gideon Stahlberg.

As a chess teacher, I consider teaching my students to recognize certain common patterns so they can win games without expending too much clock time trying to figure things out. Even the greats need to recognize these patterns. Sometimes they forget! Take this case: Fairhurst-Reshevsky, Hastings, 1937-38. Reshevsky as Black missed the pattern—...

A signal lesson in why you should get your pieces out quickly. From Eversky-Leichuk, 1950.

This was from the game Oliff-Keogh in the Irish Championship in 1964. Black played 1…Qg3+ and after 2.Kh1, took the perpetual. Was that all he had?

A different opening for this famous trap. Usually it’s in the e-pawn openings.

This mate in two is very unique in chess history because it was a painting by Trevor Tennant that was shown at the Royal Academy in England in 1927! (BCM, 1961)

I have a personal fondness for miniatures, and this one by N.G.G. van Dijk is remarkably economical. A mate in two!

One of the great endgame finishes of all time! Shirov as Black is facing a bishops of opposite color endgame where White (Topalov) has excellent chances to draw. However, Shirov comes up with a way to not worry about the opposite colored bishops!

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?