Here’s our last “Eight pawns across” composition, this one by W. Speckman. This one is a mate in 11—a tough one. I also found this in 100 Classics of the Chessboard by A.S.M. Dickins and H. Ebert (1983). Got first prize in Die Schwalbe theme tournament.

The “raindrop” theme is evident if you play out the solution: 1.Rb1 [If White tries to invade by a more direct route, it doesn't work in time for mate in 11. 1.Rxf5 a4 (1...Bd4 2.Rf8 c4 3.Rb8 Bc5 4.Nxb5+ Ka6 5.Bxe5 Bb6 6.Nc3 h4 7.Nxd5 Bg1 and White can't mate in less than 11 moves.) 2.Rf8 a3 3.Rb8 a2 4.Rb7+ Ka8 5.Rb8+ Ka7 6.Rb6 a1Q 7.Nxb5+ Ka8 8.Rb8#]1...a4 [1...Bd4 2.Rxb5 Bc3 3.Nc8+ Ka8 (3...Ka6 4.Rb6#) 4.Rb8#] 2.Rxb2 b4 3.Rc2 c4 4.Rd2 d4 5.Re2 e4 6.Rf2 f4 7.Rg2 g4 8.Rh2 h4 9.Rxh4 a3 10.Rh5 a2 11.Ra5#

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