Our theme for a while will be to show you what chess problems were like in the 1700s. This one is by Stamma. One common theme back then is that White would always be under some dire threat as with those doubled rooks in ...Read More

Our theme for a while will be to show you what chess problems were like in the 1700s. Far more elemental than today’s.

It’s quite a jumble of pieces by the White king, but there’s a mating attack with Black to play.

Samisch won this blindfold game from Schlosser in 1921. How would you continue the attack after move 10? The game started out with Black demonstrating a complete lack of knowledge of openings: 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 exf4?...Read More

This is as wacky a Caro-Kann defense as you will see. Here is the game from the beginning: 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Ng3 h5 6.Bg5 h4 7.Bxf6 hxg3 8.Be5 SEE DIAGRAM and now Black won. How?

Here’s a different two-mover. This style of puzzle was dubbed “aristocrats” by composer O. Dehler because there are all 16 pieces on the board—no pawns.