This is our very first cash prize problem! If you are the first correct solver of all six tasks for the given diagram, I will send you $60! If nobody gets all six right, then I will send fifty dollars to the first person to send in five correct solutions or forty bucks if the most solved are 4. If you give us permission, we will print your name, town and state to honor your success.

We also honor a lady of chess, the late Mrs. W.J. Baird who composed the problem below. She was a great composer a hundred years ago. She has six tasks for you to give the answers to, all using the same diagram:

a. White to Play and Mate in Two Moves
b. Black to Play and Mate in Two Moves
c. White to Play and Self-Mate in Two Moves
d. Black to Play and Self-Mate in Two Moves
e. White to Take Back his Last Move and Mate on the Move
f. Black to Take Back his Last Move and Mate on the Move

Good luck! The answer and winner will be put in the solution on September 25th. Some points: Black plays first in b, d and f. For the self-mates, it means White plays a move, Black plays a move, White plays a move, then Black mates White. The trick is that White forces Black to mate him.

Mail your solutions to ptamburro@aol.com by September 23rd. Decisions by the judge, your columnist, are final!

Solution: The winner, with the earliest correct solution, is David Levin of Murphy, North Carolina. Our successful solver is a chess master! We had one other correct entrant: Nathan Morris, but Dave beat him by several days. If Nathan gets in touch, we'll send him an inscribed copy of my book as a consolation prize. This is the winning note sent:

Hi Pete,
Thanks for the problem that you posted this morning. I quite enjoyed it,
especially (e). My solutions follow.

a. White to Play and Mate in Two Moves
1. Bxf2+ Rd4 2. Bxd4 mate.

b. Black to Play and Mate in Two Moves
1...Rxe4+ 2. Nxe4 Qxe4 mate.

c. White to Play and Self-Mate in Two Moves
1. Rc4+ (any)xc4 2. Ne4+ (any)xe4 mate.

d. Black to Play and Self-Mate in Two Moves
1...Bxg3+ 2. (any)f4 Re4+ 3. Nxe4 mate.

e. White to Take Back his Last Move and Mate on the Move
Take back 1. R(b4)x(bishop)e4 and play 1. Bxf2 mate.

f. Black to Take Back his Last Move and Mate on the Move
Take back 1...R(d4)-a4 and play 1...Nd3 mate.

Best,
Dave

Send questions and comments to PTamburro@aol.com.