[Event "The Problemist"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2011.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Timman, J."]
[Black "White to play and win"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "6b1/6kp/3R2P1/8/p2K3P/p7/P7/8 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2011.??.??"]

{White to play and win. Sometimes the main difficulty in solving a study isn't
finding White's moves, it's finding Black's defence. For a long time I
couldn't understand why 1 h5 didn't win comfortably, until I found Black's
first move.}  *

[Event "1st Pr Sydney Morning Herald"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1905.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Mackenzie, A."]
[Black "Mate in 2"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3nbb2/Q1pr1pp1/B7/p1PP3p/K1Nk3r/1RN1RPP1/8/B7 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "1905.??.??"]

{White to play and mate in 2. Sometimes an experienced solver can spot enough
clues in the diagram to find the solution very quickly. This one only took me
two minutes to solve, which was just as well as I needed the time to solve
another problem in the same round which I found quite tough.}  *

[Event "1st Pr Cesky spolek sachovni v Praze"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1891.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Hlineny, J."]
[Black "Mate in 3"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3N2Q1/3pN2p/7p/2p1k1p1/R5p1/6P1/P4K2/8 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "1891.??.??"]

{White to play and mate in 3. Once again, clues in the diagram can greatly
shorten the solving process. The outlying pawn on a2 provides a strong clue
that the black king will move within range of the pawn during the solution.}  *

[Event "Original for WCSC"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Sobrecases, G."]
[Black "White to play and win"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "6K1/4p2B/P1P5/7k/2n5/r5B1/4r3/1R6 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]

{White to play and win. Curiously enough, some engines have a bit of trouble
with this position, going to considerable depth without giving a clear win.
Komodo, however, finds the key idea relatively quickly. It's not so easy for
humans to solve either, although most of the top solvers managed it. At any
rate, White cannot afford to let his g3-bishop fall with check.}  *

[Event "Original for WCSC"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Jones, C."]
[Black "Helpmate in 3"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/4b3/ppqk4/1bn1r3/1r2Pp2/1pPP2n1/3R2K1 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]

{Helpmate in 3. This helpmate might prove more of a challenge, since it
defeated some expert solvers. As always with helpmates, spotting the mating
position is the key to success. Unfortunately, that's none too easy here,
since the congested mass of black pieces can take away squares from the black
king, so there are several potential mating squares. However, the black pieces
have been cunningly placed to prevent almost all these possibilities working.} 
*

[Event "Part b"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Jones, C."]
[Black "Helpmate in 3"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/2q1b3/pp1k4/1bn1r3/1r2Pp2/1pPP2n1/3R2K1 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]

{Helpmate in 3. This helpmate might prove more of a challenge, since it
defeated some expert solvers. As always with helpmates, spotting the mating
position is the key to success. Unfortunately, that's none too easy here,
since the congested mass of black pieces can take away squares from the black
king, so there are several potential mating squares. However, the black pieces
have been cunningly placed to prevent almost all these possibilities working.} 
*

[Event "1st Pr, VS SSSR 70"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1988.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Vladimirov, J."]
[Black "Mate in 4"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "K4N1k/3p1p1B/2pB1P2/8/1pp5/4pp2/b4n1R/4b3 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "1988.??.??"]

{White to play and mate in 4. A mate in four moves sounds like a real
challenge, but longer problems are often easier to solve than mates in three.
One method is to try and mate in three, discover why it doesn't work, and then
see how to induce Black to weaken his position in such a way as to invalidate
his defence. That technique works quite well in this position. Although the
black king is stuck in the corner and pretty much surrounded by white pieces,
it's not at all simple to mate. So what potential mating ideas are there?}  *

[Event "Suomen Shakki"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1996.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Kopaev, V."]
[Black "Selfmate in 2"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/6P1/B3q3/5P1p/2R1p3/3R3Q/3pkPpP/3rn1Kb w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "1996.??.??"]

{White to play and selfmate in 2. The only way to give selfmate is to force
the knight to move, and in order to achieve this White needs to check either
along the h5-e2 diagonal, forcing ... Nf3#, or along the a6-e2 diagonal,
forcing ...Nd3#.}  *

