Bo Lindgren – Swedish grandmaster of composition

By David Friedgood

One of our readers, Bengt Ulin, of Sweden, has requested a piece on his late compatriot, Bo Lindgren (26.2.1927 – 4.6.2011), a Grandmaster of Composition. I am happy to oblige, with the aid of John Rice’s articles in The Problemist of November 2011 and January 2012 and a contribution from Harold van der Heijden, the Dutch endgame study supremo.

Bo Lindgren’s father Frithiof was an accomplished problem and study composer and Bo evidently followed in his footsteps with regard to an enthusiasm for composing. However, we suspect that he tended to avoid areas in which his father excelled, such as studies, for some time. Nevertheless, Bo developed into one of the most versatile composers, winning awards in many genres.

Bo Lindgren and Norman McLeod Benidorm 1990

I have had the pleasure of meeting Bo on a few occasions, finding him a very friendly, serious character who had many interests including science, world literature and poetry. He composed around 500 problems and a few studies and published an anthology Maskrosor (Dandelions) as long ago as 1978. It is impossible to do justice to such a multi-talented composer in such a small space. My little selection emphasises his ability as an artist within as well as outside of the fashionable thematic interests of his era.

The following is a typically original puzzle from Bo. You have to work out why the continuation in one line does not work for the other.

In a serieshelpmate, Black begins and makes n moves consecutively, of which only the last may be a check; Black may not move into check either. At the end of the black sequence, White mates in one move. This problem by Bo has two solutions, each showing a sequence of eight moves by Black followed by White mating instantly. The following is one of Bo's best known problems, showing Allumwandlung ("all the promotions"), a favourite theme of his. In one solution Black promotes to bishop and rook; in the other to queen and knight. The economy is impeccable. Don't miss replaying the solutions – they will take your breath away.

Harold van der Heijden selected this item from his famous database of endgame studies. I suspect that it started life as a problem, which Bo then decided was of greater interest when presented as a study. It is a little odyssey, in which the lone rook eventually checkmates against the odds.

The following problem by Bo is for readers to solve. In a two-mover, all you have to do is to find White’s unique first (“key”) move, which forces mate on the second move, regardless of what Black may do. In this particular problem, there are a number of “tries” – attempts at a key move – which have a similar aim as the key but can all be refuted by Black. Why does the key work and the tries do not?

White to play and mate in two moves

Here's another Lindgren problem for readers to solve, this time a three-mover. Again there is a key move to be found and this time all Black’s defences should be met by mate on White’s third move, at the latest. This problem’s solution has a thematic idea in common with that of the serieshelpmate.

White to play and mate in three moves

Solutions to the problems will appear in approximately one week. Any queries or constructive comments can be addressed to the author at david.friedgood@gmail.com.