CHESS Magazine puzzles (solutions)

The puzzles below have been taken from Chess Magazine January/2021, with kind permission of the editor. The problems were selected and annotated by Graham Phythian, who is a 
member, librarian and publicity officer of the Chorlton Chess Club, Manchester. Graham has been compiling the club Christmas Quiz for the last 20 years.

CHESS Magazine was established in 1935 by B.H. Wood who ran it for over fifty years. It is published each month by the London Chess Centre and is edited by IM Richard Palliser and Matt Read. The Executive Editor is Malcolm Pein, who organises the London Chess Classic.

CHESS is mailed to subscribers in over 50 countries. You can subscribe from Europe and Asia at a specially discounted rate for first timers here, or from North America here.

The fully annotated solutions to the puzzles were published in the February 2021 issue and will be added to the replayer at the bottom of this page, in the coming week.

a) White played 15.Nd6, to which Black, wary of the worrying check on h7, replied 15...Nf8. What happened next? And b) Was there a better defence for Black?

Famously, cinema-goers were treated to this position, three years after it was played. An amorous Muscovite was indirectly involved.

White is a pawn down, with a clearly inferior pawn structure to boot, so he wasn’t too surprised when he went on to lose. But what possibilities did he miss?

White has a nifty finesse which avoids the drawing traps and mates in eight.

A Short Story. Louise was playing a game of chess with Uncle Henry, and as usual was winning easily. She was just about to deliver mate with the rook, when Uncle Henry interrupted: "Hey, let's make it more interesting. Let me stipulate the conditions of your checkmate!"

"What do you mean?" asked Louise.

"What if I specify which piece you deliver mate with?" said Uncle Henry, furtively eyeing the knight trapped in the corner. "You mate me with the knight in ten moves," replied the wily old woodpusher. "And you can't take any of my pawns, or allow them to move."

Louise looked at the position for a minute or two, then replied: "OK, you're on." How did she manage it?

Here are the annotated solutions on our replay board. You can start an engine (fan icon) to analyse alternate lines – and perhaps find out why certain moves do not work.