Winning starts with what you know
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Our 2013 Christmas puzzles were supplied by multiple world champion solver John Nunn. They contained the a varied collection ranging from a mate in three to a seriesselfmate in nine. Apart from one tricky puzzle, the selection, with one exception, was fairly easy. You can review the problems by clicking on the above link or any of the images below, which will take you to specific problems.
 January 1 |
To the above chess puzzles we add three general brain teasers:
Brain puzzle 1: Jack loves Mary; Mary loves Peter. Jack is married, Peter is single. In this group does a married person love an unmarried person? – This puzzle was given to us by Nick Carlin during a visit in 2012 to Bletchley Park. Nick is a computer chess expert and was involved in the Rybka program.
Malcolm Pein, daughter Tami and Nick Carlin in front of the main Bletchly Park building
Brain puzzle 2: It's the nineteenth century. A man owns a grandfather clock, which he meticulously winds up each day. One day he forgets, and the next morning the clock has stopped. He knows that in a not too distant village there is a church clock that has the accurate time. How does he reset his clock with the correct time? No, he cannot see or hear the village clock from his house, and neither does he have a pocket watch to consult. – This puzzle was given to us by John Nunn on a walk around a beautiful lake near his house. John believes in exercising the brain together with the rest of your body.
Brain puzzle 3: Why must you be extremely suspicious if someone is using a deck of playing cards with backs that look like this:
We asked you not to send in solutions to the Christmas puzzles until January 1st. Now you can do so. Use the feedback form at the bottom of the page and paste your text into the message box. Please do not forget to give your full (real) name, the town you live in and your email address – that is if you want to participate in our Christmas Puzzle Prize Contest. This requires that you have solved at least three of the chess puzzles and one of the above brain teasers correctly.
Two winners will be chosen at random from all eligible submissions – we like to reward participation, not getting everything meticulously right. A third prize winner will be selected on the basis of the nicest message (in our opinion) that we receive. Closing date for all entries is January 15, 2014. Note that the arrival date will not influence the selection.
And the prizes? They will consist of the most recent ChessBase software, with autographs of top players – at least one a World Champion or ex. And one of the prizes will have a personal dedication and the signatures of all the participants of the 2014 Zurich Chess Challenge – if nothing comes in the way of us getting them. Definitely worth a shot at winning, don't you think?
Frederic Friedel
