The following are some of the honourable mentions and commendations that deserve to be highlighted – they are in no specific order!
The solutions to the puzzles will be provided at the end of the article – tomorrow! That will give you a chance to try solving the problems yourself. You know you can move the pieces on the diagrams.
This position has a “twin” (move the pawn from g2 to g3 and solve the h#3 again!) and overall, a beautiful theme that connects the two unique solutions together. You should ask yourself why the white pawn being on g2 or g3 can produce completely different solutions.
All four promotions occur in the solutions combined, which is a famous theme known as AUW (abbreviated for “Allumwandlung”). A criss-cross mate can be seen in both, with the queen in the diagrammed position and a bishop in the next! Overall, a beautiful position though it is a pity that the black rook on h2 is necessary to stop unintended solutions!
A rather long helpmate though it can be solved quite quickly once the idea is known. We can see that the two lone bishops cannot checkmate the black king by themselves and will thus require some external help!
Hint: the problem involves a very amusing return of the white bishop to its starting square after capturing a few pawns to ensure the black rook can safely come out, after which a classic Boden’s mate occurs. Specific attention should be paid to the first move which is a waiting (tempo) move which cannot be any other (for instance 1.d3? would interfere with Bf1 later). An interesting realization of the theme!
There is a high likelihood that the composition may be anticipated but nevertheless, since it was the author’s first attempt at composing a problem, it gets to be featured here! The composer had sent two similar versions to the problem, however I liked this one the most, due to the active sacrifice of the white knight, while the other one delivers a mate.
Another long but solvable helpmate, which shows the Epaulette mate (though not obvious at first sight). The white bishop on d8 is a clue as to how the solution proceeds!
The uniqueness of the solution is interesting, since Black first needs to capture the white bishop, before preparing the final mating position! Of course, the promotion must be a black rook since a black queen will interfere with the mate with 6.Qe2. I do wonder, however, whether a black bishop promotion could be added? Maybe improvements for the future?
Nallusamy Velmurugan:
1.b1=R b7 2.Rf1 b8=Q 3.Rf4 Qb1#
1.b1=Ne7 2.Nd2 e8=B 3.Nf3 Bg6#
Henry Tanner: 1.Ka7! Bf1 2.Kb7 Bxh3 3.Kc8 Kg2 4.h1R Bxg4 5.Rh8 Be2 6.Rd8 Ba6#
Richard S. L. Stein: 1.Ka8 Sdb2 2.axb2 Ke6 3.b1=R Kd7 4.Rb7+ Kc8 5.Ra7 Sb6#
Justus Zimm: 1.c2 c5 2.Ba5 c6 3.Bxd8 c7 4.c1=R cxd8=Q 5.Rf1 Qd2#
Hope you enjoyed reading the article and stay tuned for the next articles (about the contest) along with the prize-winners!
These are the prizes to be won in our Christmas Puzzle Contest
