The following article is taken from our puzzle section, which started
over a decade ago, but which was lost when we switch to a new content management
system and news database. We have decided to republish some of the articles.
For older readers the cherries we will pick out of the original section
will hopefully bring on nostalgic memories; younger readers will learn for
the first time what we have been up to over the years.
The Steinitz Gambit
Samuel Loyd, Checkmate (1st prize) 1903
Mate in three moves
Which is the absolutely worst move White can possibly
make?
The solution to this famous problem is given at the bottom of the page.
However we urge our readers to study the position for a few minutes and
decide: which move cannot possibly be the solution? Well, that is the only
move that leads to a mate in three!
Before you scroll down to check your ideas, maybe you are interested in
story of how the problem was originally composed and why it came to be know
as the "Steinitz Gambit".
Samuel
Loyd was one of the greatest problem composers who ever lived.
His famous "Steinitz Gambit" problem has an interesting background,
which is described in Alain C. White's biography of the American puzzle
genius ("Sam Loyd and his Chess Problems", Whitehead and Miller
1913):
Few events during the last ten years of Loyd’s life gave him as much
pleasure as his winning the first prize in the Novelty Tourney of the little
Canadian magazine Checkmate. It was the first problem tourney that I had
promoted, and he responded to my request for an entry with the greatest
alacrity. By return of post came the Steinitz Gambit, composed in the cars
on the way down-town to his office. I was not surprised, seeing the startling
originality of the theme, when the judge, Geo. E. Carpenter, awarded it
the prize; and Loyd was delighted about it. “I am greatly tickled
to think of it as the prizewinner! Just think of its being nearly fifty
years since I began taking prizes and am still able to keep it up. I really
think that I can compose or solve as quickly as ever, but unfortunately
I have so little time to devote to it that there is not much probability
of my adding much to my collection” (L., 11th November, 1903).
My account of the rapid composition of the Steinitz Gambit was generally
questioned in Europe. It was decided that the problem could not be an impromptu,
and that I must be very gullible to accept it as such. I mention this to
show how little Loyd’s genius was understood by those whom he used
to call the “careful critics.” The chief trait of his genius
was its spontaneity, and this resulted, as I have explained before, in frequent
inaccuracies and in occasional lack of finish. These faults we readily overlook
in view of the unfailing freshness of treatment which they produced. I had
to send the Steinitz Gambit back to Loyd twice for minor repairs, before
it was completely sound. “I thought that Black Pawn Queening,”
he wrote me, “was such a strong defence that no one in his common
sense would look for any other! (L., 15th April, 1903).
Loyd's letterhead |
The original draft
of the "Steinitz Gambit" |
His own criticism of the Steinitz Gambit was as follows The originality
of the problem is due to the White King being placed in absolute safety,
and yet coming out on a reckless career, with no immediate threat and in
the face of innumerable checks. The freedom of the Black King to move, or
to capture the Knight, constitutes a pretty feature of what may be looked
upon as a remarkably bold theme (MS.).
The motto of the problem would give the solution away immediately to any
player familiar with the Bishop’s Gambit; but problemists in general
would probably not remember that the distinctive move, constituting the
Steinitz Gambit, is 5 K-K 2! Loyd knew it only too well from experience,
as the first time he ever saw the opening played was by Delmar in the memorable
third game of their match in 1879.
Solution to the Steinitz Gambit problem
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
1.Ke2 1.Nxg3 Nxg3# 1...f1Q+ 1...f1N+ 2.Rf2+ Kxe4 3.Bd3# 1...Kxe4 2.Bd3+ Kd4 3.Rf4# 1...Kd4 2.Rf4+ e5 3.Nxg3# 2.Ke3 1–0
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Loyd,S | - | Mate in three | - | 1–0 | 1903 | | Checkmate (1pr) | |
Please, wait...
Frederic Friedel