

The solving contests were staged in the lobby
of the Hyatt Hotel, venue of the World Championship

The competitions were organised by C.G.S. Narayanan,
FIDE Master for chess composition

The
Hindu wrote before the start of the World Championship:
Visitors and chess enthusiasts will be able to test their skills and
win prizes, and they don’t even need to play an entire game of chess.
In the hotel lobby, to keep audiences engaged, the organising committee
of the championship will conduct solving contests on all match days. “The
participant will not have to play an entire game with his opponent, but
he will have a composed position to analyse," said C.G.S. Narayanan,
FIDE Master for chess composition who is coordinating the event. "The
composition will try to mislead the solver with close tries. He needs
to understand the composer’s idea and not fall into his trap. What
matters is how quickly and gracefully he ends the game. Every participant
will get to solve five problems in 90 minutes. At the end of the event,
the themes of the compositions will be explained along with the solutions.
The approach to a chess composition is an art in itself, very different
from playing the game. It is about knowing the many ways in which you
can win the game, rather than just winning it once.
C.G.S. Narayanan (51), Editor of the AICF Chronicle and an international
chess problemist of repute, was awarded the title of FIDE Master for chess
composition at the 56th World Congress of Chess Composition in September
this year.

Every day we could watch scores of mainly young
chess enthusiasts solving chess problems
Narayanan kindly sent us a set of chess problems that were presented to
solvers during one of the rounds. They are given below for you to try your
luck with. Remember, you have 90 minutes to solve them all. The solutions
will be added to the bottom of this page in a few days.
Touw Hian Bwee – 2 Prize, Israel MT, 1962

Mate in two
C.J. Feather – 3rd Comm, Feenschach, 1970

Helpmate in two (three solutions)

We strolled amongst the participants and were
witness to the intensity and
enthusiasm of the solvers. Above is a young boy working on the Feather helpmate
T. & J. Warton – Source unknown

Mate in three

Beljakin/Kopnin - I Prize, Shakmaty, 1967

Mate in three

I. Kovalenko – Shakmathy vs CCCP, 1968

White to play and win

Above right is 14-year-old IM Karthikayan Murali, whom we first met two
years ago at the London Chess Classic. Karthikayan has "matured"
into a well-spoken and affable young lad who participated in the problem
solving contest every day – and more often than not won it. You can
read more about Karthikayan in this
ChessBase report.
Solutions to the above problems
1.Ra8! 1.Bh6 c1Q 1.Bg6 fxe2 1.Rd4 Bd5 1...-- 1...Rd5 2.Kd8# 2.Qb8#
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Touw Hian Bwee | - | Mate in two | - | | 1962 | | 2 Prize, Israel MT | |
Feather,C | - | Helpmate in two (3 sols.) | - | | 1970 | | 3rd Comm, Feenschach | |
Warton,T | - | Mate in three | - | | | | Source unknown | |
Beljakin/Kopnin | - | Mate in three | - | | 1967 | | I Prize, Shakmaty | |
Kovalenko,I | - | White to play and win | - | | 1968 | | Shakmathy vs CCCP | |
Please, wait...
Select the problem from the dropdown menu above the
board

This is the task sheet presented to solvers
during an different round...

... with a solver working on the first mate
in two position

Frederic Friedel