4/9/2021 – It was an Easter puzzle. We asked you to take a try to solve this truly remarkable study by a truly remarkable composer, Mario Matouš. You were asked to win the position against a rampaging queen which wants to sacrifice itself to stalemate the black monarch. Were you able to solve it? Many readers found the problem quite difficult, and extremely clever. Today we give you the full solution, on a replay board with full engine support.
Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
Winning starts with what you know The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
Try winning the above position with the white pieces. You can enter moves, and the diagram will defend with Black. If you want to try a different defence you just go back and enter a black move yourself. The board will switch sides and the engine will continue with the white pieces.
You have solved the study if you can clearly win it against the engine. Can you capture the queen without stalemating the black king?
8.Rff18.Rfe3
a small dual.Qe59.Rf1!Qb8or9...Qe710.Ref3andQf6does not
work:11.Rxf6gxf612.Rxf6Kg7and White mates.10.Re7!transposes
to the Matous' main solution8...Qa89.Re4!
9...Qb810.Re7!Qa811.Rb7!Qe812.Rbf7+-Qxf713.gxf7Kxh714.f8Qand mate in three.1–0
You can replay the solution and switch on the engine (fan icon below the board) to analyse. The main use of engine support: you can find out why alternate moves do not work, or if Black has alternate defences for which there are different white attacks.
Here is some of the feedback posted after our Easter publication:
HolaAmigo: Got it. Nice one! Amazing the amount of defensive resources! You just have to change your frame of mind. It is great that the diagram gives the replies!
Martin Minski: How can you compose this in 1982, when there were no (good) computers? Matous is a master indeed! Thanks for the great article!
Railbird890: Solved in about an hour. One of the most difficult puzzles I have ever seen.
Poiuy Trewq: To me, this was the most frustrating chess puzzle I have ever seen. It took me six hours of thought over three days to finally put all the pieces together (so to speak) and win as White. I have never seen a problem with a "mad Queen" before, so that is probably why it took me so long – there were so many ways Black could "blow up" the position! In the end it was satisfying to solve, but at times I doubted my sanity as every "key" move I came up with had issues until at last the steps became clear.
Gonnawin: It's a wonderful study which demand a lot of finesse for keeping the mad queen under control. Have been drinking a couple of beers while solving it. Thinking about Matouš, how he enjoyed beer in the beautiful city of Prague. One of the best memorial articles ever written, its brutally honest and very interesting to read about the great composer.
Do tell us what your opinion of the study is. Did you enjoy the "mad queen" theme? Assuming many did, JoshuaVGreen gave us another example, clearly inspired by Matous:
Peter Krug & Mario Garcia, 1982
White checkmates in nine moves
Once again the diagram will defend against your efforts to mate Black in nine moves. You have to be very precise. Have fun – like we did with this position (thanks Joshua!).
Frederic FriedelEditor-in-Chief emeritus of the ChessBase News page. Studied Philosophy and Linguistics at the University of Hamburg and Oxford, graduating with a thesis on speech act theory and moral language. He started a university career but switched to science journalism, producing documentaries for German TV. In 1986 he co-founded ChessBase.
the engine can't solve this problem, please check!
Denix 4/10/2021 11:43
OMG! Thanks for the solution.
Frederic 4/10/2021 09:39
Thanks, Poiuy Trewq, I have added that to the notation in the replayer.
Michael Jones 4/9/2021 10:20
Amazing problem, but there was no way I was ever going to solve it. I guessed the solution had to involve playing Rf6 at some point to allow gxf6 lifting the stalemate. Doing so by gxf7 didn't occur to me, and even if it had I certainly wouldn't have found the sequence necessary to get there.
Poiuy Trewq 4/9/2021 09:56
Nice to see many plausible variations shown which highlight the key squares for both sides. There are other subsidiary lines that also show how Black can stop a promising line for White dead in its tracks; e.g., 1.Rc4 Qd7 2.Rd5 Qe8 3.Re4 Qa8 4.Re1 Qf8 5.Rf5 Qa8 6.Rf3 Qb8, then, instead of 7.Rff1, either 7.Ref1? or 7.Rfe3? with the apparent threat of the doubled rooks forcing the issue, only for the Black Queen to interpose herself along the file by 7 ... Qf4 or 7 ... Qe5. This problem has more layers than an onion, and is truly a gift that keeps on giving!!
JoshuaVGreen 4/9/2021 12:12
The source for the #9 is the April-June 2021 issue of "StrateGems." Duras Memorial, 1982 is the source of Mario Matouš's study, at least according to @EmilyV.
In this 60-minute course, IM Andrew Martin introduces you to a flexible and refreshingly simple opening setup - that Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura has used to rack up numerous impressive wins.
If you are looking for a practical, easy-to-learn system to sidestep the main lines and catch your opponent off guard, the Two Knights Variation is your perfect weapon against the French!
ChessBase is re-releasing this timeless classic in the modern ChessBase Media format - complete with brand-new training features. Get ready to rediscover a masterpiece of chess instruction!
How do you play the Queen's Gambit Accepted? Does White have promising variations or can Black construct a water-tight repertoire? The Powerbook provides the answers based on 300 000 games, most of them played by engines.
The Queen's Gambit Accepted Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 11827 games from Mega 2025 and the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 240 are annotated.
€9.90
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.
Pop-up for detailed settings
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.
Technically required cookies
Technically required cookies: so that you can navigate and use the basic functions and store preferences.
Analysis Cookies
To help us determine how visitors interact with our website to improve the user experience.
Marketing-Cookies
To help us offer and evaluate relevant content and interesting and appropriate advertisement.