The inaugural FIDE World Solving Championships for Youth (Florianópolis, November 4) and Cadets (Montesilvano, November 21) are set to take place next month. If you are interested in participating, it is not too late to register, and if you just want to understand some of the rules and regulations as to how chess solving tournaments occur, check this out here.

To prepare participants, FIDE and the World Federation for Chess Composition (WFCC) conducted a series of free online solving lessons, organized by me (Anirudh Daga), in cooperation with WFCC president Marjan Kovačević. It was aimed to prepare young participants for solving in Brazil and Italy. The online sessions were open for everybody around the world.

These webinars were aimed at equipping young players with the skills needed to excel in the upcoming World Cadet and Youth Chess Solving Championships. Whether preparing for competitions or simply refining problem-solving abilities, the sessions provided essential insights for enthusiasts at all levels! If you are interested in solving more such problems, I would also recommend you to look at The Hopper Magazine (Singapore's first chess composition magazine!) with a wide variety of genres - issue 7 was just released with more mind-boggling problems for you to try out! 

Today we take a look back at part one of our exciting five-part webinar series – which was attended by over 400 participants from 50+ countries! We explored key strategies and techniques to tackle various chess problems and delved into the essentials of chess problem-solving, offering students valuable strategies and techniques to tackle a range of challenges. Starting with general principles and approaches, the sessions progressed to more specific topics like two-movers (mate in two) which is the subject of today's article! The main aim was to guide participants on how to efficiently find precise checkmating combinations and learn to manoeuvre pieces, so your goal is met.

Solving pesky two-movers can seem easy, but they usually have a devious plan underneath. Try your hand at solving them. The diagrams will defend with the black pieces, and you will only be able to mate in two if you find the right solution. The solutions will be posted next week along with the next problems! 

Problem 1

Problem 2

Problem 3

Problem 4

Problem 5

Problem 6

So how did you find these problems – easy or tough, or somewhere in the middle? Either way, next week we will show you the solutions both animated as well as in video, so be sure to check them out. Afterwards, we will share the problems of the next session – three movers, a tougher more challenging version of these “simple” mates in two!