Werner Keym: Problem Chess Art

by Frederic Friedel
7/9/2025 – "Chess problems demand from the composer the same virtues that characterize all worthwhile art: originality, invention, conciseness, harmony, complexity and splendid insincerity," wrote Vladimir Nabokov. Problem expert Werner Keym illustrates this in a new book which he makes available, as an eBook, to everyone, free of charge. Here are some excerpts to give you a taste.
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Werner Keym loves classical three-movers, moremovers and studies, especially with asymmetry, castling, pawn promotion. Another focus is off-beat problems: en-passant capture, rotation, adding pieces, retro puzzles, text problems, proof games, special stipulations, jokes, etc. "Such curiosities are entertaining, exciting, funny – and often even computer-defying," he says. His preferences are reflected in the 250 examples in his book Problem Chess Art, which is meant to entertain, rather than teach. 

Here are some examples of the problems you will find in his book.

From Problem Chess Art

In 1845, the first Indian problem was published, named after its author Henry A. Loveday, a correspondent from Delhi in India. ‘This problem... made history in the world of the chess problem by introducing a strategic idea, battery formation with the avoidance of stalemate after a piece has moved across a critical square, over which the bishop passes to allow the rook to form a battery, so that the black king is not in stalemate’ (Dickins/Ebert).

Loveday’s first realization was a four-mover with 13 pieces and 9 key moves. No. 20 in Problem Chess Art shows the Indian idea in a perfect form.

In a Roman a black piece having an effective defence against a threat is decoyed to a square from which it can still defend against that threat, but its new defence carries a harmful weakness. In No. 21 we see a perfect double Roman.

You can enter moves on the diagrams above and try to find the mates in three. The diagram will defend for Black. Click on the Notation button below the board to see your progress.

Problems for your enjoyment

Here are some problems selected by the author for you to solve. They are his favourites. Once again the diagrams will defend and try to stop the mate in the specified number of moves.

The solutions to all the above problems will be posted in a few days

From Mating with a queen; a rook; two bishops; a knight and a bishop; to the basics of pawn endgames – here you will gain the necessary know-how to turn your endgame advantages into victories!

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Lots of fun for Black! >>
Editor-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.
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Zvi Mendlowitz Zvi Mendlowitz 7/10/2025 10:09
Another book by Keym is available for free from Die Schwalbe:
https://www.dieschwalbe.de/download/buecher/keym_OotB.pdf
adbennet adbennet 7/10/2025 01:03
@Sagar_nonstop "Would love to hear if others use tools like this when studying problem chess!"

The "like this" part is hard to answer, since I get 404. But almost any GUI will accept a paste and analyze a position or game with Stockfish, without the need for a browser or network connection. And specifically for problems there are much better engines than Stockfish.
adbennet adbennet 7/10/2025 12:58
Awesome. Could Mr. Keym consider a colophon? It looks like the academic papers produced with [ntg]roff. Just curious.

"After the game the king and the pawn go into the same box."

Counterpoint: During the game the pawn is frequently sacrificed for the benefit of the king, but not the other way around.
WillScarlett WillScarlett 7/9/2025 02:46
Thank you very much, Herr Werner Keym for the marvelous gift !
Sagar_nonstop Sagar_nonstop 7/9/2025 02:30
<p>This was a fascinating read! The creative depth in problem chess is so underappreciated—it’s like poetry in 64 squares.</p>

<p>For anyone interested in exploring or analyzing these compositions interactively, I’ve built a free tool that lets you input FEN/PGN and view evaluation graphs with Stockfish insights. It’s been super helpful for diving into both serious games and artistic problems:
<a href="https://chessnonstop.com/analyzer">https://chessnonstop.com/analyzer</a></p>

<p>Would love to hear if others use tools like this when studying problem chess!</p>
Sagar_nonstop Sagar_nonstop 7/9/2025 02:27
This was a fascinating read! The creative depth in problem chess is so underappreciated—it’s like poetry in 64 squares.

For anyone interested in exploring or analyzing these compositions interactively, I’ve built a free tool that lets you input FEN/PGN and view evaluation graphs with Stockfish insights. It’s been super helpful for diving into both serious games and artistic problems: https://chessnonstop.com/analyzer

Would love to hear if others use tools like this when studying problem chess!
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