9/10/2017 – Dresden has become a hotbed of chess activity. This year the East German city hosted the World Chess Solving Championship, which has grown from 18 participants in its inaugural event 40 years ago to 89 solvers in this year. John Nunn, who has been an avid and successful competitor in the past, took a number of medals in Dresden, and sent us an interesting report, with selected problems for you to solve. | Photos: Franziska Iseli

9/4/2017 – It is an old puzzle, proposed in 1848: place eight queens on a chessboard so that none are attacking another one. The solution was published two years later, but the problem of n queens on an n x n chessboard (e.g. 100 queens on a 100 x 100 board) ramains illusive. Modern computers would take thousands of years to solve the puzzle for large numbers. If you can write a program that is much faster you can win a cool million dollars. Go for it!

7/12/2017 – "Do you find yourself spending too much time on social media?" asks the columnist in the July issue of CHESS Magazine. "Me too." John describes how he keeps compulsively checking his Facebook and Twitter accounts. It uses up a lot of time, but there are plus points: you find a lot of chess puzzles, many of them quite irresistible. He shows us two examples which you can try to solve on our interactive javascript chess board. Have fun.

5/11/2017 – When the 12-year-old Nihal Sarin visited ChessBase in Hamburg in April it was not just his incredible chess skills and understanding that impressed us all. The lad is blessed with a fair deal of humour, and sprouts entertaining chess puzzles at every turn. Like the series of problems that took advantage of an imprecise definition of the castling rules. Or one, which we passed on to our readers: "A game ends on move four with a b-pawn giving mate." We got a lot of feedback, and the winner has been drawn: the prize, a Fritz 15 program signed by three World Champions, goes to...

5/6/2017 – We have published a number of problems in the past months, initially without the solutions. After some days or weeks we added the solutions on the original page, but of course many readers might have missed this. And some may have missed the problems themselves. So today we bring you a special report with the problems of Pal Benko and Miguel Illescas, with their solutions. The prize winner of the Nihal Sarin puzzle will follow shortly.

4/7/2017 – He has written extensively about Chesthetica, an automatic and computationally creative composer of chess problems, in the past, and now would like to update interested readers and artificial intelligence (AI) researchers about a new feature he has implemented into the program. Dr Azlan Iqbal, who has a Ph.D. in artificial intelligence, thinks that his program could abide by all the requirements of a good, traditional chess problem, given a year’s additional work customizing the code.

4/1/2017 – Eighty-eight – that is what the first two problems in the April 1st collection symbolize. That is the age of the composer, the indefatigable Pal Benko, who sent us five very unusual positions for this auspicious day. Do not expect to fire up the positions on your computer and press Ctrl-Alt-Del for engine assistance. Today you will have to think – you know, mobilize all that grey matter. And a fair bit of humour. We wish you fun and unusual enjoyment.

3/16/2017 – That, in fact, is what the newly founded Penrose Institute is suggesting. The founder, famous mathematician Sir Roger Penrose, has composed a problem devised "to defeat an artificially intelligent (AI) computer but be solvable for humans". The latter are asked to submit their solutions and share their reasoning. But the position itself and the logic behind the experiment is not compelling. Still, you may enjoy checking it with your chess engine.

2/14/2017 – Since the days of Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century Valentine's Day, February 14, has been associated with romantic love, with the presentation of flowers, confectionery and (often anonymous) greeting cards called "valentines". Our indefatigable friend, problem composer Pal Benko, sent us something different: twin problems in valentine shapes. Take a look, but be warned: they are trickier than you would expect – and definitely more romantic.

12/25/2016 – Another year passes, and we end it with our traditional Christmas puzzles – this year for the seventeenth time. Over the holidays we try to give you something unusual: puzzles that cannot be easily solved with a computer, tasks which require you to think all by yourself. And once again, as happened frequently in the past, we received three wonderfully entertaining problems from the great composer Pal Benko, who wished us and our readers a Happy Christmas.

11/14/2016 – The first edition of John Nunn’s book Solving in Style was published in 1985 by George Allen & Unwin and became an instant hit amongst those interested in chess problems. Although there is an extensive literature on chess composition, there was almost nothing to help ordinary players master the art of solving problems and studies. John’s book filled the gap by offering a player-friendly guide to the fascinating world of chess problems.

11/6/2016 – "I would like to pose you with a rook endgame, which was one of the best calculations I have done in my chess career till date," writes Avathanshu Bhat. He was faced with a rook and three pawns vs rook and three pawns ending and had to calculate quite deeply to win it. You are asked to do the same on our interactive PGN player. After you have excercised your chess skills you can listen to the video analysis of the player himself.

9/9/2016 – During the first week of August the city of Belgrade hosted the 40th World Chess Solving Championship. Brian Stephenson, a member of the British Chess Problem Society, ran the Championship and chose the problems for the participants to solve. In the September issue of CHESS Magazine he presented two of the studies, and the solution to one from the May issue. Our readers are challenged to solve them, especially one that has a prize attached to it.

8/27/2016 – During the first week of August the city of Belgrade, famous for many notable chess events in the past, hosted the 40th World Chess Solving Championship. The event was covered vigorously in the national media, and it was won by the Polish participants. John Nunn, who won the Seniors section, sent us a report with some very nice problems for our readers to solve. Today he presents the solutions, annotated in his wonderfully lucid style.

8/17/2016 – Belgrade is a city that has hosted many famous chess events. During the first week of August the 40th World Chess Solving Championship took place there, and the event was covered vigorously in the national media. The main events were dominated by Polish participants, and Casper Piorun became the 2016 World Solving Champion. John Nunn, who won the Seniors section, sent us a report and some very nice problems for you to solve.

6/29/2016 – Regular players are often suspicious about chess studies and problems. The positions are considered artificial, the solutions extravagant and of little use to practical play. But that is not always the case. We showed you a prize-winning study that requires strategic ideas and manoeuvres that are genuinely useful in over-the-board play, and asked you to solve it. Now we provide the solution with didactic explanations.

6/16/2016 – Earlier this week we brought you part one of Pal Benko's critique of machine composed chess problems. In part two this world famous problem composer shows us further examples and how they can be improved. He also gives us an example of composing together with a computer, "the first time in my life I did not create a chess problem fully in my own mind," and tells us why he has decided to drop out of problem competitions.

6/14/2016 – Some time ago Dr Azlan Iqbal presented a program, Chesthetica, that was composing chess problems. We published ten examples of three-movers by the machine. Now a leading expert in the subject, Pal Benko, who is one of the finest problem composers in the world, tells us what he thinks about the quality of the computer compositions – and also what are the criteria that make a chess problem valuable.

5/22/2016 – Last Monday we explained the endgame bishop and edge pawn vs a lone king, and how volatile it becomes when the bishop does not control the promotion square of its pawn. Today we will tell you how some famous people fared with the study we gave you to solve. We also explain didactically how to solve such endings and give you two more studies to hone your skills in a vital area of chess.

5/16/2016 – As you most certainly know, a bishop and a pawn will generally win against a lone king. However there is one important exception: when the pawn is on the edge of the board and the bishop does not control the promotion square. This has been known for over 500 years, but humans and especially early computers are wont to stumble in the execution. Stories, instructions and a puzzle to solve.

4/30/2016 – Over Christmas we had an interesting problem: say you have found some moves somewhere, in coordinate notation without piece names – is it possible to reconstruct the original supposedly meaningful position to which they apply? Later the author, who has a Ph.D. in artificial intelligence, presented a second puzzle, and the winner gets a valuable prize.

2/24/2016 – Over Christmas we showed you an interesting problem: say you have found some moves somewhere, in coordinate notation without piece names – is it possible to reconstruct the original supposedly meaningful position to which they apply? The author, who has a Ph.D. in artificial intelligence, tried to do it, but with modest success. A reader presented a more plausible solution and won a valuable prize

2/5/2016 – Averbakh called them "threats of the 1st degree" – moves which directly and bluntly threaten to bring about a concrete mate or the win of material. 2nd degree threats are moves which are intended to enable threats of the 1st degree. And so it continues, recursively. In his wonderfully entertaining book Joys of Chess Prof. Christian Hesse goes all the way to threats of the 5th degree.

2/2/2016 – For his 100th jubilee there was a Keres Memorial tournament in Talinn, Estonia. Paul Keres, the strongest player who never made it to World Champion, is still a legend for his adventurous play and astounding combinational skill. But he was also a remarkable composer who started with a clever two-mover at the age of thirteen. Prof. Nagesh Havanur presents a collection of Keres problems and studies for you to solve.