Chess puzzle
Puzzle no. 634
White to play and mate in five moves. Composed by Kohtz & Kockelkorn, 1875. Be careful — four moves isn’t…
Four puzzles in one
Four puzzles in one, composed by Werner Speckmann, 1963. In each case, White to play and mate in two. (a)…
Puzzle no. 633
White to play. A position taken from Chess Improvement (perhaps from Luchowski–Gridnew, Moscow 1992.) Black’s menacing pieces make the situation…
Puzzle no. 632
White to play and win. E. Pogosjants, Shakhmaty v SSSR 1976. Promoting the a-pawn allows Black a perpetual check. Which…
Puzzle no. 631
White to play and mate in two moves. Composed by Sam Loyd, 1857. Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by…
Puzzle No. 630
White to play. Mista–Kloza, Poland 1955 (supposedly). Which move does White play to force a quick checkmate? Answers should be…
Puzzle no. 629
White to play and mate in 3. A puzzle featured in The Queen’s Gambit, apparently composed by W. Atkinson in…
Puzzle no. 628
White to play. Wade–Korchnoi, Buenos Aires, 1960. Bob Wade’s next move prepared a surprising and decisive breakthrough. What did he…
Puzzle No. 627
Black to play. Sjugirov–Paravyan, Russian Higher League, October 2020. A piece for a pawn down, Black’s follow up was subtle…
Puzzle no. 626
Rapport–Sprenger, Bundesliga, September 2020. The game continued 1 Bxc4 Rxc4 2 Bxe5+ f6 3 Bf4 Rxe4+ 4 Kf3 and was…
Puzzle no. 625
Black to play. Khodashneli — Willow, European Online Youth Championship U18, September 2020. White has just advanced 40 g3-g4, and…
Puzzle no. 624
White to play. A variation from L’Ami–Caruana, Bundesliga 2020. Caruana avoided this position, where White can force a quick mate.…
Puzzle no. 623
White to play. Areshchenko–Koch, Bundesliga 2020. White has won rook for bishop, but the queen is offside and his Rf2…
Puzzle no. 622
Black to play. Jones–McShane, London Chess Classic 2019. Last year I played two games of no-castling chess with Gawain Jones,…
Puzzle no. 621
Black to play. Rios–Adams, Online Olympiad, August 2020. The White king is running short of squares. Which move did Adams…
Puzzle no. 620
White to play. Zaibi–Napoleao, Online Olympiad, August 2020. White has just sacrificed the rook on a1. He concluded the attack…
Puzzle No. 619
Nakamura–Carlsen, August 2020. Carlsen has just advanced 40…g6-g5+, laying a nasty trap. Only one move gives White a fighting chance…
Puzzle no. 618
Black to play. McShane–Anand, World Rapid Championship 2017. While executing my last move, 51 Qf4-f3, attacking the h5-pawn, I got…
Puzzle No. 617
Black to play. Efimov–Bronstein, Kiev 1941. Normally White seeks glory in the King’s Gambit, but here Bronstein scored a lightning…
Puzzle No. 616
Black to play. Studer–Naiditsch, Biel, July 2020. White intends to meet 1…Bxb5 with 2 Bxe7 Qxe7 3 Qxb5, with an…
Puzzle no. 615
White to play. Stockfish–Leela Chess Zero, TCEC 18, Game 92, July 2020. It looks hard to make progress, despite the…
Puzzle no. 614
White to play. Stefano Tatai–Spyridon Skembris, Budva Zonal 1981. Morricone’s teacher found a delightful conclusion to this attack. What was…
Puzzle no. 613
White to play and mate in three moves. A problem composed by grandmaster Jonathan Levitt (British Chess Magazine, 1995). One…
Puzzle no. 612
White to play. Giri–Nepomniachtchi, Chessable Masters 2020. Giri has sacrificed a knight to lure the black king forward. Which move…
Puzzle no. 611
White to play. From the ridiculous to the sublime. According to the ‘Chess Notes’ website, a game won by Edward…
