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A Foreword to Chess Problems ! |
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The composition of chess problems, the ‘Problem Chess’ is an interesting art form which demands an ingenious and foolproof thought. Depending on the number of moves required to solve the problem, they are classified as twomovers, threemovers etc. For instance, if White plays first, after having made the one and only correct key move White is able to mate Black on his second move (in the case of a twomover) or third move (in the case of a threemover) and so on, whatever defense moves Black makes. Mating is not the only aim of chess problems, some problems will have drawing the game as their aim and sometimes there are restrictions like 'mating must be with a pawn'. In order to find the right key move, one has to try some trial moves; tries are an important element of solving problems since they help to disguise the true solution. Once the key move is made, all the Black defenses and the appropriate White mates are called variations, which is the solution to the problem. It has to be remembered while solving the problems that Black doesn’t play according to White’s convenience. If, by an oversight of the composer, more than one first move (the key move) solves the problem, it is called a cook and is spoiled. The key moves are of two types; threatening mate or zugzwang type also called threatening move and waiting move respectively. Zugzwang means putting the opponent in such a position that whatever move the opponent makes will prove self destructive. A genuine chess problem obeys following rules (the rules are stated assuming the typical 'White to play and mate in --- moves' kind of problems). The problems must obey explicitly the rules of chess, i.e., the compositions must be legal. The problem could be reached by an imaginary play from the initial game array. But in the field of "Fancy Problem Chess', this rule is waived. The key should be a simple one without captures or checks because they are the natural continuation to the solver. Another less aggressive and non-desirable key move is the pawn promotion. The problem chess demands a subtle key move. In this sense, a waiting move is more superior to a threatening move. The problems with the possibilities of captures, checks and promotions in the first move which is not an actual key move are prized because this detours the solver. The key should not block Black king's flight squares though this is not very serious. By contrast, the problems with key moves which provide extra flight squares for and unpinning the Black king are praised because the solver usually doesn't think in the direction of giving freedom to the Black King. White king should not face a check from Black, unless White is able to counter the check and mate Black. The problems with key moves which leave the White king vulnerable by checking moves from Black are appreciated again because the solver doesn't easily think in the direction of jeopardizing his king. Problems are considered very successful if Black has as many moves as possible to defend and each Black move resulting in a single mate by different White moves. Black must make specific defenses rather than aimless moves. Some composers may show more than one mating White moves to reveal a mathematical pattern. A retreating key move is very prized as the solver doesn't like to move his piece away from the Black King. Even more prized is the key move involving a White piece sacrifice. Problems are very artistic if they have themes, for instance, mate by castling, mate by en-passant capture, mate by promotion etc. Compositions should follow the economy of the pieces. Unwanted pieces are to be removed from the compositions to avoid over crowding. Each and every piece in the problem must have a role to play like restraining the Black king to fewer squares, proper placement to avoid unnecessary checks to White king etc. In most of the problems, the White king has no function on the board, he is present only because he must be there by convention. But some problems do make use of the White king like giving guard to a mating piece etc. The problems which involve White king's move as the key move are first-class. In this discussion of the economy of pieces, it is worth mentioning a particular class of chess problems called 'Merediths' named after an American composer William Meredith. A Meredith has not less eight and not more than twelve pieces in it. Above rules can be waived if the problem has a good theme, a spectacular game finish etc. Successful problems whose compositions resemble letters of an alphabet or some well known shapes like cross, heart shape, Nazi's swastika etc are very rare and put enormous constraints on the composer because the pieces have to be on predefined squares. A waiver of some of the above rules in these cases is understandable. One last word! If information is available, it is a good idea to give proper credit to the composer while illustrating any chess problem by quoting his/her name, year of composition and the magazine the problem originally appeared. On this page, there are only spectacular chess problems and if you missed the background image of this page, look closely. It is a 'Recurring Knight's Tour' by the eighteenth century mathematician Leonhard Euler (1707–1783) presented to the Academy of Sciences at Berlin in 1759. The knight moves to all the sixty four squares visiting each square only once and gets back to its starting square on the sixty fourth move. The knight can start its tour from any square!! |
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