In chess problem composition, a "cook" is any problem with an alternate solution not intended by the composer. The usual intention of mate-in-two puzzles is that they have only one valid first move. So, if you find two first moves that lead without fail to mate, then you have discovered a cook. We hope to collect some of these cooks here.
A big problem with many instructional chess books is the typographical error. To someone struggling to learn an abstract concept, a "typo" can be extremely frustrating. To my knowledge no one has collected these typo's and made corrections readily available to the public. It is my hope that visitors to this site will e-mail me with cooks and typo's which we will then arrange by author and title, to ease the pain of chess students the world over! If this list grows appreciably, this will be a place to visit before cracking open a chess book.
When submitting a cook or typo, please give author's name, book title, publisher, copyright year, page number. In the case of a typo, please also give the incorrect text (or position), and the correct text (or position). In the case of a cook, please give the author's solution, followed by your solution (with any following moves which prove that your solution works).
Pandolfini, Bruce
Pandolfini's Endgame Course (Fireside, 1988)
Click here to submit a cook or typo.
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