CHESS TO ENJOY

2011/07/23

SUICIDE MISSION

The debate about the game of chess being an art, a science or just another board game still rages on, but one thing that cannot be denied is that chess is aesthetically pleasing. If you have doubts, then just look at the following little problem.

A warning then, before you look at the following position. THIS IS NOT A NORMAL CHESS PROBLEM , hence the title ‘suicide mission’.

OK. Now have a look at the weird position below. These kind of problems are generally called 'Self mates' in chess terminology. (This selfmate was composed by E. Hasselkus in 1948)

WHITE TO PLAY & FORCE BLACK TO MATE WHITE IN 07 MOVES

What is this? You might wonder....

2011/07/22

HORSES FOR COURSES

on 6:17 PM 0 Comment

In THE DANCING KNIGHT’S ‘WALK IN THE PARK’, we saw the amount of mayhem a knight can cause. To explore the beauty of knight maneuvers further, let’s have a look at this fantastic example from the book Practical chess Endings by Irving Chernev. (Created by A.S.Gurevich in 1927)

WHITE TO PLAY & WIN

At first it appears that white can’t prevent the black g pawn from queening. But there is a way…

2011/07/19

THE DANCING KNIGHT’S ‘WALK IN THE PARK’

on 11:47 PM 0 Comment

The Knight, being the only piece with “hopping privileges”, is an integral part of the game of chess. Many a chess masterpiece would not have been possible if not for this special ability of the knight.

Somewhere during our chess careers we all have experienced that nasty jolt of pain inflicted by an overlooked knight maneuver which is usually followed by a deadly fork. Nothing is more annoying than having to let your more powerful pieces dance to the tune of an enemy knight. This problem composed by Christoph Fieberg in 2006 elevates our theme further.

WHITE TO PLAY & WIN

The position looks a bit of a mess & it is indeed bit of a chaotic muddle. But bear with me because what follows is worth the effort.