Chess puzzle

No. 634

19 December 2020 9:00 am

White to play and mate in five moves. Composed by Kohtz & Kockelkorn, 1875. Be careful — four moves isn’t…

Four puzzles in one

12 December 2020 9:00 am

Four puzzles in one, composed by Werner Speckmann, 1963. In each case, White to play and mate in two. (a)…

No. 633

5 December 2020 9:00 am

White to play. A position taken from Chess Improvement (perhaps from Luchowski–Gridnew, Moscow 1992.) Black’s menacing pieces make the situation…

No. 632

28 November 2020 9:00 am

White to play and win. E. Pogosjants, Shakhmaty v SSSR 1976. Promoting the a-pawn allows Black a perpetual check. Which…

No. 631

21 November 2020 9:00 am

White to play and mate in two moves. Composed by Sam Loyd, 1857. Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by…

No. 630

14 November 2020 9:00 am

White to play. Mista–Kloza, Poland 1955 (supposedly). Which move does White play to force a quick checkmate? Answers should be…

No. 629

7 November 2020 9:00 am

White to play and mate in 3. A puzzle featured in The Queen’s Gambit, apparently composed by W. Atkinson in…

No. 628

31 October 2020 9:00 am

White to play. Wade–Korchnoi, Buenos Aires, 1960. Bob Wade’s next move prepared a surprising and decisive breakthrough. What did he…

No. 627

24 October 2020 9:00 am

Black to play. Sjugirov–Paravyan, Russian Higher League, October 2020. A piece for a pawn down, Black’s follow up was subtle…

No. 626

17 October 2020 9:00 am

Rapport–Sprenger, Bundesliga, September 2020. The game continued 1 Bxc4 Rxc4 2 Bxe5+ f6 3 Bf4 Rxe4+ 4 Kf3 and was…

No. 625

10 October 2020 9:00 am

Black to play. Khodashneli — Willow, European Online Youth Championship U18, September 2020. White has just advanced 40 g3-g4, and…

No. 624

3 October 2020 9:00 am

White to play. A variation from L’Ami–Caruana, Bundesliga 2020. Caruana avoided this position, where White can force a quick mate.…

No. 623

26 September 2020 9:00 am

White to play. Areshchenko–Koch, Bundesliga 2020. White has won rook for bishop, but the queen is offside and his Rf2…

No. 622

19 September 2020 9:00 am

Black to play. Jones–McShane, London Chess Classic 2019. Last year I played two games of no-castling chess with Gawain Jones,…

No. 621

12 September 2020 9:00 am

Black to play. Rios–Adams, Online Olympiad, August 2020. The White king is running short of squares. Which move did Adams…

No. 620

5 September 2020 9:00 am

White to play. Zaibi–Napoleao, Online Olympiad, August 2020. White has just sacrificed the rook on a1. He concluded the attack…

No. 619

29 August 2020 9:00 am

Nakamura–Carlsen, August 2020. Carlsen has just advanced 40…g6-g5+, laying a nasty trap. Only one move gives White a fighting chance…

No. 618

22 August 2020 9:00 am

Black to play. McShane–Anand, World Rapid Championship 2017. While executing my last move, 51 Qf4-f3, attacking the h5-pawn, I got…

No. 617

15 August 2020 9:00 am

Black to play. Efimov–Bronstein, Kiev 1941. Normally White seeks glory in the King’s Gambit, but here Bronstein scored a lightning…

No. 616

8 August 2020 9:00 am

Black to play. Studer–Naiditsch, Biel, July 2020. White intends to meet 1…Bxb5 with 2 Bxe7 Qxe7 3 Qxb5, with an…

No. 615

1 August 2020 9:00 am

White to play. Stockfish–Leela Chess Zero, TCEC 18, Game 92, July 2020. It looks hard to make progress, despite the…

No. 614

25 July 2020 9:00 am

White to play. Stefano Tatai–Spyridon Skembris, Budva Zonal 1981. Morricone’s teacher found a delightful conclusion to this attack. What was…

No. 613

18 July 2020 9:00 am

White to play and mate in three moves. A problem composed by grandmaster Jonathan Levitt (British Chess Magazine, 1995). One…

No. 612

11 July 2020 9:00 am

White to play. Giri–Nepomniachtchi, Chessable Masters 2020. Giri has sacrificed a knight to lure the black king forward. Which move…

No. 611

4 July 2020 9:00 am

White to play. From the ridiculous to the sublime. According to the ‘Chess Notes’ website, a game won by Edward…