Sheffield and District Solving Ladder 2020-2021: Round 1, November 2020 Solutions and comments In the hope of encouraging more solvers it seems appropriate to preface this first set of solutions with a few introductory remarks. A good place to start is by busting a few myths. All chess problems are difficult. Not so. A composer’s aim is to present a particular idea or of ideas. If he can use his guile to make the result difficult then he may do so, but his priority will be achieving the utmost economy of moves and material to achieve his aim. Having said that, all ideas one hasn’t seen before are difficult when first encountered. Chess problems never start with a or capture. Mostly true these days, but completely untrue for problems composed in the early part of the 19th century when opening checks were the . A composer will try very hard to ensure that his problem does not start with a check or capture, but sometimes he will not be able to find a way to avoid such bad openings. These days, the capture of a black , if needed for soundness or for thematic reasons (see next paragraph), is considered acceptable. The key is always the most unlikely move on the board. Not so. Problems with unlikely key moves tend to be the ones that are republished in places other than specialist magazines. If a composer can include an unlikely key he will do so, but mostly (probably more than 90% of the time), the restraints of his idea, the rules and the board make this impossible. The composer seeks keys that increase Black’s freedom and/or decrease White’s. A composer will be most satisfied with his key if he can find a ‘thematic’ one that makes the subsequent play possible: for instance, the unpin of a black piece that provides the defences that follow. Chess problems are for enjoyment. When solving them you will come across ideas that you will encounter rarely if ever when playing chess. The possibilities of the combinations of pieces, board and rules are at their most intense in chess problems and endgame studies. In the paragraphs below I present the solutions to the November problems. Moves given in bold type were those required for points and the number of points for each line is also given. The maximum number of points for each problem is 5. I have written extensive comments on the problems, including some indications of how they may be solved. A few comments from solvers are also present. You will notice that all the problems, their composers, or both, have Sheffield connections. More solvers are needed if I am to continue investing my time, but I am happy to spend that time if a few more solvers are forthcoming. Please do have a go! You may not know what you are missing!

Sheffield and District Chess Solving Ladder 2020-2021: Round 1, November 2020 Solutions and comments 1) W R Coe 1st Prize, Sheffield Independent, 1883 NdwdwgRd 1.Sg4! (5) (2.Qxd4#) 4Bdwdwdw wdpdw)wd 1...Kxe4 2.Qf3# 1...Kxc5 2.Rxg5# dP)kHw0b 1...Qxf2,Qe5 2.R(x)e5# wdp1Rdwd 1...Qxc3 2.Bxc6# dw)pdwdw 1...Qxc5,Qe3 2.Qf5# 1...Qxf6 2.Sxf6# Pdwdw!PG 1...Qxe4 2.Sc7# 1...Bxc5 2.Bxc6# dKdwdwdw Mate in 2

The most important element of a chess problem is time and a technique for solving mates in two involves inspecting strong black moves in the diagram position to see if they are followed by immediate mate. Any that are not need to be eliminated or provided with mates. Strong black moves are checks, flights (moves by the black ), moves that give the black king a flight or flights, and captures. Here, 1…Ke6 and 1…Qxe4 are met by 2.Sc7# and 1…Qxe5 by 2.Rxe5#, but 1…Kxe4!, 1…Kxc5! and 1…Qxc5! lead to no immediate mate. The key (by cutting off the black on h5, allowing the to mate on f3) is the only move that makes provision for everything. It is a nice touch that the key eliminates the only flight that was set with a mate. 1.Sxc6? and 1.Sd7? both fail to 1…Kxe4! while 1.Rxd4+? is refuted by 1…Kxc5! The theme of the problem is the five distinct defences by the black queen and the mates they allow. The unprovided flights may be considered a serious constructional flaw these days. The Sheffield Independent had a major chess problem column in the 1880s and it attracted original compositions by leading composers from all over the World.

Sheffield and District Chess Solving Ladder 2020-2021: Round 1, November 2020 Solutions and comments 2) Henry Bristow 2nd Prize, Sheffield Independent, 1884 K!wdwdBd 1.Qb1! (5) dwdw0wdw (2.Qa1#) wdwdwgwd 1...Bd5+ 2.Rxd5# dw)w$wdw 1...Kxe5 2.d4# Ndwiw0wd 1...Bxb1 2.Rd5# ~ 2.R(x)e4# 0wdP0Pdw 1...S bdwdwhw1 dwdRdwdw Mate in 2

The strong black moves in the diagram position are 1…Bd5+, which is met by 2.Rxd5#, 1…Sxd1 (giving a flight at d3) and 1…Bxe5 (though it doesn’t grant Black any flights). The latter two are not set with immediate mates. The queen key provides a mate for 1…Bxe5 (the threat) and, by covering d3, a mate for 1…Sxd1. It also gives the black king a flight.

Sheffield and District Chess Solving Ladder 2020-2021: Round 1, November 2020 Solutions and comments 3) Howard Lawton The Sheffield Guardian, 1909 wdwdwdwd 1.Rd5! (5) dNdwhwdw 1...Rxd6 2.Sxd6# w0wGrdwd 1...R else 2.R(x)e5# dw0wdw0p 1...Sxd5 2.Bb1# 1...S else 2.Q(x)f5# wdwdkdwd 1...Bg2 2.Qxg2# dw)R0wdw 1...Bf3 2.Qd3,Qc4# 1...e2 2.Qxe2# Bdwdwdwd 1...c4 2.Rd4# dwIwdQ$b 1...g4 2.Qf4# 1...h4 2.Rg4# Mate in 2 1...b5 2.Sxc5

1…Rxd6! (giving a flight at e5), 1…Bf3 (giving a flight at f5) and 1…e2! (giving a flight at d3) are all unprovided with immediate mate in the diagram position, so the key, putting extra guards on e5, f5 and d3 is not so surprising. The idea of this problem is in the play of the black and . If you take the rook off the board completely (unguarding e5), then White mates by 2.Re5. Black can correct against this by playing 1…Rxd6, removing the guard, but this allows 2.Sxd6#. If you take the black knight off the board completely (unguarding f5) then White mates with 2.Qf5#. Black can correct against this by playing 1…Sxd5, but this is a self- of the black king, allowing 2.Bb1#. This idea is called ‘Black Correction’ and here it is doubled, which must have been unusual in 1909. It is true that the duals after 1…Bf3 are flaws. Given my earlier comments on economy of material, you may ask what the white rook g1 and black pawn h5 are doing? Surely one just demands the other and they add nothing to the problem? Without them though the theme disappears as then the key would carry the threat 2.Qxh1# and not all moves of the black knight and rook would defend against that threat. Howard Lawton (1881-1966) was a Sheffielder and probably the most prolific chess problemist ever to live in the city. Steve Mann says that he can’t trace that Lawton ever played league chess. Lawton edited the chess column in The Sheffield Guardian, where this problem was published.

Sheffield and District Chess Solving Ladder 2020-2021: Round 1, November 2020 Solutions and comments 4) Martin Anderson Meson, 2011 RdwGwdwd 1.Kd6! (5) dpdKdwdw (2.Sac7#)

Ndwdwdwd 1...Qa3+ 2.Sdb4# dkdNdRdw 1...Qg3+ 2.Sf4# wdbdpdw0 1...Qxd5+ 2.Rxd5# 1...Bxd5 2.Qb3# dwdqdwdr 1...bxa6 2.Rb8# phwdwdwd 1...Bb3 2.Qxb3# dwdQdBdw Mate in 2

1…b6! (giving a flight at a5) and 1…bxa6! (giving a flight at c5) are the unprovided strong black moves this time. The key, though walking into three checks, provides for 1…b6 with the threat and provides for 1…bxa6 with 2.Rb8#. The first two checks unpin the white knight at d5 and the black bishop at c4, so allowing discovered check from the white rook on f5 when the white knight moves. Problemists call such a discovered check arrangement a ‘’. The black queen and black bishop, which, because of the white bishop on f1, pin each other when they move, is called a ‘half-pin’. All defences by that black queen and bishop give rise to ‘pin-mates’. Martin Anderson, who died over twenty years ago, was an Ecclesall player. In 2011 or perhaps earlier, Pete Mitchell, then the Ecclesall librarian, discovered at the club a scrapbook that had belonged to Martin. Noting that it was full of chess problems, Pete kindly passed it onto me and it is now part of the archive of the British Chess Problem Society. It contained 28 problems by Martin, all but four previously unpublished and some unsound. I added them all to my online Meson Chess Problem Database, hence the source I have quoted for this problem. Chris Shephard: “Some attractive 2 movers – I like the in No. 3.”

Sheffield and District Chess Solving Ladder 2020-2021: Round 1, November 2020 Solutions and comments 5) Norman Littlewood The Sheffield Star, 1964 1.Kxc7! wdwdwdwd (2.Qb7+ Sd5+ 3.Qxd5#) (1)

!K0wdwdw 1...Rh7+ 2.Kxb6 (3.Sg3,f3#) (1) Rb7+ 3.Qxb7# phwdwdBd Rh3 3.Qb7,Qe7,Qa8# 1...Bxf4+ 2.Kc6 (3.Ra5,Rb5,Rc5,Rd5,Rxg5#) (1) dwdwdR0w Rh6 3.f3# Bc1,Be3 3.Qe7# wdp0k)wd Bh2,Bd6,Bc7,Bb8 3.Sd2# Bd2 3.Sxd2,Qe7# dwdwdwdr Bg3 3.Sd2,f3# Be5 3.Sd2,Rf3,Rf6,Rf7,Rf8# wdbdP)wd 1...Sd5+ 2.Kd8 (3.Rf6,Rf7,Rf8,Qxd4#) (1) Sc3,Sb6 3.Qe7# GwgwdNdw 1...Ba4 2.Re5+ (1) Kxf4 3.Re4# Mate in 3

The biggest clue in this position is the out-of-play status of the white queen. In a well- constructed chess problem every piece on the board is there for at least one reason, so attempts to get the queen into play need to be investigated. 1.Qb8? threatening 2.Qe8# is refuted by 1…Sc8!, so the white king has to move, dangerous though that appears to be. The key walks into three checks, all of which it answers by a sidestep that threatens mates made possible by weaknesses inflicted by the black check. A fourth defence leads to a more normal mate in 2. Norman Littlewood will be known to Sheffield players as one of the UK’s strongest players in the 1960s. It may not be too well-known that he was also an expert chess composer. Chris Shephard: “I liked number 5, which took me ages (days) to solve because it's so easy to overlook some of the refutations and so dismiss the key move out of hand.” Geoff Brown: “It took me a while to realise that Ba4 was a defence and then days to find the response – I was beginning to think that my key move was wrong.” It is often the case that three-movers are the most difficult to solve, and this one clearly was in this set. However, they are often the most rewarding.

Sheffield and District Chess Solving Ladder 2020-2021: Round 1, November 2020 Solutions and comments 6) Fritz af Geyersstam Nuova Rivista, 1886 (version BDS, The Problemist Supplement, 1994) wdRdwGwd 1.Ke4! Hw0kdwdw (2.dxe6+ Kxe6 3.Ba2+ Kd7 4.e6#) (2) wdwdpdwd 1...exd5+ 2.Kf5 (3.e6#) dwdP)wdw Bxe5 3.Kg6 & 4.Bf5# (2) wdwdwdwd 1...Bxe5 2.Kxe5 (3.dxe6#) Sf3+ 3.gxf3 (4.dxe6#) (1) dwdKdwdw exd5 4.Bf5# wdwdwdPg dBdwdwhw Mate in 4

Clearly the white bishop on b1 needs to be activated so moving the white king while avoiding unanswerable checks should be the first thing to investigate. The idea of course is the march of the king, with three consecutive king moves in the first variation. Chris Shephard: “Seemed too easy, taking only seconds to solve, so I hope I've not missed the point.” Problems with many moves are not necessarily more difficult than problems with fewer moves. The original 1886 problem was less economical than my version and I also managed to replace a short threat after the key with a full-length threat. Improving, and indeed correcting, other people’s problems is something several problemists find challenging. It’s probably best though to limit one’s attention to problems by people who are dead, as what constitutes an improvement can be a very subjective thing.