Hyacinth R. Agnel (25-11-1799 - 10-02-1871) American composer
Hyacinth R. Agnel was a professor (taught French) and Army Colonel at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and a chess problemist. In 1845, he formed the first chess club at West Point.
He was the
author of the popular 1848 chess book, "
Chess for Winter Evenings", for which he did his own engravings.
Agnel, Hyacinth R.
American Chess-Nuts, 1868 (4-moves / 2)
Show Solution1.Ra4-a5 ! ZZ
1...Kb6xa5 2.Rd7-d6 ZZ 2...b7-b6 3.Rd6-d4 ZZ 3...c5xd4 4.b2-b4#
Double Rook sacrifice and continuous zugzwang.
Agnel, Hyacinth R.
American Chess-Nuts, 1868 (4-moves / 11)
Show Solution1.Ba3 + !
1...Kxa3 2.Qb4/Qc5+ Kb2 3.Qa3+ Kxa3 4.Sc4#
Again a double sacrifice.
A better form of the problem, without useless wBe6 and without dual at the 2nd white move, could be {White: Kb5 Qc4 Be7 Sd2 (4) / Black: Black Kb2 Ra8 Rb8 Bc2 Ba1 Pb6 Pa4 Pb3 Pc3 Pa2 (10)}.
This problem seems to be a precursor of
Herbert Grasemann's 2nd Prize, Deutsche Schachblätter 1950.