Chess Composers: February 4th

György János Andor von Spóner (04-02-1842 - 22-11-1917) Slovak composer

Andor von Spóner was also a politician and a writer. He translated poetry by Aranys, Madach or Petőfi in German and poetry by Byron, Goethe, Heine, Hugo in Hungarian.
One of his miniatures is quoted as no.337 in Oscar Blumenthal's "Schachminiaturen" (1902). Here is a charming work of his:

Spóner, Andor
Deutsches Wochenschach, 1907

3 + 9

Show Solution

Jørgen Thorvald Møller (04-02-1873 - 20-11-1944) Danish composer

Møller composed orthodox problems, sometimes with noticeable success. A difficult threemover:

Møller, Jørgen Thorvald
Stockholms Schacksällskap, O. W. Robert Sahlberg J.T. 1916
4^th Prize

7 + 6

Show Solution

Andrew Efron (04-02-1899 - 18-07-1967) American composer

Efron, Andrew
Schach-Echo, 1959

4 + 1

Show Solution

William Alfred Whyatt (04-02-1914 - 18-05-1976) Australian composer

William Alfred Whyatt
("Problem", November 1957)
[Thanks to Александр Никитин]

One of the finest composers of the antipodes, Whyatt was an expert in more than one field, as the following two examples will soon convince you. Bob Meadley (see January 28th) wrote a book about his works: "W.A. Whyatt's chess problems: his life, chess career, friends, letters, writings, and problems", Chess in Australia 1979.
Our Australian friend Ian Shanahan mentions that Ozproblems.com proposes some Whyatt materials extracted from Bob Meadley's book:
- "The Life of Bill Whyatt"
- "Selected Problems by Bill Whyatt (106 problems)"
- "The Whyatt and Goldstein Partnership"

Whyatt, William Alfred
Olympic Ty. 1956
1^st Prize