February 5th

We shall mention in passing Elias Stein, the Dutch master born in Lorraine on 5^th February 1748, who recommended the Dutch defence in his 1789 treaty "Nouvel essai sur le jeu des échecs, avec des réflexions militaires relatives à ce jeu" and we start today's list with:

Joseph William Abbott (05-02-1840 - 05-08-1923) British composer

J.W.Abbott is known for his collection of problems: "121 Chess Problems" (1887) that can be downloaded here. You can see two of his games on Chessgames.

Abbott, Joseph William
The Chess Monthly, 1887
2^nd Prize, Set

#3

12 + 7

Show Solution

1.Qg3 ! (2.Qf4+ Kxd3 3.Se1#)

Main variation:
1...Bxd3 2.Re4+ Kxc5, Bxe4, Kxe4, dxe4 3.Qc7, Qc3, Qf4, Qd6#
Secondary variations:
1...Kc4 2.Re4+ Kb3 3.Sc1#
1...Qh7/Qxg7 2.Qe3+ Kc4 3.Bxd5#

"The Golden Book of Chess Composition (1850-1913)" by Yakov Vladimirov and Andrey Selivanov prefers to quote the following twomover by J.W.Abbott:

Abbott, Joseph William
The Illustrated London News, 1886

#2*

7 + 4

Show Solution

Set play:

1...Kd3 2.Qb1#[A]
1...Bf5 2.Qxf5#/Qxc4#[B]
1...Bg4/Bh3/Bd7/Bc8 2.Qxc4#[B]
1...Bd5 2.Sc5#/Qb1#[A]
1...S~ 2.Sc3#[C]

1.Bc5! ZZ

1...Kd3/Bd5 2.Qb1#[A]
1...Kd5/S~ 2.Sc3#[C]
1...B~ 2.Qxc4#[B]

Flight-giving key, transferred mates, black correction.

Robert Worters (05-02-1847 - 27-12-1915) British composer

Worters, Robert
Les Mille et un Mats Inverses, 1907

s#3

8 + 8

Show Solution

1.Qc1 ! (2.Qxc2+ Ke1 3.Qxd3 Rh1#)

1...Sxc1 2.Sxc1+ Ke1, Kd1 3.Rd5, Re5 and 3...Rh1#
1...Se1/Se5 2.R(x)e5+ Kd3 3.Re4 (Sf3)Rh1#
1...Sb4 2.Rxb4 Kd3,axb4 3.Re4, Sxb4 Rh1#

Grab theme.

Roberts Skuja (05-02-1910 - 18-09-1984) Latvian composer

Skuja, Roberts
Wiener Schach-Zeitung, 1935

#3

3 + 3

Show Solution

1.Bf5 ! (2.Qf2 ZZ exf5 3.Qe3#)

1...Kd4 2.Qd3+ Ke5 3.Qe4#
1...exf5 2.Qc4 ZZ f4 3.Qd5#

Leonard Balbus (05-02-1943) American composer

Len Balbus
With Uri Avner (left), Good Companions meeting, Princeton 2009
[Courtesy of Vladimir Tyapkin]

Balbus, Leonard
531 The Problemist 01-02/1977

h#3

b) bKf2->e2

2 + 6

Show Solution

a) 1. Bd2 Sf3 2. Re2 Se5 3. Ke1 Sd3#
b) 1. Rd2+ Ka1 2. Kd1 Sg4 3. Be2 Se3#

Chameleon echo mates.

Carlo de Grandi (05-02-1948) Italian composer living in Greece

Carlo de Grandi is a Venetian-born composer living in Athens. His blog (in Greek) can be found here.

De Grandi, Carlo
E. Manolas-60, 2010
4^th Commendation

#3

6 + 3

Show Solution

1.Bd1! (2.Qg3+ Kxc4/Ke4 3.Qb3/Qf3#)

1...Kxc4 2.Qf4+ Kb5/Kd3,Kc3/Kd5 3.Qa4/Qd4/Bb3#
1...Ke4 2.Qd8 Kf5/f5 3.Qd5/Qd4#

Give-and-take key, Y-flight of the bK.

De Grandi, Carlo
L'Italia Scacchistica, 2002 (8608)

#5

8 + 4

Show Solution

1.Bd5 ! ZZ
1...e6 2.f4 exd5 3.f5 gxf5 4.Kxf5 Kxd4 5.Bf2#
Sacrifices.

Raúl Jordan (05-02-1980) German composer

Raúl was 10 when this problem was published !

Jordan, Gunter & Jordan, Raúl
Pat Mat, 1990

h#2*

4 + 3

Show Solution

Set play: 1...Sc3 2.Bg4 0-0#

1.Bg6 Se3 2.Be4 Rf1#

Echo mates.

Sereeterin Denzen (05-02-1929 - 1992) Mongolian composer

Denzen, Sereeterin
TT “Khuch” (Sport Society) 1987
1^st Prize

#3

12 + 5

Show Solution

1.Qh6! (2.Qd2+! Rxd2 3.Sc6# or 2...Kc5 3.b4#)

1...Rd5 (a) 2.Sc6+ Kc5 (b) 3.Bd4#
1...Kc5 (b) 2.Sc4+ Rd5 (a) 3.Qd6#

1...Rd4 (c) 2.Sc6+ Kc3 (d) 3.Qe3#
1...Kc3 (d) 2.Sc4+ Rd4 (c) 3.Qd2#

1...Bd4 2.Sd3+ Kc3 3.Rc5#
Grimshaw, batteries.