May 31st

Michael Keller (31-05-1949) German composer and Grandmaster

Michael Keller, Martin Wessels and Thorsten Zirkwitz, 2000
[Photo by Günter Büsing]

Michael Keller [Echesspedia [broken link] ]

Michael Keller is specialized in two- and threemovers.

The Keller paradox is a direct mover theme that requests that "White moves to a square just controlled (or controlled again) by Black."
In 1994 Friedrich Chlubna wrote the collection "Michael Keller. Ein Meister der Schachkomposition" comprising 279 problems by Keller.

On Wikipedia you may see an excellent and strategically very rich threemover of his. Of course Michael Keller composed many beautiful problems, but here is a typical one:

Keller, Michael
Schach-Aktiv, 1999

#3

12 + 12

Show Solution

1.Bxf7 ! (2.Se6+ Sxe6 3.Qe4#)
1...Sf4 (guards d3) 2.Qxd3+! Kxe5, Sxd3 3.Sd7, Sf5#
1...Sf6 (guards d7) 2.Qd7+! Kxe5, Sxd7 3.Sxd3, Sf5#
Keller paradox.

May 30th

John Brown (30-05-1827 - 17-11-1863) British composer

John Brown's headstone refurbished by Brian Gosling [source: Keverel Chess]

John Brown published his problems as “J. B. of Bridport” and was one of the outstanding chess
problem composers of the nineteenth century.
John D. Beasley made a book review of "John Brown / The forgotten chess composer?" by Brian Gosling (2011) which can be read here.

Here is an example of John Brown's style:

Brown, John
???? 1860

#3

4 + 3

Show Solution

1.Rf6! waiting, with two variations:
1...Kd4 2.Bf3 ZZ

2...Ke3 3.Bc5#
2...Kc4 3.Rf4#
2...Ke5 3.Bc3#

1...Ke2 2.Bd2 ZZ b4 3.Bc4#

Only waiting moves.

May 29th

Francis (Frank) Bradley Phelps (29-05-1847 - 16-05-1916) American composer

Frank Bradley Phelps' grave
[FindAGrave]

Francis Bradley Phelps was a direct mate composer.

Phelps, Frank Bradley
Checkmate, 1904

#3

7 + 7

Show Solution

1.Ra4-e4 ! ZZ

1...Kg4xf5 2.Re4xf4+ Kf5-e5 3.Rf4-f5#
1...e6-e5 2.Kc8-d7 Kg4xf5 3.Re4xf4#
1...e6xf5 2.Bb1-a2 f5xe4 3.Ba2-e6#

A good flight-giving key and three motivating variations.

May 28th

Richard Réti (28-05-1889 - 06-06-1929) Slovak-Austrian composer

Richard Réti
[Wikipedia]

Richard Réti was a famous player and endgame composer. In 1931 was published "Samtliche Studien", the compilation by Artur Mandler of Reti's 53 studies. It can be read here.
John D. Beasley (yes, John again) recently edited the complete presentation of Richard Réti's endgames, who has always been "one of his chess heroes". You can enjoy this presentation and John's prose here on John's website and there is not much that could be added to John's work.
You may also enjoy reading Edward Winter's chess notes about the Réti Brothers.

Réti, Richard
Hastings and St.Leonards Post

+

4 + 3

Show Solution

1. Sd4+ Kc5 2. Kh1!! and White wins.
An exceptional domination of a Bishop by a Knight in an open position.

May 27th

We may now mention in passing Thomas Winter-Wood (27-05-1818 - 07-05-1905), a British chess player and patriarch of a Devon chess dynasty. His three children were chess players and two of them composed chess problems: Edward and Edith, who later became Mrs. Edith Baird, the "queen of chess".

Georges Mathieu Fuchs (27-05-1908 - 22-12-1992) French composer

Georges Fuchs [Thèmes-64 111, juillet-septembre 1983]

Georges M. Fuchs learned chess at 8 and composed his first problem at 14. At the age of 18, he wrote in the French magazine "La Stratégie" and translated Franz Palatz's articles and book about strategic miniatures. He composed endgames, fairy problems and direct mates, mostly twomovers.
170 of his problems were collected in a monography by Jean Bertin in 1984.

Fuchs, Georges Mathieu
Western Morning News, 10^th Sep 1927
1^st Prize

#2

7 + 14

Show Solution

1.Sd7! (2.Bxb6#)

1...Kc4+/Kc3/Se4 2.Be5#
1...Sc4 2.Se2#
1...Sb3 2.Qb4#
1...Qc3 2.Qh4#
1...Qc4 2.Qe5#

Levman, give-and-take key.

May 26th

Pietro Rossi (26-05-1924 - 18-11-2020) Italian composer

Pietro Rossi
[Wikipedia]

Pietro Rossi was one of the most prominent study composers from Italy and you can have a look at this win study to have an idea about his style.
According to his Wikipedia webpage, The Italian Chess Federation awarded him a gold medal in May 2007 for "high achievements in the field of endgame-study composition".

Rossi, Pietro
Scacco! Jan 1999

h#2

2 solutions Duplex

2 + 3

Show Solution

1.Rb3-b6 d7-d8=Q 2.Bc2-a4 Qd8xb6#
1.Rb3-b5 d7-d8=S 2.Bc2-a4 Sd8-c6#
DUPLEX:
1.d7-d8=R Bc2-e4 2.Rd8-a8 Rb3-b7#
1.Ka7-a8 Ka5-a6 2.d7-d8=B Bc2-e4#
The theme is of course the Allumwandlung achieved with a record number of pieces.

May 25th

Фридрих Рудольфович Дюммель (25-05-1912 - 1975) Russian composer (Friedrich Rudolfovich Djummel)

Friedrich Rudolfovich Djummel Problem, February 1968 [Thanks to Александр Никитин ]

Friedrich Djummel was a direct mate composer.

Дюммель, Фридрих
Правда Востока 1947
1^st Prize

#2

9 + 11

Show Solution

1.Qf1? (2.Qf8#)
1...Bxf1/Rf3 2.Re5#[A]
1...Bf3/Rh8/Rd3+ 2.Sd3#[B]
but 1...Sf2!
1.Rf3! (2.Qb4#)
1...Bc3/Sc3/Rd3+ 2.Sd3#[B]
1...Rb3 2.Sxb3#
1...Rc3 2.Re5#[A]
Two Grimshaws on f3 and c3 in two different phases, transferred mates.
To be compared with Żuk's twomover below !

May 24th

Dirk Borst (24-05-1963) Dutch composer and FIDE Master

Dirk Borst, Cheltenham 2002
[© Franziska Iseli ]

Dirk Borst composes mostly proof games, sometimes with a fairy condition. For this reason he is a usual presence at the Andernach meeting. Here is a good example among so many other PG prowess:

Borst, Dirk
feenschach, 1997
Prize

PG 21.0

AndernachChess

16 + 12

Show Solution

1.d4 c5 2.d5 c4 3.d6 c3 4.Qd5 Qa5 5.Qc6 dxc6[=wP] 6.c7 Bg4 7. c8=S e6 8.Se7 Qf5 9.Sg6 hxg6[=wP] 10.d7+ Ke7 11.d8=B+ Kd6 12.Bdg5 Se7 13.Bh6 gxh6[=wP] 14.g7 Sg6 15.g8=Q Be7 16.Qd8+ Ke5 17.Qd1 Rc8 18.h7 Rc4 19.h8=R Sc6 20.Rd8 Rc8 21.Rd2 cxd2[=wP]
Allumwandlung, Ceriani-Frolkin, Pronkin

He also composes fairy problems, such as this memorable neutral King reflex mate:

Borst, Dirk
The Problemist, 1997
1^st Prize

r#2

a8: Neutral King

7 + 9 + 1

Show Solution

1.nKa8xb7 ! (2.nKb7-a8 Qa3-f3#)
1...nKb7-b6 2.nKb6-a5 nKa5xa4#
1...nKb7-c8 2.nKc8-d8+ nKd8xe8#
1...nKb7-c6 2.nKc6-d5 nKd5xe6#
These were the three main variations, where only the neutral King plays!
Secondary variations:
1...Qa3-e7 2.nKb7-c8 Sb5-d6#
1...Qa3-f3+ 2.nKb7-c8 Rf8xe8#

May 23rd

Hércules Colonelli (23-05-1897 - 27-10-1994) Brazilian composer

Hércules Colonelli composed in all genres.One helpmate example:

Colonelli, Hércules
Boletim da UBP, 1963 (251)
2^nd Place, Campeonato Brasileiro de Composição, 1962-1963

h#2

2 solutions

7 + 7

Show Solution

1.Qxe5 Rxf2 2.Qxf4 Rxb5#
1.Qxf4 Rxb5 2.Qxe5 Rxf2#
Reciprocally changed moves for Black and White, pin mates.

May 22nd

Emilian Dobrescu (22-05-1933) Romanian composer and Grandmaster

Emilian Dobrescu, 2008
[ionivan.ro]

Emilian Dobrescu was the first Romanian Grandmaster in 1989. He is a composer of twomovers and endgame studies, who became famous for his Q vs R+B analytical studies.
About his career as an economist you may read this article.

Emilian Dobrescu is co-author (with Virgil Nestorescu) of "Compoziţia şahistă în România" (Chess composition in Romania, 1973) and "Studii de şah" (Chess studies, 1984). He has approached the chess study as a possible application of the principles of the Pareto optimality ("Chess Study as a Multi-Criteria System", EG No.123, Vol. VIII, 1997). His book "Chess Study Composition" (ARVES, 1999) was considered as “Book of the Year” by ARVES.

To see many of his studies, please browse through JMRW website.
Nowadays, Emilian Dobrescu no longer composes.

The following study can give an idea of his style:

Dobrescu, Emilian
Schweizerische Schachzeitung, 1979
Special Prize

+

5 + 5

Show Solution

1. Rc4+ Kb5 2. Rd4+ Kc6 3. Be4+ Kb5 4. Rd5+ Kc6 5. Rxe5+ Kd7 6. Rd5+ Kc6 7. Rd4+ Kb5 8. Bd3+ Kc6 9. Rc4+ Kb5 10. Bxg6 Kxc4 11. Bf7 Bg5+ 12. Kd1 Kd5 13. Bb8 +-
There are often systematic manoeuvres in Emilian Dobrescu's studies. Here the black pawn e5 is eliminated by such a manoeuvre, the bQ is changed against the wR and the pinned bS is helpless in the final position.

Emilian Dobrescu was also a very good twomover composer:

Dobrescu, Emilian
3^rd WCCT, 1986
1^st Place

#2 vvvv

7 + 12

Show Solution

1.Sd7? (2.Qe4#) but 1...Bg6!
1.Sc4? (2.Qe4#) but 1...b4!
1.Sg4? (2.Qe4#) 1...Sd2 2.Qxe3# but 1...Sxf3!
1.Sd3? (2.Qe4#)
1…Sxf3 2.Qg4#
1…Bg6 2.Qd7#
1…b4 2.Qc4# but 1...Sd2!
1.Qf5! (2.Qe4#)
1…Sxf3 2.Sxf3#
1…Sd2 2.Rd3#
1…Bg6 2.Sxc6#
1…b4 2.Rc4#
Self-obstruction, changed mates.

May 21st

Paul Köller (21-05-1889 - 15-07-1979) German composer

Paul Köller
[Kartothek A-K page 176]

Paul Köller was a directmate composer.

Köller, Paul
Die Schwalbe, 1930 (1296)
HM
dedicated to F.W. von Holzhausen

#3 vv

6 + 5

Show Solution

1.Rf3? g5!
1.Rf2? b3!

1.Be5! ZZ

1...Qg5 2.Rf8+ Qd8 3.Rxd8#
1...b3 2.Rf3! (3.Rc3#) Qe3/Qh3/Qc1/Qd2 3.Rf8#
1...Qf4 2.Rxf4/Bxf4

The black Queen is overloaded.

May 20th

Machgielis (Max) Euwe (20-05-1901 - 26-11-1981) Dutch composer and o.t.b. World Champion

Max Euwe
[Wikipedia]

Max Euwe was the fifth World Champion and a very appreciated president of FIDE. Robert Fischer paid him a (probably involuntary) compliment: "There's something wrong with that man. He's too normal."

His biography can be read here and other details linking Euwe with computer history here. It can be noted that "Euwe was indeed a very fine mathematician who concentrated more on his mathematics throughout his life than on his chess." For those interested in mathematical chess, the page here by Manfred Börgens might prove an interesting read (it tackles the question whether chess is a finite game).

However, Max Euwe also composed one chess problem and some studies. Here is the twomover:

Euwe, Machgielis
Kikeriki, 1927

#2

3 + 4

Show Solution

1.Qd6! (2.Qa6#)
This twomover was anticipated by Theodore Morris Brown, The Albion 1860 (detected by Michael McDowell).

May 19th

Eugene Beauharnais Cook (19-05-1830 - 13-03-1915) American composer

Eugene B. Cook
[edochess]

Biographical information about Eugene Cook has been reproduced in Harrie Grondjis' book "No Rook Unturned. A Tour Around The Saavedra Study" and on this blog from which we can quote the following information:

"Dr. Keidanz, in the introduction of his book The Chess Compositions of E.B. Cook of Hoboken New York 1927, informs us that many honours were bestowed upon Cook in his lifetime. Numerous problems were dedicated to him by his admirers and Samuel Loyd dedicated his book Chess Strategies to him. "

("The American Chess Magazine" can be read on Archive.org.)
Eugene Cook was also a compiler of the collection "American Chess Nuts" in 1868 together with W.R. Henry and C.A. Gilberg. He had the third largest chess book collection in the world (2,500 volumes), which was donated to the Princeton University Library upon his death.

An easy one to start the day:

Cook, Eugene Beauharnais
The Illustrated London News, 6^th Jan 1855 (e906)

#3

6 + 4

Show Solution

1.e8=B! Ke6 2.f8=B! Kf5 3.Bd7#
Both Bishop promotions avoid stalemate.

Cook, Eugene Beauharnais
The Albion (New York) 20^th Oct 1855 (355)

#4

9 + 8

Show Solution

1.Kd1-e2 ! (2.Ke2-e3/Ke2-f3 ~ 3.Bh6-f4#)
1...Rb5xb2+ 2.Ke2-f3 Ba6-e2+ 3.Kf3-e3 ~ 4.Bh6-f4#
1...Rh1xh3/g3-g2 2.Bh6-f4+ Ke5xf4 3.Qb2-d2+ Kf4-e5 4.Qd2-d6#
1...Rb5-b7+ 2.Ke2-e3 (3.Bh6-f4#) 2...Rb7xe7 3.c3-c4+ Ke5xf5 4.Qb2xf6#
An ancestor of Sam Loyd's famous threemover where the white King wanders to the center of the board to mate the black King.

Cook, Eugene Beauharnais
American Chess-Nuts, 1868 (4-moves / 193)

#4

11 + 7

Show Solution

1.Rb6-f6 !
1...e3-e2 2.Bc5-g1 a7-a6 3.Rf6-f2 Kc3-d4 4.Rf2-f3#
1...a7-a6 2.Bc5-a7 e3-e2 3.Rf6-b6 Kc3-d4 4.Rb6-b3#
Indian theme and switchback of wRb6.

May 18th

Carl Eckhardt (18-05-1894 - 12-12-1954) German composer

Carl Eckhardt [Kartothek A-K page 80]

Since we do not have much information about Carl Eckhardt, except his card on page 80 of the Kartothek A-K let his problems evoke him.
First, a logical moremover:

Eckhardt, Carl
Die Schwalbe, Aug 1951

#5

7 + 6

Show Solution

1.Rc8? (2.Rc4+ Kxd5 3.Sc3,Sb6#) but 1...Rc1!
1.Rb8! (2.Rb4#) Be1 2.Rc8 (3.Rc4+ Kxd5 4.Sb6#)

2...Rg8 3.Rxg8 (4.Rg4#)
         3...Bg3 4.Rg4+ Bf4 5.Rxf4#
         3...b1=Q 4.Rg4+ Qe4 5.Rgxe4,Rexe4#

Secondary variation: 2...Ba5 3.Rc4+ Kxd5 4.Rc3+,Rc5+
Hamburg theme.

Secondly, a selfmate with interesting pin play:

May 17th

Wilhelm Steinitz (17-05-1836 - 12-08-1900) German composer (and o.t.b.World Champion)

Wilhelm_Steinitz [Wikipedia]

Wilhelm Steinitz was of course the first World Champion, before Emmanuel Lasker won the title in the 1894 match, but he also composed some studies of which the best known is the following:

Steinitz, Wilhelm
Dufresne: Sammlung leichterer Schachaufgaben (2. Teil)
1882 (18)

+

4 + 2

Show Solution

1. h7+ Kg7 2. h8=Q+ (nowadays a classical sacrifice)
2...Kxh8 3. Kf7 Rf1+ 4. Bf6+ Rxf6+ 5. Kxf6 and White wins.

May 16th

Norbert Kovács (16-05-1874 -24-05-1946) Hungarian composer

Norbert Kovács
[magyarsakkszerzok]

Dr. Norbert Kovács composed about 500 problems and was specialized in fairy problems. In 1926 he wrote with Neukomm and Schor "Feladvany-Műszotar", a collection of problem chess terms.

Kovács, Norbert
Magyar Sakkvilág, 1933
3^rd Prize

#3

7 + 9

Show Solution

1.Qb7 ! (2.Qxh1#)

1...Bxb7 2.Bxf6 (3.Bxg5#) 2...Rc6 3.Sf3#
1...Rc6 2.Qxa8 (3.Qh8#) 2...Bf3, Rc8 3.Sxf3, Qxh1#
1...B~ 2.QxB and 3.Qh1/Sf3#

Hard to guess which piece will give mate in this helpmate:

Kovács, Norbert
Tijdschrift vd NSB, 1927

h#4

5 + 11

Show Solution

1.Bc1 a4 2.Bf4 axb5 3.c1=B bxc6 4.Bce3 c7#
The white Bishop-Pawn battery is a surprise, since the pawn is blocked in the diagram position.

May 15th

Pierre Auguste d'Orville (15-05-1804 - 11-11-1864) German composer

Pierre Auguste (or Peter August) d'Orville was German and lived in Antwerp. He may have been the first composer in the world, with Horatio Bolton, to intentionally look for nice and light positions and to avoid the then fashionable equal forces between both sides.

D'Orville wrote in 1842 "PROBLÈMES d'ÉCHECS composés et dédiés aux amateurs de ce jeu".
"Some problems by Auguste d'Orville" is a charming booklet written by John D.Beasley, who offers the 2nd reviewed edition for download on the Internet:

• D'Orville 1st part
• D'Orville 2nd part
• D'Orville 3rd part
• D'Orville 4th part

(covers can be found on this page).

This looks like the typical endgame K+B+S vs K, but the black King is in the wrong corner and White has the d-pawn. Can this pawn be enough to mate in 6?

D'Orville, Pierre Auguste
Problèmes d'Échecs, 1842 (163)

#6

4 + 1

Show Solution

1.Sb2-c4+ !
1...Ka3-a4 2.Bb1-e4 Ka4-b5 3.Be4-b7 Kb5-c5 4.d2-d3 ! ZZ (The decisive tempo)
4...Kc5-b5 5.d3-d4 Kb5-a4 6.Bb7-c6#

May 14th

William Meredith (14-05-1835 - 10-08-1903) American composer

William Meredith
[source: Cleveland Public Library]

William Meredith composed 200 problems. His specialty was problems of at most 12 pieces. Hence the name of "Meredith" given to this sort of problems, after a Good Companion tourney dedicated to him in 1916. 100 of his direct mates, each with commentary by one of the "Good Companion" club, can be found in the A.C.White Christmas Series "100 Chess Problems" (1916).

Let's start with a not so easy Meredith:

Meredith, William
Dubuque Chess Journal, 1872
5^th Prize

#3

5 + 1

Show Solution

1.Sd7! Kd2 2.Sc5! and mate follows on all three flights:

2...Ke3 3.Sc4#
2...Ke1 3.Bc3#
2...Kc1 3.Sb3#

This one may be easier to solve. Since Black obviously threatens direct checks by the Qg6 and discovery checks by the Bc5, some drastic measures must be taken:

Meredith, William
Chess Journal, 1871
2^nd Prize

#3

8 + 7

Show Solution

1.Qd8-d6 ! (2.Qd6-f4 / Sd3-f2 / Sd3xc5#)

1...Bb1xc2 2.Qd6-f4+ Ke4xd3 3.Qf4-c4#
1...Bc5xd6+ 2.Sd3-c5+ Ke4-e5 3.Sc5-d7#
1...Qg6x6 2.Sd3-f2+ Ke4-e5 3.Sf2-g4#

The key sacrifice offers the white Queen to two black pieces, with check to the white King after bB moves. The white Siers battery enables two very clean variations.

May 13th

Josef Plachutta (13-05-1827 - 22-07-1883) Austrian-Slovenian composer

Josef Plachutta
[Wikipedia]

Josef Plachutta was a specialist of moremovers and selfmates. He participated to all the first composition tourneys of the end of the 19th century and left his name to a moremover theme (quote from Wikipedia):

A white piece sacrifices itself on a square where it could be captured by one of two similarly-moving black pieces (for example, a bishop and a queen moving along a diagonal, or two rooks) moving along a different line; whichever black piece captures, it interferes with the other.

Plachutta's first realization of the theme is quoted on Wikipedia. Let's have a look at a more complicated one:

Plachutta, Josef
Londoner Turnier, 1862
2^nd Prize

#5

6 + 14

Show Solution

1.Sc5-d7 ! (2.Bb3-d1 [3.Qg6xh5#] 2...Sh1xg3, Bg2-f3 3.Qg6xg3, Rg3-h3#)
and there are of course two variations, based on which Rook captures the wS:
1...Rc7xd7 2.Bb3-d1 (3.Qg6xh5#) 2...Rd7xd1 3.Ba3-e7 (4.Qg6-g5+ f6xg5 5.Be7xg5#) 3...Sg8xe7 4.Rg3-g4+ h5xg4 5.Qg6-h6#
1...Rd8xd7 2.Ba3-e7 (3.Qg6-g5+ f6xg5 4.Be7xg5#) 2...Rd7xe7 3.Bb3-d1 (4.Qg6xh5#) 3...Re7-h7 4.Qg6xh5+ Rh7xh5 5.Rg3-g4# or 4.Rg3-g4+ h5xg4 5.Qg6xg4#

May 12th

Николай Павлович Будков (12-05-1928 - 1999) Russian problemist (Nikolay Pavlovich Budkov)

Nikolay Budkov composed mostly direct mates and helpmates with little material on the board.

Budkow, Nikolai & Каковин, Александр Сергеевич
Due Alfieri, 1985 (618)
2^nd HM

h#2

b) bKa8->d4 c) = b) + bRe6<->bSc6 d) = c) + bKd4->g8

3 + 4

Show Solution

a) 1. Sa5 Sc6 [A] 2. Sb7 Sb6# [B]
b) 1. Re4 Sb6 [B] 2. Se5 Se6# [C]
c) 1. Rc4 Sf6 [D] 2. Sc5 Sc6# [A]
d) 1. Sg5 Se6 [C] 2. Sf7 Sf6# [D]
Cycle of white moves AB-BC-CD-DA, realized thanks to the symmetry of the position.

May 11th

Emil Palkoska (11-05-1871 - 14-05-1955) Czech composer

Photograph from "Revista Romana de Sah", June 1928

Emil Palkoska was the author of more than 1200 problems in 3 or more moves in the Bohemian style and in the neo-Czech style.
He wrote with Alan C. White's Christmas Series "Schachprobleme Weiss: Dame und ein Läufer" (1911), "Idea a ekonomie v šachové úloze" in 1928 and "Idea a ekonomie v šachové úloze II" in 1947.
He was the editor of the problem column of the newspaper "Narodni Politika" during 38 years.

The two following problems have a feature in common:

Palkoska, Emil

In memoriam Dr. Jan Dobrusky
Časopis českých šachistů 1908

#6

7 + 6

Show Solution

1.Kh3 ! (2.b5#) Rxa3+ 2.Kh2 ! Rxh2+ 3.Kh3 Rh3+ 4.Ka4 Rh4 5.Ra1! (6.Rxa4#) 5..Rxa1 6.b5#
Several exposures to check in order to clear the a-file of all the superfluous white Pawns.

Palkoska, Emil
Tidskrift för Schack, 1921
1^st Prize

#3

5 + 7

Show Solution

1.Kb5 ! (2.Bf4+ / 2.Bc5+)

1...c6+ 2.Kxc4 Rh4+ 3.Bf4#
1...Rb8+ 2.Kc6 Rb6+ 3.Bxb6#

Once more exposure to check. The key is worthy of Sam Loyd's problems: the white King is exposed to check on the first move and incredibly in two variations on the second move.

May 10th

Bernhard Horwitz (10-05-1807 - 29-08-1885) German-British composer

Bernhard Horwitz
[Wikipedia]

Bernhard Horwitz was a chess player, one of the Berlin Pleiades. However, his main contribution to this history of chess was his analytical achievements in problems and studies.
Josef Kling and Bernhard Horwitz's "Chess Studies" (1851) is a fundamental work on the endgame study.

A not too difficult study to start with:

Horwitz, Bernhard
1884

+

4 + 3

Show Solution

1. f5 Kg3 2. g5 hxg5
{2... Bxh5 3. gxh6; 2... Kg4 3. g6 Bd5 4. f6 Kxh5 5. f7}
3. h6 Bg8 4. f6 Kf4 5. h7 Bxh7 6. f7 +-

May 9th

Jānis Bētiņš (Johann Behting) (09-05-1856 - 1946) Latvian composer

Johann Behting and his brother Carl composed studies. They were contemporaries of Troitzky and Rinck and their best studies are certainly of a similar level.
In 1930 Carl and Johann Behting published a brochure "Studien und Probleme". However, they seem not to have composed any work in collaboration.
An easy miniature to start with:

Bētiņš, Jānis
Deutsche Schachzeitung, 1889

#4

3 + 1

Show Solution

1.Kh5-g5 ! ZZ
1...Kh7xh8 2.Kg5-f6 (threatens 3.f7-f8=Q+ Kh8-h7 4.Qf8-g7#) 2...Kh8-h7 3.f7-f8=R ZZ 3...Kh7-h6 4.Rf8-h8#

Why don't we reproduce any study by Johann Behting? Simply because of the existing brochure by John Beasley about the Behting brothers which can be read on John Beasley's site (BESN special number 52) or here. You can find there detailed analysis about some of the Behtings' best studies.