Chess Composers: July 6th

Thursday, July 5, 2012

July 6th

Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen (06-07-1818 - 13-03-1879) German player and composer

Adolf Anderssen
[Wikipedia]

Adolf Anderssen was a mathematics professor and one of the world's leading chess players in the 1850s and 1860s. He is renowned for two spectacular games, the "Immortal" and the "Evergreen".

He was also (Wikipedia) "a very important figure in the development of chess problems, driving forward the transition from the "Old School" of problem composition to the elegance and complexity of modern compositions." He was the author of "Aufgaben fur Schachspieler" (1842) which can be downloaded from here.
Two of his most famous and often reproduced problems are this #4 with the Anderssen mate and this #4 with pin mate and critical move of the wR.

Let's have a look at another one:

Anderssen, Karl Ernst Adolf
Aufgaben für Schachspieler, 1852 (41)

8 + 5

Show Solution

Wilhelm Karl Heinrich Maßmann (06-07-1895 - 17-12-1974) German composer

Wilhelm Maßmann
[Wikipedia]

Wilhelm Maßmann was granted the title of International Judge in 1959. He composed more than 1200 problems, of which 646 miniatures. He collected chess miniatures (15 000) and was the author of "Kleinkunst im Schachproblem" (1967) together with Franz Palatz, Werner Speckmann and Karl Fabel.
He translated several books in German, such as the Alain C. White book about S. Loyd ("Sam Loyd und seine Schachaufgaben").
Wilhelm Maßmann was also one of the founders of the German magazine "Die Schwalbe". More details on Wikipedia.

This miniature #4 is quoted on Wikipedia (check it if you missed it there) but there are other famous problems:

Maßmann, Wilhelm Karl Heinrich
Altonaer Nachrichten, 1919