December 12th

Friedrich Köhnlein (12.12.1879 – 5.7.1916) German composer

[Chess Notes]

Friedrich Köhnlein was a chess player who composed direct mates. First interested in echo mates, he privileged afterwards a more strategic neo-German style.
Walter Fentze wrote a book dedicated to him in 1984: "Friedrich Köhnlein: Schachmeister und Problemkomponist".

Köhnlein, Friedrich
Münchner Neueste Nachrichten, 1905

#4

4 + 4

Show Solution

1.Rd1-d8 ! ZZ

1...b4-b3 2.Rf4-a4 (3.Rd8-d4 ~ 4.Ra4-c4#)
1...h6-h5 2.Rf4-d4 b4-b3 3.Ka6-b7 ~ 4.Rd8-d5#
Aesthetically delightful.

Köhnlein, Friedrich
Münchner Neueste Nachrichten, 1909

#8

3 + 5

Show Solution

1. Rd8-d7 ! Bh7-g6 2. Rd7-d6 Bg6-f5 3. Rd6-d5 Bf5-e4 4. Rd5-d4 Be4-h7, Be4-g6, Be4-f5 5. Bd3-e4 Bh7xe4 6. Rd4xe4 Ka1-b1 7. Re4-c4 Kb1-a1 8. Rc4-c1#
A now classical manoeuvre.

Charles Pelle (12-12-1911 - 08-08-1965) French composer

Charles Pelle composed direct mate problems.
The Pelle theme requires that key, defence and mate should all be moves of a pinned piece along the pin-line.

Pelle, Charles
Chess, 1958

#2

12 + 13

Show Solution

1.Qf5! (2.Sb5#)

1...d6 2.Qe5# Pelle theme
1...d5 2.Qd3# Pelle theme
1...Sd6/Sc7 2.Qe5#
1...Be5 2.Qxe5#/Qd3#
1...Re4 2.Qd5#
1...Qe4/Qc6 2.Sxe2#

Pelle, Charles
Le Probleme, 1960
2^nd Prize

#3

5 + 2

Show Solution

1.Be7-h4 ! (2.Rg2-h2#)

1...Kh3xh4 2.Se3-f5+ Kh4-h5, Kh4-h3 3.Rg2-g5, Rg2-g3#
1...Rh7xh4 2.Se3-f5 (3.Rg2-g3#) 2...Rh4-g4 3.Rg2-h2#

Milivoj S. Nešić (12-12-1940 - 30-06-2006) Serbian composer and FIDE Master


Milivoj Nešić composes in all genres.

Nešić, Milivoj S.
Problem-Forum TT, 2001
1^st Prize

h#2

3.1...

6 + 15

Show Solution

1.Sxe3 Rxd6 2.Rxd6 Qd8#
1.Sxb6 Qxc5 2.Rxc5 Rg3#
1.Sxa5 Rxe5 2.Rxe5 Rb8#

Cyclic Zilahi, pin mates, cycle of white moving pieces.

Patrick Martinez (12-12-1960 - 04-2019) French composer

Patrick Martinez losing against the French defence.

Patrick Martinez composed mostly (but rarely) direct mate problems and studies, which can still be found on his site.
He has proposed an Introduction to the chess problem in French: "Introduction aux problèmes d'échecs" which is a selection of texts by Camil Seneca, Xavier Tartakover, René Mayer and Jean Bertin.

Martinez, Patrick
Diagrammes, 1985

#4

8 + 6

Show Solution

1.Sf6-d5! (2.Sd5-e7 ~ 3.Sg6#)
1...g3-g2 2.Bf2-g1 h2-h1=B!
Kling theme: Black's defence is based on stalemate.
3.Sd5-b4! c5xb4 4.Bg1xd4#

Werner Sidler (12-12-1927 - 20-11-1969) Swiss composer

Werner Sidler
[SSZ 1969, page 212]

Werner Sidler was the author of "Problemschach", the first chess problem dictionary in 1968. He composed direct mates.

Sidler, Werner
Schweizerische Schachzeitung 1969

#4		9 + 2

Show Solution

1.♖h2! (~ 2.♘f3#)
1...♔xh2 2.dxc8=♗ ~ 3.♗h3 ~ 4.♘f3#
1...♖f8 2.gxf8=♖ (~ 3.♘f3#) 2...♔xh2 3.♖f2 ~ 4.♘f3#
Minor promotions and the rook sacrifice of the first move are necessary to avoid stalemate.