December 25th

William Anthony Shinkman (25-12-1847 - 25-05-1933) American composer

William Shinkman
[Wikipedia]

William Shinkman was a very prolific composer (more than 3,500 problems), 672 of them in "The Golden Argosy" which can be downloaded and read from here.
His surprising and paradoxical keys owed him the surname of "the Wizard of Grand Rapids". He composed many classics.
More about him on ChessProblem.net by Gary Kevin Ware.

Shinkman, William Anthony
Huddersfield College Magazine, Oct 1877
1^st Prize

#2

5 + 4

Show Solution

1.Ba4! ZZ

1...d6 2.Sbc7#
1...f6 2.Sdc7#
1...f5 2.Qg8#
1...Kxd5 2.Bb3# !
1...e4 2.Qxe4#

Ambush, flight-giving key and switchback of the white Bishop.

Shinkman, William Anthony
St. John's Globe, 1890
1^st Prize

#3

5 + 6

Show Solution

1.Kh4-g5 ! (2.Qh5-f3+ Ke4-e5 3.Qf3-f5#)

1...Bf1xg2/Bf1-e2 2.Qh5-e2+ Ke4-d5 3.Sc2xb4#
1...Bf1-d3/Ke4-e5 2.Qh5-e8+ Ke4-d5 3.Sc2-e3#
1...Ke4-d5 2.Qh5-f7+ Kd5-e5/e4, Kd5-c6 3.Qf7-f5, Sc2-d4#
1...Ke4-d3 2.Qh5-d1+ Kd3-c4, Kd3-e4 3.Sc2-a3, Qd1-d4#
1...d6-d5 2.Qh5-h7+ Ke4-e5 3.Qh7-e7#

Complex of model mates after a superb key.

Shinkman, William Anthony
Deutsche Schachzeitung, Sep 1893

#4

5 + 2

Show Solution

1.Ba8-h1 ! ZZ
1...Kg1xh1 2.Ke3-f2 h4-h3 3.Kf2-f1 h3-h2 4.Sg4-f2#
1...h4-h3 2.Bh1-g2 ! ZZ and now two possibilities:

2...h3-h2 3.Sg4-e5 ~ 4.Se5-f3#
2...h3xg2 3.Se1-f3+ Kg1-h1, Kg1-f1 4.Sg4-f2, Sg4-h2#

The second Bishop sacrifice 2.Bh1-g2! is the high point of the problem.

Shinkman, William Anthony
Sunny South, 1891
2^nd Prize

s#3

7 + 8

Show Solution

1.Rh7-h8 ! (2.e7xd8=B+ Kc7xc8 3.Qd5-c6+/Qd5-b7+ Bg2xQ#)

1...e6xd5 2.e7xd8=Q+ Kc7-c6 3.Sc8xa7+ Qa3xa7#
1...Kc7xc8 2.e7xd8=R+ Kc8-c7 3.Qd5-b7+ Bg2xb7#
1...Sd8-c6 2.e7-e8=S+ Kc7xc8 3.Qd5xc6+ Bg2xc6#

White Allumwandlung.
Secondary variations:
1...Bg2-f1/Bg2-h3 2.Qd5xd8+ Kc7-c6 3.Sc8xa7+ Qa3xa7#
1...Sg8xe7 2.Bf6-e5+ Kc7xc8 3.Qd5-b7+ Bg2xb7#