July 10th

Otto B. Wurzburg (10-07-1875 - 19-10-1951) American composer

Otto Wurzburg
[Valery Surkov [broken link] ]

Otto Wurzburg was the nephew of W.A.Shinkman. He composed more than 1200 problems in 3 or more moves. He gave his name to a form of the Plachutta theme, the Wurzburg-Plachutta, whose definition was explained by Emmanuel Manolas on his blog.
Edgar Holladay compiled 200 of his problems in "Wurzburg Artistry" (1974) and Valery Surkov proposed many of his problems with their solutions on his website [broken link].

Wurzburg, Otto B.
Norwich Mercury, 8^th Apr 1913

#4

9 + 11

Show Solution

1.Bd3-b5 ! ZZ
1...e2xd1=Q 2.Qa4-a8 ZZ Qd1-e2 3.Qa8-e8 ZZ Qe2-e7 4.Qe8xe7#
1...e2xd1=S 2.Sf2-d3+ Ke1-e2 3.Sd3-e5+ Ke2-e1, Ke2-e3 4.Se5xf3, Bb4-c5#
1...e2xd1=R 2.Kg1-h2 ZZ Ke1xf2 3.Bb4-c5+ Kf2-e1 4.Qa4-e4#
1...e2xd1=B 2.Qa4xb3 (3.Sf2-d3+ Ke1-e2 4.Qb3-e6#) 2...Bd1-e2 3.Qb3xc2 ZZ Be2~ 4.Qc2xd1#
Allumwandlung, task.

Wurzburg, Otto B.
The Pittsburgh Gazette Times, 15^th Jul 1917
1^st Prize

#3

10 + 6

Show Solution

1. Bh4! ZZ
1st pair of Wurzburg Plachutta variations:
1... Rff7 2. Sxg7+ Rxg7 3. f5#
1... Ref7 2. f5+ Rxf5 3. Sxg7#
2nd pair of Wurzburg Plachutta variations:
1... Qd7 2. Sxc7+ Qxc7 3. d5#
1... Rd7 2. d5+ Rxd5 3. Sxg7#
Two pairs of secondary variations:
1... Qd6 2. Sxd6 (3. d5#) 2... Rxf4+ 3. Sxf4#
1... Rf6 2. Bxf6 ~ 3. f5#
1... Qd5 2. f5+ Rxf5 3. exf5#
1... Rf5 2. d5+ Qxd5 3. exf5#
A quite remarkable problem.