December 10th

Joseph Henry Blackburne (10-12-1841 - 01-09-1924) British composer

Joseph Henry Blackburne
[Wikipedia]

As a player, Joseph Henry Blackburne was nicknamed "The Black Death" because of his large black beard and aggressive, romantic style. He also composed some direct mates.

Blackburne, Joseph Henry
1884

#3

8 + 4

Show Solution

1.Qh1-e4 ! ZZ

1...f5-f4 2.Qe4-f3 2...f4xe3, e5-e4, Ke6-f5 3.Qf3-f7, Qf3xe4, Be8-d7#
1...f5xe4 2.b2-b4 2...Ke6xd5, Ke6-f5 3.Be8-f7, Be8-d7#

Model mates.

December 9th

Jiří Chocholouš (09-12-1856 - 03-09-1930) Czech composer

Jiří Chocholouš
[Wikimedia]

Jiří Chocholouš was with Pospisil and Dobrusky one of the fathers of the Bohemian composing school.
John Beasley quotes this fourmover in his "In praise of old problems" and proposes an improved version of it.
Here are two other fourmovers by Jiří Chocholouš:

Chocholouš, Jiří
Deutscher Schachbund, 1889
3^rd Prize

#4

8 + 11

Show Solution

1.b2-b3 ! (2.Sd5-f6+ Ke4-f5 3.Sf7xd6+ Kf5-e6 4.Qh2-e5#)

1...Ke4xd5 2.Qh2xd6+ Kd5-e4 3.Sf7-g5+ Ke4-f5 4.Qd6-e5/Qd6-f8/Qd6-f6#
1...c6xd5 2.Sf7-g5+ Ke4xd4 3.Sg5-e6+ Kd4-e4 4.Qh2-f4#
1...h7-h6 2.Qh2xd6 ~ 3.Qd6-f4+ Ke4xd5 4.Qf4-e5#

Chocholouš, Jiří
Kagan's Neueste Schachnachrichten, 1921
2^nd Prize

#4

10 + 10

Show Solution

1.Qf3-b7 ! (2.Sf7-d8+ Ke6-d6 3.Qb7-b8+ Kd6-c5 4.Qb8xb4/a3xb4#)

1...e5-e4 2.Qb7-b5 (3.Qb5-e5#) 2...d7-d5 3.Qb5-b8 (4.Qb8-c8#) 3...Ke6-d7, Ke6-f5 4.Sf7-e5, Sf7-h6#
1...Ke6-f5 2.Sf7-h6+ Kf5-f4 3.Qb7-g2 (4.h2xg3#) 3...Sg3-~, e5-e4 4.Qg2-g4, Qg2xg3#

December 8th

Alois Nagler (08-12-1907 - 30-05-1996) Swiss composer

Alois Nagler
[from his book "Schweizer Problemkomponisten", Chess History]

Alois Nagler was a chess tourney organizer (Zurich 1953) and composed direct mates.
He wrote the book "Schweizer Problemkomponisten" (1951).

Nagler, Alois
Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 1933

#3

8 + 5

Show Solution

1.Rb7-b3 ! ZZ

1...Kc5-d5 2.Rb3-c3 d4xc3 3.e2-e4#
1...d6-d5 2.Rb3-b6 Kc5xb6 3.Bf2xd4#

Two Rook sacrifices.

December 7th

Hans Werner Gomoluch (07-12-1903 - 06-03-1974) German composer

Hans Gomoluch composed direct mates and helpmates.

Gomoluch, Hans Werner
Die Welt, 1948
1^st Prize

#4

7 + 2

Show Solution

1.Sf3 !
1...Kxf3 2.Sf4! Kxf4 3.Be4! Kxe4 4.Qg4#
The vacuum cleaner.
The source of this fourmover is registered in PDB as "Hamburger Problem-Nachrichten 1947 - Preis, Nolcken TT".

Gomoluch, Hans Werner
Schach-Echo, 1973 (7458)

h#3

4.1...

3 + 8

Show Solution

1. Sa4 Rxd7+ 2. Kc4 Red3 3. Sc5 R7d4#
1. Bf5 Rd3+ 2. Ke4 Rcxd7 3. Re5 R7d4#
1. Rc5 Rb7 2. Kc6 Reb3 3. d5 R3b6#
1. d6 Rf3 2. Ke6 Rff7 3. Rd5 Rce7#
4 echo mates.

December 6th

Bertil Einar Gedda (06-12-1912 - 08-03-1991) Swedish composer

Bertil Gedda
[skkamraterna.se]

Bertil Gedda was a poet, chess player and composer. An article by Sven-Göran Malmgren in Swedish about his achievements can still be found on skkamraterna.se.
He excelled at selfmates.

Gedda, Bertil Einar
2^nd WCCT F, 1980
3^rd Place, 1980-1983

s#3

12 + 11

Show Solution

1. Bf6 ! (2. Rxd2+ Bxd2 3. Rxb6+ Rb7#)

1... Rxd1 2. c4+ Sxc4 3. Rxb6+ Rb7#
1... e3,exf3 2. Se7+ Rxe7 3. c4+ Qxc4#
1... e5 2. Rc5+ Ke6,Kd4 3. Qd5+ Rxd5#
1... Ra7 (~) 2. fxe4+ Qxe4 3. c4+ Qxc4#

Battery play, pins.

Gedda, Bertil Einar
Schach-Echo, 1971 (6650)

s#4

11 + 7

Show Solution

1. Rb6 ! (2. Rd6+ Kc3 3. Qa5+ Kb2 4. Rd2+ Bc2#)

1... Rxa2 2. Sc1+ Kd4 3. Qd6+ Kc3 4. Qd2+ Rxd2#
1... Bxa2+ 2. Sc1+ Kd4 3. Qd6+ Kc3 4. Rb3+ Bxb3#
1... e3 2. Sa5+ Kd4 3. Rd6+ Ke4 (Kf5) 4. Qd3+ Bxd3#

Difficult play with four different and long variations.

December 5th

Estanislao Puig Ambrós (05-12-1911 - 27-02-1960) Spanish composer

Estanislao Puig Ambrós
[Ajedrez365]

Estanislao Puig Ambrós composed direct mates in two and three moves.

Puig Ambrós, Estanislao
Magasinet, 1948
1^st Prize

#2

12 + 7

Show Solution

Set play:
1...Bb3 2.Sxb3#[A]
1...Qxd8/Qf8/Qg8/Qxh8/Qc6 2.Sc6#[B]
1.e5! (2.Qe3#)
1...Sg4/Sg8/Sh5/Sh7 2.Sf5#
1...Se4 2.dxe4#
1...Sd5 2.Sb3#[A]
1...Sd7 2.Sc6#[B]
Transferred mates, black correction.

Puig Ambrós, Estanislao
El Ajedrez Español, 1943
1^st Prize

#3

14 + 11

Show Solution

1.Sa2-c3 ! (2.Re3xe4+ Re1xe4 3.Rd6xd5#)

1...Sd3-~ 2.Rd6xd5+ Be4xd5 3.Bc7-e5#
1...Sd3xf4 2.Qd1xg4 (3.Qg4-g7#) 2...Be4-g6/Sf4-h5/Sf4-g6 3.Rd6xd5#
1...Sd3xb4 2.Qd1-a4 (3.Qa4xa7#) 2...Sb4-~, a7-~ 3.Qa4xc4, Bc7-b6#
1...Be4-h1/g2/f3 2.d7-d8=S (3.Sd8-c6/Sd8-e6#)

December 4th

John Augustus Miles (04-12-1817 - 23-07-1891) British composer

Google  Books

John Augustus Miles wrote several books about chess and chess problems: "Poems and Chess Problems" (1882, on archive.org), "Chess Gems: Some of the Finest Examples of Chess Strategy, by Ancient and Modern Masters" which can be downloaded from archive.org, "Chess Stars: A Galaxy of Self-Mates" which can be read on archive.org. He composed direct mates and selfmates.

Miles, John Augustus
Norwich Mercury, 1889

s#3

6 + 6

Show Solution

1. Qe4 ! (2. Qxg4+ Sxg4 3. Sf2+ Sxf2# or 2. ... Qxg4 3. Bxg2+ Qxg2#)

1... g3 2. Sf2+ gxf2 3. Bxg2+ Qxg2#
1... gxf3 2. Bxg2+ fxg2+ 3. Qxg2+ Qxg2#
1... Qd4/Qa7 2. Sf2+ Qxf2 3. Bxg2+ Qxg2#