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Dark Knight / Le Chevalier Noir
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An interesting coincidence happened to me this last week on the internet. I had just spent the last couple of weeks fine tuning a composition and was about to publish it when I discovered the exact same composition on the web (facebook). The position was exactly the same, the only difference was the solution for my composition was "White mate in three." The one on facebook was "White mate in two."
The solution for my compostion was 1.Qe2+, Nxe2 2.Nd3+, Kd1 3.Ne3 mate. The solution for the composition on facebook by Najwa Kinara was 1.Kg1, d1 promoting 2.Ng2 mate.
Last edited by Hans Jung; Monday, 18th May, 2026, 04:10 PM.
The answer to the problem above (post 37) is Qf7. The black king has three moves all answered by mate in one. If 1...Kc4 2.Qxe6 is mate. or 1....Kxe4 2.Qf3 is mate. or 1...Kc6 2.Qb7 is mate.
Through Jan Timman's researches I stumbled on Problem Chess: Art and Magic on the Chessboard by Goran Forslund. Its been fascinating reading and talks about the art of problem composition. Goran starts with a problem he composed at age 18.
https://www.uschess.org/index.php/De...uare-Tour.html A reward for my ongoing browsing. 64 delightful move finishes posed as problems in this article and even a few amazing zugzwang positions which I will use in my Beauty of Problems thread.
Last edited by Hans Jung; Tuesday, 13th January, 2026, 11:47 AM.
In 2006 I invited Grandmaster Hajo Hecht to come and play in the Canadian Open that was part of the Kitchener Chess Festival. He really enjoyed his time here and we had many stimulating conversations. What came out of those conversations is that he sent me a copy of his new book at the time: Koenigs Wege im Schach ( The Kings Paths in Chess) which had many interesting positions and varied problems about the use of the king in chess. So far I have not used any of the problems but I am contemplating doing so down the road.
Also when he went back to Germany after the event Hajo Hecht talked to his old friend Dr. Robert Huebner about his good time in Canada. The next thing I knew I received a letter and package from Dr. Huebner containing a booklet called: Schach mal Anders which was basically a description of a thousand different variations in chess. The letter was Dr. Huebner reaching out to me and saying that if I organized a theme tournament of any of those variations in the book he would be happy to come and do a simul and a talk about different variations but that he was not interested in a "normal" chess simul. The letter also included his own chess compositions from different variations. I thought that very enterprising of him at the appoximate age of 60! Unfortunately there was not much interest at the club in doing something like that but it sure perked my interest.
I was going to mention this at the time of Dr. Robert Huebner's passing but the opportunity slipped by. I'm happy to have shared this about a very interesting character,
I've been exploring geometric themes in problem composition. For example: Touw Hian Bwee, Schakend Nederland, October, 1976. White checkmate in two. Each of the rooks can check the black king on two squares and each reply by the king going to four different squares leads to checkmate. In total four different checks each having the black king go to a choice of four different squares and all leading to immediate checkmate. Fascinating! (I should also mention that when the rook checks on f5 the white king has to be on e2, when the rook checks on d7 the white king has to be on a6, and when the rook checks on b5 the white king has to be on c8.
Last edited by Hans Jung; Friday, 27th June, 2025, 02:35 PM.
https://en.chessbase.com/post/mauric...es-his-passion Ok this is more about Maurice Ashley but why it is here is that Maurice loves problem composition. At the bottom of the article is another fascinating Maurice problem composition. And I made sure to include a Maurice Ashley problem composition in my Beauty of Problems thread. # 149 is a Maurice Ashley composition.
Last edited by Hans Jung; Thursday, 26th June, 2025, 09:39 AM.
The solution for my compostion was 1.Qe2+, Nxe2 2.Nd3+, Kd1 3.Ne3 mate. The solution for the composition on facebook by Najwa Kinara was 1.Kg1, d1 promoting 2.Ng2 mate.
Last edited by Hans Jung; Monday, 18th May, 2026, 04:10 PM.White mate in two. Idea: Find the zugzwang move.
Touw Hian Bwee, Schakend Nederland, October, 1976. White checkmate in two. Each of the rooks can check the black king on two squares and each reply by the king going to four different squares leads to checkmate. In total four different checks each having the black king go to a choice of four different squares and all leading to immediate checkmate. Fascinating! (I should also mention that when the rook checks on f5 the white king has to be on e2, when the rook checks on d7 the white king has to be on a6, and when the rook checks on b5 the white king has to be on c8.
Last edited by Hans Jung; Friday, 27th June, 2025, 02:35 PM.
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